See the Original Post ( With links ) . I'm crossposting this here as it's straight blade razor specific!
Hey there! I'm new to the forums but have been lurking the site for a while now. I'd actually found out this place from zenhabits.net , and really got on to the idea to try a new shaving technique.
I had been using a Gillette Mach 3 for years now, and that was fine, but I'm always worried about that causing ingrown hairs and the like, so I looked through the site, and took a few strolls through amazon.com ( I had gift certs ^.^ ) and found some items I thought were good so picked them up!
The Inventory
Now, I am on a budget, after working for several years and not being really smart with my money I've finally been saving to go back to university, but I am going to mention what I did pick up:
* Ustura Straight Razor
* Single Edge Razor Blades for straight razors
* Delong Boar Shaving Brush
* Col. Conk Soap, Bay Rum
* I purchased a simple bowl, too, but, well, a bowl's a bowl.
The razor itself is functional, and a Shavette, I realized. I found the grip to slide the blade clip out a bit smooth to grip my thumb, which was much more noticeable when my fingers were wet. It's a neat little tool, my first straight blade razor, and while it's not the best, I will be enjoying it for months and maybe years to come.
The blades surprised me at how small and thin/flexible they were, and fit into the blade clip for the razor easily enough. I had to push it in a little and I was hesitant to do that, but I got it in. The first time, it must not have been in completely as when I went to slide it into the razor proper, it began to tilt up a little, but I digress, good razor, it shaved my face.
The brush seems to be a good brush, I'm glad they were all designed to be sat on their handle, as I had to put it down for a bit, thought, "Oh, I hope it stand up!" And it did, very well at that. I got a good lather up, but I didn't make enough, I'm in need of more practice there, but I think it worked fine for a brush.
The soap's pretty standard soap, I would guess! To anyone who's ever used this before, I just left it in the plastic tub it came in ( not sure if it can easily be taken out anyway ) and just spread my brush around in that. Could have wet it with a bit more water beforehand, but I'm learning!
The Shave
As I said, I've been lurking the site for a while now, and had the straight blade shaving FAQ read a couple times just to remember the general process of how to get a good lather, and how to properly hold the blade. I'm left handed, and while I mirrored it for the first part, indeed it's easier to to each side with each respective hand!
I thought I only shaved With the Grain and only gave myself one pass, feeling kinda raw after that, but after inspection, I noticed that my hair grows to my left, and by shaving in downward passes, it would be slightly crosswise the grain. I did it once all over.
I think I'd done well for my first time, I only cut myself in three places! My first was as I was doing my first pass down my left ear, the far tip dug in under my jaw line a little and got a cut. After that I did fairly well.. I tried to keep it even all around.
My second was in the middle on my neck. I'm wondering how often would be too much to shave that area, because it seems like it's really easy to wear down the skin there, it's almost one of the easiest places to shave and would prolly lure the beginner shaver to go over it as many times as they need to to feel they shaved it properly.
My third time was to the right of my nose, stache level. Now, I have occurring problems with acne every couple of months and in this particular instance I had to be picky with my upper lip, so doing it delicately was fine, but as I did the far side with the same hand, I held it at too much of an angle to my face and got a nice little line of red next to my nose.
The Conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed the process, I'd like to get a lot better at it so under my chin doesn't look as bad after I do it, and to be able to get all the hair. Oh, and not cutting myself would be a good goal, too!
Please, feel free to comment on anything of what I did or purchased, this is my first post, so I'm glad to introduce myself!
Also, if this should be cross posted in any other forum, give me a shout and I'll post one up!
Update!
About a week after this original post, I've shaved for my third time in this manner after my shower. I find I'm really getting used to it, and feeling the nuances with shaving with a straight razor, keeping the whole razor close to my face so that's it's evenly flush, and can feel when the whole blade is evenly pulling or it I'm too angled and the corner is pushing more in.
It's really neat, I enjoy it, and the next time I do it, I'm going to do a second pass to see how much of a difference it makes in my shaves. One good thing I read along somewhere is to make sure not to shave over unlathered skin, as even by feel I can tell that it's a good idea!
~Werel Wolf
Hey there! I'm new to the forums but have been lurking the site for a while now. I'd actually found out this place from zenhabits.net , and really got on to the idea to try a new shaving technique.
I had been using a Gillette Mach 3 for years now, and that was fine, but I'm always worried about that causing ingrown hairs and the like, so I looked through the site, and took a few strolls through amazon.com ( I had gift certs ^.^ ) and found some items I thought were good so picked them up!
The Inventory
Now, I am on a budget, after working for several years and not being really smart with my money I've finally been saving to go back to university, but I am going to mention what I did pick up:
* Ustura Straight Razor
* Single Edge Razor Blades for straight razors
* Delong Boar Shaving Brush
* Col. Conk Soap, Bay Rum
* I purchased a simple bowl, too, but, well, a bowl's a bowl.
The razor itself is functional, and a Shavette, I realized. I found the grip to slide the blade clip out a bit smooth to grip my thumb, which was much more noticeable when my fingers were wet. It's a neat little tool, my first straight blade razor, and while it's not the best, I will be enjoying it for months and maybe years to come.
The blades surprised me at how small and thin/flexible they were, and fit into the blade clip for the razor easily enough. I had to push it in a little and I was hesitant to do that, but I got it in. The first time, it must not have been in completely as when I went to slide it into the razor proper, it began to tilt up a little, but I digress, good razor, it shaved my face.
The brush seems to be a good brush, I'm glad they were all designed to be sat on their handle, as I had to put it down for a bit, thought, "Oh, I hope it stand up!" And it did, very well at that.
I got a good lather up, but I didn't make enough, I'm in need of more practice there, but I think it worked fine for a brush.The soap's pretty standard soap, I would guess! To anyone who's ever used this before, I just left it in the plastic tub it came in ( not sure if it can easily be taken out anyway ) and just spread my brush around in that. Could have wet it with a bit more water beforehand, but I'm learning!
The Shave
As I said, I've been lurking the site for a while now, and had the straight blade shaving FAQ read a couple times just to remember the general process of how to get a good lather, and how to properly hold the blade. I'm left handed, and while I mirrored it for the first part, indeed it's easier to to each side with each respective hand!
I thought I only shaved With the Grain and only gave myself one pass, feeling kinda raw after that, but after inspection, I noticed that my hair grows to my left, and by shaving in downward passes, it would be slightly crosswise the grain. I did it once all over.
I think I'd done well for my first time, I only cut myself in three places! My first was as I was doing my first pass down my left ear, the far tip dug in under my jaw line a little and got a cut. After that I did fairly well.. I tried to keep it even all around.
My second was in the middle on my neck. I'm wondering how often would be too much to shave that area, because it seems like it's really easy to wear down the skin there, it's almost one of the easiest places to shave and would prolly lure the beginner shaver to go over it as many times as they need to to feel they shaved it properly.
My third time was to the right of my nose, stache level. Now, I have occurring problems with acne every couple of months and in this particular instance I had to be picky with my upper lip, so doing it delicately was fine, but as I did the far side with the same hand, I held it at too much of an angle to my face and got a nice little line of red next to my nose.
The Conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed the process, I'd like to get a lot better at it so under my chin doesn't look as bad after I do it, and to be able to get all the hair. Oh, and not cutting myself would be a good goal, too!
Please, feel free to comment on anything of what I did or purchased, this is my first post, so I'm glad to introduce myself!
Also, if this should be cross posted in any other forum, give me a shout and I'll post one up!
Update!
About a week after this original post, I've shaved for my third time in this manner after my shower. I find I'm really getting used to it, and feeling the nuances with shaving with a straight razor, keeping the whole razor close to my face so that's it's evenly flush, and can feel when the whole blade is evenly pulling or it I'm too angled and the corner is pushing more in.
It's really neat, I enjoy it, and the next time I do it, I'm going to do a second pass to see how much of a difference it makes in my shaves. One good thing I read along somewhere is to make sure not to shave over unlathered skin, as even by feel I can tell that it's a good idea!
~Werel Wolf
