It takes a while to nail it, it is a good idea to start of slowly by just shaving your flat bits, ie your cheeks and finnish off the shave with your DE razor. Once you are happy with the results you can move on to the more challanging parts of your face.........don't try to run before you can walk!Hi all, so i had my first shave today with a proper straight razor that @Fergiebilly supplied for me and there were positives and negatives, that said i didn't expect to nail it the first time!
So positives, no blood, no irritation, hair was removed and my nose/ears are right where they were before i started.
On to the negatives, the biggest i seemed to have was that i just seemed to lack lubrication, the blade dragged and felt as though it was just getting stuck on my beard, especially noticeable on my chin and jaw line. Pre-shave was the same as i do for a DE shave, warm water wash, a few drops of shave oil rubbed in then lathered up with Proraso soap, in part i think that the problem occurred due to the fact i was taking extra care and therefore time that the lather was drying out, but even after re-lathering the dragging still occurred. Being that this was my first time i'm very open to the idea that there may have been a large amount of user error with the blade angle etc.
Other than that the only other problem areas were around the lips, especially the top lip and under the nose.
I still finished off with a couple of passes with my R41 to get BBS and the razor has been stropped and oiled and put away until Sunday when i get the time to have another go, in the mean time if you have any tips or pointers they will be gratefully received.
^^ well said ^^Take your time, I also had the same problem with thinking that it was dragging and feeling that SR was not for me, I even thought that the razor was not sharp enough to cut the hairs when in fact it was, the leather kept drying up and frustration, I kept at it and it took a while, but as others mention stick with the cheeks with WTG strokes and you will soon feel confident to progress, if it gives you confidence I am at the stage now that I don't feel any dragging and a get a clean smooth shave with 2 WTG passes, there other day I jumped in the shower, jumped out, lathered, 2 passes, dried the razor, stropped it and job done, didn't even think about, if I can do it so can you, persevere my friend and you will get there.
I did notice at times that i was letting the tension in the skin go as i concentrated on the blade angle and positioning, so that is one area for me to practice in.
So positives, no blood, no irritation
Was going for 100 straight but no, at shave number 83 I got careless looking in the mirror moving my head without paying attention to blade: Touche! vertical cut on my chin.
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