This morning I lathered up with Ozark Mountain, and bravely reached for my shiny new Dovo Best Quality 6/8” razor. It felt like a significant moment in my life. I realize it was only a shave, but there was still a traffic jam of thoughts and feelings as I tried to maintain focus on performing a decent (and safe) first shave. It took at least twice as long as a three pass DE shave and looked like a sloppy one pass DE shave when I was done. But it was my first SR shave and I did it myself and without leaking. It wasn’t the relaxing zen experience I know will be in my future, but I still feel pretty good right now.
It ended up kind of a two pass shave if I tally up my efforts. Lots of room for improvement to be sure.
Great job, and no blood loss. Keep it up, and the SR shaves will become second nature, and take just as long as DE shaves.
I know it’ll take some time to work out a routine. Already knowing and understanding hair growth direction is an advantage. Now I need to learn how to get the razor where I need to when my face is in the way! I also have to hone (sorry) my sharpening skills. I can get knives shaving sharp but can’t get a razor sharper than shaving sharp. The razor started out passable from the factory (it would catch unsupported arm hair), and by the time I stropped it to perfection it would not! I carefully did a dozen passes on my King 8K water stone and tried another strop session. I all this work brought the edge back to 80% of where it started. I then used chromium paste on the inside canvas and followed up with another stropping. It still wasn’t perfection, but I decided to start working on my shaving skills while perfecting my sharpening skills. A decent learning curve for sure!
I’m only eight months into this enjoyable new approach to grooming, and love it. I would have been content with my DE’s, soaps and brushes ..........IF I hadn’t started perusing the Straight threads. Once that little voice of curiosity started whispering in my ear, I knew my days were numbered.
the way my brain works i would have to have a stone or two and strops ,plus a sharpening skills upgrade before i would venture in.enjoy.... please keep us updated on your progress
Just take your time. I’m only a couple of months into using my straight razors myself. Only about 10 months into this way of shaving period. I have 38 shaves with Straights so far. I really enjoy it more than my DE for sure and I didn’t think that was possible. Good luck and welcome! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That is an excellent start, my first shave was just a 1/2 pass. The first shave is not zen like, it’s nerve racking holding an open blade to your throat. Don’t worry then zen will come. My learning curve for a straight was much steeper than for DE, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Welcome to the Dark Side.
Thanks for the encouragement. I enjoy DE shaving enough to be happy if SRs weren’t fun. But guys posting about enjoying Straights even more, so I have to find out what I’m missing.
Thanks Keith. Having a handle on the soap and hair direction eliminates a couple facets, but there’s still a lot to master. This week someone mentioned listening to Miles Davis while enjoying their SR shave. I can’t wait to reach that level of proficiency. Right now I want it dead quiet while I focus on blade awareness and try to keep my mind from drifting!
You are right, you need it to be dead quiet. When I use a straight more than sight I use the feel and sound to get my angle and pressure right. Also the sounds straights make when they cut hair is just plain cool. It took me about 30 shaves to get comfortable and 100 to be consistently competent. While I can get equally good shaves with a straight or DE on average I get less irritation with a straight. Also, I find shaving with a straight more enjoyable, I am not sure why. Here are few suggestions: If you are in a hurry, put down the straight and pick up the DE. If you think you might be interrupted by your wife, kids, pets or anyone then put down the straight and pick up the DE. If something does not feel right, put down the straight and pick up the DE.
Thanks again and I’ll heed your advice. I’m going to keep a tally of my SR shaves, and only do them when the environmental and psychological conditions seem right. I still really enjoy DE shaving, so there’s no reason to risk bad experiences with a Straight.
