The Generous Straight guy, Continued (A Newbie's Tale).

Stacy555

Stacy555

Messages
868
Location
Rainham, Kent
I thought it only fitting that I moved over to this section of the forum, to continue the story of my quest to become a Straight guy.
For anyone having no idea what I'm on about, see the thread linked below.
http://theshavingroom.co.uk/community/index.php?threads/how-generous-can-one-straight-guy-be.34936/

So now everyone is up to speed, this is where we have come to in our journey.

Raso, (Aka RSSO), a "Gentleman", who lives many miles away from my little home in Kent, kindly offered to send me a little parcel, containing these.6a520d49351a1b821fd22fc1f0143bc7.jpg

The aforementioned parcel arrived mid morning today, I came home at lunchtime, just to grab a bite and a peek into my not too distant tragic accident, to find these very sharp looking objects wrapped in bubble wrap and waiting to feast on my flesh, I returned to my daily toil with thoughts of taking my first shave on the coming Saturday, debating whether to go with 2 days growth or 3 ?.

Well I arrived home at 17:10 GMT and as I begin typing this it is approximately 18:15 and I have indeed shaved for the first time with the above razors, I say Razors plural because therein lies another story.

I have always been.
1: Impatient
2: Reckless
3: Totally Right handed, I can hold a ciggy, or a full glass, or my John Thomas safely in my Left, but nothing else, without dropping or crushing it.

So to the bathroom.
Good scrubby face wash, Hot towel.
Nuage shave oil as a base lube.
TSR LE Xmas 2015 Bulb Finest
Trumpers Coconut cream.
Cheap strop. (Sorry Raso, better one on its way)

And away we go, with the Imperial in my surprisingly steady hand I went for my first Stroke ?,Slice?.Cut ?,
well whatever you call it (I'll learn), it was well uneventful and entirely unsuccessful in the removal of hair, but It did remove the soap, halfway there then ?, applied more soap and went for a shallower angle, Hmm that definitely took some growth that time, but I did not feel at ease with the 90% end of the Imperial so I switched to the Friodur, re-lathered and went again, Success !, a clean pass over my whole right cheek in short positive strokes achieved a fairly smooth finish, flushed with the surprise result I continued on with the Friodur, left cheek a little more tricky as expected, (had to stick with right hand), but once again reasonable hair removal.

I'll pause for a minute to make it clear that everyone including Raso had impressed upon me, "
"JUST THE CHEEKS"........ got it ? "take your time"..... just the cheeks.

Did I mention I'm reckless and impatient ?

Well needless to say, I continued on, from this point on I'll cut this wall of text short.
As I sit here I am clean shaven and have accomplished this using the razors pictured above, how I managed this with only one cut is a mystery to me, is there such a thing as a "Natural", I am not going to overdo the confidence thing, I understand bad things will happen from time to time, and I am prepared for them when they occur, as they undoubtedly will, but after a first shave, I'm happy to say it will not be my last.

Massive thanks to Raso, for the extended loan of these razors, and the supportive comments in our PM;s

And the guys who offered me advice to this point, I did listen honest, but my personality disorder got the best of me, so please don''t stop adding to my knowledge.

Oh yes.... The one cut you ask ?, on my index finger I reply..........:rolleyes:
 
Congrats and well done! And very good that you did a complete shave. Nothing better than plunge in the deep end. Did so myself, with a 5/8 round point, ended with a serious cut in my left cheek, but boy was I proud!
Hope you'll enjoy many more fantastic straight shaves!
 
Congrats mate! It isn't half as scary as it seems. Don't disregard your hours of research and practice with tge DE over these months. All aids in the use of tge final product :) My first shave like yours was great, but am still learning witg each shave. Hope you enjoy many more straight shaves!
 
Thanks fella's, I'm convinced this will work, with lots of practice for sure, and as I said I'm safe in the knowledge that I will get bitten on occasion.
I have 2 over riding issues.
1 that I am unsure of how good or bad I will be at maintaining a decent edge.
2. My love of all things Japanese will make me want to take the Kamisori route rather than a regular scaled straight.

This leads me to guess the middle ground would be a Feather or Kai disposable, and in all honesty I'm not taken with rubber handled things.
 
Somelovely japanese straights have been made. Scheonburg, Hairop, ...
Maintaining an edge: you won't, at first. After a few months, send it out to freshen up. A few months later, get a decent finisher stone, and practise a bit on that. When the bevel on your razor is properly set, and you don't do anything stupid, you won't need more than that and a strop to keep it sharp.
To sharpen from scratch, now there's a different beasty.
 
I've got a 2.99 ebay reject I've been playing with, I am using odds and sods to play with it, I get a bit of an edge and then lose it without knowing how or why, but it never gets close to being able to cut even a few arms hairs, so we shall see.

But I have plenty to master before i go and make a purchase of any description, he says hopefully.
 
I would second trying a good Japanese straight razor. Smoothest shaves I have with straights. Definitely build it up slowly, stropping will come with practice as with anything. If it starts to pull hairs as with an old DE blade you know your stropping is the issue.
 
Most of shaving with a straight is confidence, and knowing when to back off and re-think the angles. Just Relax and it'll come naturally!
Most of my shaving cuts came from multi-bladed disposable crap. I have never had a bad cut from a straight, neither have I had a bad shave!

Enjoy the process and ignore anyone who says all you need is one good straight.................................
 
A very generous offer and great to hear that you had a relatively trouble free shave. Like yourself I like the idea of straight razor shaving but worried about maintaining the edge and it being so different to DE shaving.
 
Shave 2 was a shave to forget, over enthusiasm lead to a major case razor burn on both sides of my neck.
big hands and a small head, are making it difficult to see what I'm doing at times, the scales appear to have a life of there own as well.

Had a rest from it today and used my Ikon to test soap sample, will have a go at shave 3 Monday afternoon, a little less fuss and a lot more concentration.

On the plus side,still no nicks or cuts.
 
Stacy555 said:
Shave 2 was a shave to forget, over enthusiasm lead to a major case razor burn on both sides of my neck.
big hands and a small head, are making it difficult to see what I'm doing at times, the scales appear to have a life of there own as well.

Had a rest from it today and used my Ikon to test soap sample, will have a go at shave 3 Monday afternoon, a little less fuss and a lot more concentration.

On the plus side,still no nicks or cuts.
Click to expand...

Have a go with a few days growth, I found that I'd get a better closer shave with a bit of rough over a daily shave. It seems to cut better nd less need for buffing that small area too much? Weird I know?
 
Shave 3, well I went for the simple route tonight, taking on board some of the good advice offered.

Made a positive decision to only go for one pass come what may, my better quality strop has arrived and I gave the Imperial a good 50-60 passes hoping I was sharpening and not the opposite, using the sample Tallow soap from Kerry I lathered up and prepared myself.

Take short precise stokes I cleared my right cheek of soap and gave it a rub to check the result, Bingo !! it felt better than a first pass with a DE, continuing on I cleared the right side of my neck, I made no attempt to feel how well I'd done because I did not want a reason to "Have another go", from this point on I find life quite hard, I "cannot" use my left, if I do I will at some point sever an artery, I've always had this problem I cant even use a humble screwdriver left handed without the risk of losing an eye.

I finished off the left side with my right hand and managed to get a reasonably first pass with a straight for the first time, I cleaned up with my trusty Ikon slant, all in all not a bad effort, still a mountain of improvement needed before I call myself a straight user, still feeling with my lack of control with my left that the Kamisori may be ordered sooner rather than later.

Still no nicks or cuts !?!? :eek:

The soap is Mega by the way. :cool:
 
I do feel for you with the left hand thing.
Mine is great at holding things. Like a cold chisel.
I daren't EVER give it the hammer.
Although, to be fair, my right is fairly poor at holding said chisel.
Ambidextrous I aint.
However, I did find that if you can find one centimetre that you can do with your left, it starts the process.
Try doing your arm.
Or, do what Nishy does and just use one hand.
 
I've never attempted using my left hand with a straight - you soon work out the best way to hold and manipulate the razor. How many people use both hands with a DE/SE?

You mentioned earlier that the scales have a life of their own - does that mean they are loose? Scales need to be taut to the extent that they stay in whatever position you want them without opening or closing. They then become a part of being able to hold and manoevre the razor whilst ensuring the razor is held firmly. Make sure you are holding the razor properly with the scale in-between fingers 2 and 3 - or 3 and 4 if you prefer. Of course, using just one hand means that you also need t change this grip at times.
 
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