Hi,
The purpose of this post is to feedback on my first straight shave but also to show the journey I came on to get to this point.
If by doing so, I share some information that might help new comers to shaving then that will be a bonus.
I have included a lot of links and a number of photo's.
However, I hesitate to call it advice as shaving is such a personal and individual art that what works for me will certainly not work for someone else.
My journey started way back when I was 4 or 5, standing next to my uncle and using a DE Gillete safety razor (without the blade in obviously) and lathering up in front of the mirror and copying him and just loving the sensation and the process of wiping the white foam off my face.
Also at this time at home was a straight razor of my Grandfathers...a beautiful mid brown totoise shell handle and I just knew it was well made and well used item.It stuck in my mind.
Fast forward 12 years of so, and when I started shaving I naturally went for wet shaving with a fixed blade type thing (equivalent of todays mach or quattro etc). I used gel from a can and then later shaving oil and was getting a really good shave.
I could never understand friends using disposables or electric razors...to me, a shave was a serious thing that was more than a chore.
Picture below of my now redundant last 2 razors
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Fast forward again another 23 years or so, to earlier this year, maybe January and I get the idea to get a DE razor and a few shaving items. There was nothing in any of the shops and it seemed to me that 'proper' shaving was a long lost art.
That is when I found this forum and started to realise there were a whole host of people who took shaving 'seriously'.
So, I read the forum posts and plumped for the Merkur adjustable and was not disappointed...I could not have picked a better beginners razor. The fact that you could experiment with the 'depth' or height meant I could each day get different feel of the razor on my face. And believe me there isalot to learn about the face, it's contours, swirls of beard and the angles needed.
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Merkur adjustable was £32 from but can't remember where from(price includes the plastic case, and some blades)
Along with this razor I picked up a great brush
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Brush was a bargain at £22 from the monthly 'specials', link here..
http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/
Then I got my cream, pre-shave (and some grapeseed oil my wife bought me)
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
I later on bought this Omega Brownie brush for when travelling, and it looked nice too!
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000KJWZM2
However, I kept reading the forum posts and got intrigued by the comments on the Merkur Barbers Pole Slant (by this time, I was a committed 'Merkur Man' ;-)
I got his from Lee Razors for about £22 which in any currency is a brilliant price.
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
And I must mention the great service from Lee here...I stupidly clicked on the wrong razor and ordered the wrong one at first...but Lee is a great guy and sorted in without problem.
Link here http://www.leesrazors.com/index.htm
Now the slant is a kind of 'up one level' from a regular DE razor and I found it a challenge but rewarding experience...I tamed it and got good results within the week and that is my regular razor now.
I experimented with the blades and found this 2 were to my taste
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
All the time during this learning curve, I knew that the straight razor section of the forum was there but was trying to convince myself that if I went there and took up the challenge of getting and using a straight then I could end up one of two ways..
First of all I could be very very bad at it and be very very fustrated and it would be the end of the road of my love affair with shaving..
Or I could take the challenge and be ok or even at some point 'good' at it, and in which case like a climber reaching the highest peak I would be left thinking 'what next'? But..the question bugged me..what was it like to straight shave?
Anyway, I posted up on the forum for some ideas from the experienced shavers and get good clear advice...two razors are value for money and good for beginners. They are the Thiers Issard Super Gnome and the Dovo Special
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=42492
A little while later a guy in the UK (on ebay) was selling a un used Dovo.
I missed the end of the auction but mailed him to say that if the buyer messed him about then to consider me next in line.
The mail came back that said, 'sorry, buyer just paid up via paypal, but I have all of these Dovo's for sale at £30 each')
Here she is
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
So, I bit his hand off for the Dovo Special (and a dovo strop for £15) and promptly started watching all the straight shaving tutorial and reading as much as I could on this forum. I posted a request for honing and got this reply
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=48726
and sure enough this guy Steve Dempster is the best in the business!
http://www.razorsharpening.co.uk/page2.html
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
The service was great and I figured that on my first shave (so long as I didn't mess up at the strop stage) then the only variable in the shave would be me! I couldn't blame the blade, I couldn't blame the pre-shave and preperation...after all, I been preparing for this since I was 5!
So, yesterday I could work from home in the morning and decided to take the plunge...some sound advice from a few forum members and I got stuck in.
Well, it was everything I expected and more....it was a challenge and it was a pleasure and it was hard and scary.
After all the build up I would like to say more than 'it went ok' but that is how the shave went...it took 40 mins or more and was an ok finish.
But, the elation and achievement far outweighed the look of my face.
I didn't get cut or burned or fustrated.
I took my time, got more confident as it went on and loved the feel of it.
As for my technique, well, I almost filmed it to post up but thought that is one sure way to take major criticism. But here's a pic of the best bit!
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Being right handed, the right cheek seemed the easiest and the left was ok...things got tough under the chin and round the lips/under the nose.
Although I had watched many videos, I hadn't really looked at the 'hand holds' to get the skin taught, and I ended up pulling strange shapes to get any pull on my face.
So, today was day 2 and it was a little better, I gave pretty light but confident passes on the cheeks and again didn't rush but got it down to just over 30 mins. I was surprised how light this Dovo 5/8ths is!
The only redness was at the point on the neck where the hair ends..and this quickly went after some prorasso pre shave (I use it afterwards)
Picture is above, if it will show up well I don't know, but you can see some heiars I missed at the side near sideboard.
I did notice that although not as close as my DE, the face felt (and in my opinion) looked better after a few hours; maybe nicer edge to the whiskers or maybe my imagination?
So,this proved to me the razor was good, the honing was excellent and I must have not messed up the stroping.
All this morning it has been on my mind that straight razor shaving is an art and a thing that I will probably never 'master' but maybe that is the great thing about it...
Many thanks to those who helped along the way, I hope by sharing this some guys thinking of taking the plunge might take some ideas.
I realise this is a long post and most people wont have read til the end but thanks for reading if you did!
Here is a pic of my shaving 'kit'
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
ps Just mailed the guy who sold me the Dovo Special and this beauty is on the way now...£30 well spent?
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
I will of course be back to Steve Dempster for the honing but hoping that some point i the future I can hone my own blades , but that is for another day....I can't wait for weekend to get the razor out again!
Regards
Jem
The purpose of this post is to feedback on my first straight shave but also to show the journey I came on to get to this point.
If by doing so, I share some information that might help new comers to shaving then that will be a bonus.
I have included a lot of links and a number of photo's.
However, I hesitate to call it advice as shaving is such a personal and individual art that what works for me will certainly not work for someone else.
My journey started way back when I was 4 or 5, standing next to my uncle and using a DE Gillete safety razor (without the blade in obviously) and lathering up in front of the mirror and copying him and just loving the sensation and the process of wiping the white foam off my face.
Also at this time at home was a straight razor of my Grandfathers...a beautiful mid brown totoise shell handle and I just knew it was well made and well used item.It stuck in my mind.
Fast forward 12 years of so, and when I started shaving I naturally went for wet shaving with a fixed blade type thing (equivalent of todays mach or quattro etc). I used gel from a can and then later shaving oil and was getting a really good shave.
I could never understand friends using disposables or electric razors...to me, a shave was a serious thing that was more than a chore.
Picture below of my now redundant last 2 razors
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Fast forward again another 23 years or so, to earlier this year, maybe January and I get the idea to get a DE razor and a few shaving items. There was nothing in any of the shops and it seemed to me that 'proper' shaving was a long lost art.
That is when I found this forum and started to realise there were a whole host of people who took shaving 'seriously'.
So, I read the forum posts and plumped for the Merkur adjustable and was not disappointed...I could not have picked a better beginners razor. The fact that you could experiment with the 'depth' or height meant I could each day get different feel of the razor on my face. And believe me there isalot to learn about the face, it's contours, swirls of beard and the angles needed.
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Merkur adjustable was £32 from but can't remember where from(price includes the plastic case, and some blades)
Along with this razor I picked up a great brush
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Brush was a bargain at £22 from the monthly 'specials', link here..
http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/
Then I got my cream, pre-shave (and some grapeseed oil my wife bought me)
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
I later on bought this Omega Brownie brush for when travelling, and it looked nice too!
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000KJWZM2
However, I kept reading the forum posts and got intrigued by the comments on the Merkur Barbers Pole Slant (by this time, I was a committed 'Merkur Man' ;-)
I got his from Lee Razors for about £22 which in any currency is a brilliant price.
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
And I must mention the great service from Lee here...I stupidly clicked on the wrong razor and ordered the wrong one at first...but Lee is a great guy and sorted in without problem.
Link here http://www.leesrazors.com/index.htm
Now the slant is a kind of 'up one level' from a regular DE razor and I found it a challenge but rewarding experience...I tamed it and got good results within the week and that is my regular razor now.
I experimented with the blades and found this 2 were to my taste
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
All the time during this learning curve, I knew that the straight razor section of the forum was there but was trying to convince myself that if I went there and took up the challenge of getting and using a straight then I could end up one of two ways..
First of all I could be very very bad at it and be very very fustrated and it would be the end of the road of my love affair with shaving..
Or I could take the challenge and be ok or even at some point 'good' at it, and in which case like a climber reaching the highest peak I would be left thinking 'what next'? But..the question bugged me..what was it like to straight shave?
Anyway, I posted up on the forum for some ideas from the experienced shavers and get good clear advice...two razors are value for money and good for beginners. They are the Thiers Issard Super Gnome and the Dovo Special
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=42492
A little while later a guy in the UK (on ebay) was selling a un used Dovo.
I missed the end of the auction but mailed him to say that if the buyer messed him about then to consider me next in line.
The mail came back that said, 'sorry, buyer just paid up via paypal, but I have all of these Dovo's for sale at £30 each')
Here she is
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
So, I bit his hand off for the Dovo Special (and a dovo strop for £15) and promptly started watching all the straight shaving tutorial and reading as much as I could on this forum. I posted a request for honing and got this reply
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=48726
and sure enough this guy Steve Dempster is the best in the business!
http://www.razorsharpening.co.uk/page2.html
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
The service was great and I figured that on my first shave (so long as I didn't mess up at the strop stage) then the only variable in the shave would be me! I couldn't blame the blade, I couldn't blame the pre-shave and preperation...after all, I been preparing for this since I was 5!
So, yesterday I could work from home in the morning and decided to take the plunge...some sound advice from a few forum members and I got stuck in.
Well, it was everything I expected and more....it was a challenge and it was a pleasure and it was hard and scary.
After all the build up I would like to say more than 'it went ok' but that is how the shave went...it took 40 mins or more and was an ok finish.
But, the elation and achievement far outweighed the look of my face.
I didn't get cut or burned or fustrated.
I took my time, got more confident as it went on and loved the feel of it.
As for my technique, well, I almost filmed it to post up but thought that is one sure way to take major criticism. But here's a pic of the best bit!
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
Being right handed, the right cheek seemed the easiest and the left was ok...things got tough under the chin and round the lips/under the nose.
Although I had watched many videos, I hadn't really looked at the 'hand holds' to get the skin taught, and I ended up pulling strange shapes to get any pull on my face.
So, today was day 2 and it was a little better, I gave pretty light but confident passes on the cheeks and again didn't rush but got it down to just over 30 mins. I was surprised how light this Dovo 5/8ths is!
The only redness was at the point on the neck where the hair ends..and this quickly went after some prorasso pre shave (I use it afterwards)
Picture is above, if it will show up well I don't know, but you can see some heiars I missed at the side near sideboard.
I did notice that although not as close as my DE, the face felt (and in my opinion) looked better after a few hours; maybe nicer edge to the whiskers or maybe my imagination?
So,this proved to me the razor was good, the honing was excellent and I must have not messed up the stroping.
All this morning it has been on my mind that straight razor shaving is an art and a thing that I will probably never 'master' but maybe that is the great thing about it...
Many thanks to those who helped along the way, I hope by sharing this some guys thinking of taking the plunge might take some ideas.
I realise this is a long post and most people wont have read til the end but thanks for reading if you did!
Here is a pic of my shaving 'kit'
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
ps Just mailed the guy who sold me the Dovo Special and this beauty is on the way now...£30 well spent?
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
I will of course be back to Steve Dempster for the honing but hoping that some point i the future I can hone my own blades , but that is for another day....I can't wait for weekend to get the razor out again!
Regards
Jem
Go figure!
