Did my first straight razor shave today. Can't claim BBS or anything (and didn't expect to) but it was a great experience. I was ultra conservative doing only my sideburns and only 2 gentle passes. No nicks! My razor could be sharper I'm sure - I didn't really have the cash to buy one shave ready right now so I honed an old one I picked up on a lark years ago. I spent a lot of time on the forum and since I already had a "scary sharp" setup to .5 micron for woodworking plane blades I went to town on this one. This wouldn't cut hair when I first opened it so I feel pretty good that it took the hair off my face at all when I was done. I could feel it hitting the individual hairs which leads me to believe I need to spend more time on this blade. In any event I enjoyed it and look forward to the next time. I also will be looking for a DE for workdays soon so i can get off the cartridges completely. Thanks to forum for the info and to Scott (sas71) for the brush to get my lather going! -Craig
Well, wish I could say shave 2 was as clean but... good crimson lather Oh well, impatience pays its own rewards. I got a much smoother shave (did a 3 pass) but that ATG pass was a doozy. Never could get a real smooth shave under the jawline so I'll have to play with that a bit but the cheeks and sideburns are BBS. I think perhaps my prep has a lot to do with my shave quality. My lather was not holding up well by the time I made the other side of the face and that's where my biggest issue was. I touched it up with a little water on the brush but it wasn't great. I was using the Loccitane soap so I will play with some others and see how it goes. -Craig
