As the thread title says, I myself am new to this, so please take that into account. I have been using a straight razor for a matter of weeks now, but I have formulated a philosophy that I think is useful. It consists of three elements:
1. Trust the razor.
Trying to make the razor shave close will not help you and will probably hurt you. Assuming a shave-ready razor (no small thing!), trust that it will do its job and remove exactly the right amount of beard on each pass. Your job is merely to guide it and to give the necessary number of passes to achieve the desired result.
2. Do not fear the razor.
It is nothing but a tool. Learn how to use it, by all means, but do not fear it. However, this makes my third point essential.
3. Respect the razor.
I started getting pretty comfortable with the process, got careless, and put a three inch cut on my face. Not at all deep, not at all serious, but plenty embarrassing and more than enough to remind me that even though I am not afraid of my razor, I must never lose respect for what it can do.
So there you have it. This is a great place for learning mechanics from more experienced shavers, but as a fellow newb, I offer you my philosophy. I am getting great shaves, losing very little blood if any, and looking forward to my next shave all day long.
Ben
1. Trust the razor.
Trying to make the razor shave close will not help you and will probably hurt you. Assuming a shave-ready razor (no small thing!), trust that it will do its job and remove exactly the right amount of beard on each pass. Your job is merely to guide it and to give the necessary number of passes to achieve the desired result.
2. Do not fear the razor.
It is nothing but a tool. Learn how to use it, by all means, but do not fear it. However, this makes my third point essential.
3. Respect the razor.
I started getting pretty comfortable with the process, got careless, and put a three inch cut on my face. Not at all deep, not at all serious, but plenty embarrassing and more than enough to remind me that even though I am not afraid of my razor, I must never lose respect for what it can do.
So there you have it. This is a great place for learning mechanics from more experienced shavers, but as a fellow newb, I offer you my philosophy. I am getting great shaves, losing very little blood if any, and looking forward to my next shave all day long.
Ben