The day of reckoning arrived.
My first straight razor arrived from Mikael in the week, I have been watching the videos, practicing stropping, and generally panicking about this day.
I stuck to a fairly normal routine
Hot Shower
Jermyn Street Cream
Rod Neep 24mm Silvertip brush
Jermyn Street After Shave.
The Merkur Futur was ready on the shelf in the bathroom to touch up the bits I couldn't manage.
The razor is an Edv Neiström no 52, a 9/16 with a wedgy (1/4ish) grind.
I planned on just doing a WTG pass with the straight on the sideburn areas, which is almost what I managed.
I started on the right hand side, it took a little while to get comfortable, and I had to re lather as it dried up, but once I got going it seemd to flow quite well.
I shaved the whole of the right hand side of my face WTG, except for the moustache area, bottom lip and just under my chin. I then re lathered the left hand side of my face and switched the razor to my left hand. This proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated, so much so that I abandoned the idea and shaved the left hand side of my face with the razor in my right hand. I found this quite easy and completed this side quite quickly.
I tried shaving my chin and just under my chin, but couldn't seem to get started, so I switched to the DE for this bit.
I noticed when I switched back to the DE that maybe I am shaving too slowly, I move the DE across my face in very quick strokes, but am moving the straight very slowly. I'm sure this will improve over time.
No nicks or cuts though, and the WTG shave that I did do with the straight was better than I would have achieved with the DE, so I'm looking forward to my next shave. I think that may be tomorrow.
