Perparing for my first SR shave

OK... my SR has come in the mail (kid at xmas), my soap and brush will be in today. My strop wont be in until later, looks like it just left TX today. This seems fine as the B&B member (THANKS TIM) honed the blade said not to strop until after my first shave as I am completely new and my first strop and first shave shouldn't be at the same time (Makes sense to me as I could easier strop the honed edge).
Now, I am looking for some advice on technic as I am growing a beard and looking to clean up my checks, neck and try for some nice lines for the beard. I haven't seen any utube videos on technic for just these areas and being new want to learn proper technic. I understand this will take longer as I have less to shave compared to me shaving everything.

My current plan is to shave this evening so the process can take as long as it needs to.

Lance

Sorry, I have no experience with shaving around a beard, but I can give you some general advice. Take your time for sure while you are learning. If you shave with a DE already, you might want your lather to be a little wetter for straight razors. Watch your pressure while shaving. You should need hardly any at all. Your angle should be about the width of the razor spine from your skin. It may be a good idea to just lather sections of your face as you go. That way the lather is not drying on skin while you are shaving. I would also suggest, if possible, start learning to shave with both hands. You will probably have better visibility if you are able to use both hands. Good luck and welcome to straight shaving!

I'm in your situation. I just did my 4th shave today and it is the first I felt good about. Like you, I'm shaving around a beard. At first I imagined it would be easier since I didn't have to worry about the chin area and around the lips. The trouble begins when you find the blade will often have the toe or heel crossing into a beard section so it's hard to find the right blade position.
I can't offer any useful advice but good luck anyway!

Good luck on your journey.

Hey guys! I am primarily speaking to the guys starting straights and working around a beard or doing limited areas. You might find small portions of Xman's vids from yrs ago to be helpful. These are not easy moves but he does show the neck technique that I use often. Maybe they help you. Keep it up and thanks for reaching out.

Hey Lance,

I am in the same situation. I have about 8 shaves under my belt and I shave around my beard.

Perhaps I was lucky because my neck runs south east to Northwest... Didn't have to deal with "cutting in" under the beard edge at first and could just go south to north. (not sure if cutting in is an acceptable name, but I hope you get my meaning).

I am in no place to advise you on most aspects, but I do recommend being conservative and slow... The sideburns and jawline on my beard have definitely narrowed as I have been learning (and taking off more than planned)... Also be patient when trying to make a corner sweep on your cheek, it is really easy to square the corner more than you may like.

Ok, so this is not advice, but rather pointers toward some areas that you may experience similar problems that I am still learning to deal with.

Enjoy. Go slow. Don't get overconfident (and cut yourself like I finally did on shave #8). Enjoy.

Thanks for all the points, I guess it's time to put steel to flesh and start the journey.

I shave around my mustache and it's not a big deal, I normally do pass one WTG pass two XTG on cheeks and WTG on neck the last 1/2 pass is neck and jawline only ATG and am very pleased, if you are just starting out do just sideburns down to jaw line and stop and do the rest with a DE/SE razor and as you get more comfortable do more.

I too am just starting into the world of SR's and also have a full beard. I find my neck the hardest part as my neck doesn't have much fat on it so my wind pipe and Adams apple stick out pretty far compared to the sunken in portion just to either side of them. I find that I'm having to hold my head at a certain angle to get a flat spot to shave. I'm also moving my skin either left or right to get it to a flatter spot. I'm finding the cheeks and shaving around my upper beard to be very easy, getting in close to my lower beard line is a bit more difficult due to the contours and that I really should be shaving S to N there, but haven't gotten comfortable with it yet.

Best of luck and keep up the work!

I am clean shaven, so I can't offer any advice here. Except a warning: If you enjoy this (and I'm sure you will), say bye-bye to your beard . . . .

Good luck!

Antique Hoosier said:

Hey guys! I am primarily speaking to the guys starting straights and working around a beard or doing limited areas. You might find small portions of Xman's vids from yrs ago to be helpful. These are not easy moves but he does show the neck technique that I use often. Maybe they help you. Keep it up and thanks for reaching out.

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Great video Mike. Thanks for posting. I use a very similar technique. The upper lip, chin and neck area can be a daunting task with a straight; at least for me. If I wanted easy I would go back to my Mach 3 all the while pretending I'm spending too much money, but where's the fun with that [emoji1] Stretching your skin along your jawline neck up on to your cheek, contorting, going across the grain will improve those areas significantly. It did for me.

No follow up from last night. Hope he's okay.

Keep your expectations low and try to learn a little bit at a time.

my update can be found here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/510863-1st-SR-shave-this-morning?p=8780023#post8780023

Is it me.. he doesn't have a beard and his shave angles are a mile off!!

Started growing my beard a week before trying to SR shave. Can't speak to angles as it was my first time.

I don't think it's a good idea to grow whiskers in advance of your first straight shave. The first shave is usually challenging enough just keeping from getting cut. Removing whiskers is secondary. In fact, many recommend using a DE first, so a new shaver can get comfortable with an unprotected edge against his face without worrying about shave results.

Just something to think about.

nobie381 said:

Started growing my beard a week before trying to SR shave. Can't speak to angles as it was my first time.

Click to expand...

What I meant was the guy in the video posted seems to have a very smooth face, although you can hear the razor working.
The recommended angle for shaving with a straight razor is approximatey 30deg, or two spine widths of the razor from your skin, at some points in the video he appears to be at almost 45deg which is scraping not shaving.. Against the grain this will most likely give you massive razor burn and discomfort, please watch lots of other straight shaving videos to get a broader picture. With regard to shaving around a beard, I have what is generally called a goatee and shave away, then towards my beard to preserve the shape.

Thanks for the preserving comment. Did it on my shave tonight. Saved me from taking off more in error.
I have watched a lot of others too but none give a really good prospective on angle from different cutting spots on the face/neck. I am trying the angle equal to the spine tip. I guess that gives about a 30degree because since trying that and focusing on it I am able to do longer strokes and my skin isn't red at all now.

Good to hear Lance! It only gets better with practice.