So, today was my first straight razor shave and I'm alive and well to tell you about it. I got my honed razor back from Glen yesterday and couldn't wait to try it. I lathered up with some Proraso red and my Semogue boar brush. I stropped my no name Solingen razor 25 times and then went to work. The cheeks went quite well, but I felt like a contortionist at times. The neck was not so bad, but I had to make three passes and I still have a bit of stubble. The chin also took three passes and actually came out fairly well, with the exception of the jawline as it has just a little stubble there. Above the lip went much better than I thought and I think I did a respectable job around the nose. I felt tugging when shaving my chin and that probably means I need to work on my technique. I had just two small weepers, which I'm quite thankful for. It was a good 20 minutes of shave time and it was reasonably enjoyable. I expected that I would require stitches before I started, but I ended up with an okay shave. I'm trying this again tomorrow.
Mail call & SOTD Wade Butcher 7/8 & wedge both restored and rescaled by holyrollah New soap - Mornington Madeira Rooney 26 mm super silver tip La Toja splash wonderful BBS shave.
Thiers-Issard 7/8 Mike, this is the first of the blades I used the 8K, 12K pyramid plus 20K and pastes. I first thought I had no edge. It shaved like a wedge, it was so smooth and effective.
Congratulations, Jim! One down & many more to go…! The learning curve is steep, but now that you've started and had your first real SR shave, hopefully some of the mystery and trepidation has been reduced. The more you use the straight, the easier and more natural (comfortable) it gets. Awkward at first, but after a dozen or so shaves, movement starts 'feeling' more natural.
20 February 2016 (Int'l Pipe Smoking Day!) Shave 51 Whipped Dog "Sight Unseen" 5/8 Have a superb Sunday!
Well done for your first shave. Only go as far as you are comfortable. My first shave consists of 1/2 of a pass.
Well, I'm hoping tomorrow morning's shave will be better than this morning's shave. The shave wasn't that bad and much of my fear of straight razors ended after the first shave. It was actually very enjoyable for me. I'm going to use some pre shave oil in the morning and try for a better shave. I'm going to go till I get this figured out. Hey, this is how my grandfather shaved!
Otto Busch Kayser Ellison Sheffield steel 13/16 Kanayama Cordovan #8000 Shavemac Silvertip two band LPL Le Savon du Barbieri Propolis & Raw virgin coconut oil Tom Ford Neroli Portofino body spray Tom Ford Neroli Portofino private blend Edp 
today I used HYTONE 6/8 full hollow spike this razor came to me in the lot of four. it was in nice shape physically. it had some light rust and required setting a new bevel and honing. it took little work to create a very nice edge.