Audiolab's Straight Shave Diary

Na that was idle chatter about how the thing you least expect to give you trouble are the things that invariably do. Not shaved yet tonight, just about to go do that now.
 
Day 3

Changed soap this time, went for some Tabac and a SR 3824 for a complete luxury option. I am not shaving my whole face with the straight yet, I am on the cheeks and neck but avoiding the jawbone and chin areas. My clean up razor is an Aristocrat #47 open comb. This is a really great shaver and I don’t know if I will ever be able to part with it.

Anyway back to the straight shave. I got my left cheek and flat part of my neck done in nice smooth sweeps, what a confidence boost this was. The end result was much better than before. As good as I would get on a first WTG pass with the #47 loaded with an Iridium blade, apart from the jaw and chin obviously.

It had to happen sooner or later, Just as I was finishing my left side I took a nick out my cheek. Close to my mouth. At least I know what went wrong. As I approached the corner of my mouth I let my mind slip from keeping the blade flat and I lifted up a little at the back and pop a bleeder (not deep), didn’t feel a thing but it bled like I had slashed myself and turned my Tabac foam a lovely pink colour which I an sure the wife would have an outfit to match.

I was not so keen on the pink foam but I ignored it anyway. Checking first that no one could see me with pink shaving cream, I continued and went for the right cheek and neck. I tried it again with my right hand and I am getting better. It is still like the first day with my left hand but I am very dominant in my left handedness so I expect this will take me longer than others, as long as it is still improving I am happy.

By this time the Tabac was drying up and I realised it was time to quit before the pink foam reached my toes. A nice cold water splash more or less stopped the bleeder and a quick dab with the styptic pen took care of the rest. No where near as painful as my ear was when I nicked that. I am only slightly disappointed that I cut myself because otherwise it would have been a good solid third shave. These things are to be expected, no pain no gain as they say.

Todays lesson was like the time when you are just learning to drive. At first you don’t even know what it is you don’t know, then when you do know you wonder how you will ever balance it all, clutch, gears, accelerator, steering and at the same time look in 360 degrees at regular intervals. When you are learning that at first you may forget that you are in the wrong gear or because of a distraction you bring the clutch up too fast and stall.

That is just about where I am just now with the straight shave, I think I now know what I need to learn and realise there are some difficult manoeuvres to master but at least I can drive in a straight line now without kangaroo petrol…speaking metaphorically of course.

To be continued…
 
Day 4

Today’s soap was Salter Citrus lathered with a cocabola brush, again finished with this weeks Aristocrat #47 with a new Iridium blade, did I mention how much I kike this razor? It really is that good, close to DE nirvana for me. I must do another thread on this truly great open comb Aristocrat.

Today I managed what I hoped for yesterday; a decent one pass WTG across both cheeks some of the neck and got closer to the edge with no incidents. The end result of the shave with the straight is now equivalent to one pass wit the DE, although I have to admit still a little patchy here and there, but overall good as I had hoped for at this point.

I am getting a bit better with stropping, to be honest the razor was truly shave ready and I was just practising the motion and flipping the blade over. Today I managed an effective strop with no feeling that the blade left the leather apart from when I flipped it. The strop is not a bull worker X5 and the blade is not a grinder. All you need is some tension on the strop and gentle but firm weight on the blade and slide the blade across the strop, flip and return. It actually becomes a rhythm after a while, quite therapeutic.

My plan for the rest of the week is to continue to try to produce the same result, perhaps only incrementally better for the next few days. If I can do that consistently then I will move on to the jaw, chin or upper lip (not sure which yet) are any of these areas “easier” that the others?

Overall a good shave, I am sitting here with a nice clean feeling face no irritation, it feels calm and soothed. . I was never one for evening shaves but I have been using a hot facecloth applied for a minute two or three times and this really helps a lot

To be continued.
 
Day 5

The soap for today was DR Harris Marlborough (again) lathered with a B&B Essential brush. Same prep as per every other day, Proraso Pre/Post then a hot towel treatment followed by a good lathering and off we go.

I really feel I am starting to “get it” now. I managed both cheeks and neck with no problems. I even made an attempt at my chin and did…well not great but not bad and no cuts at all.

As I shave each day it is starting to fall into place how I need to adjust my grip and angle to suit the different areas of my face and hair growth. The Aristocrat did not feel as if it did much on the first pass today, apart form maybe the very edge at my ear where I am not quite accurate enough yet.

My next goal is to continue to work on the central area and get to the point where I can completely skip the first pass with the DE. Then I will work on across the grain. There may be some guys that are finding my progress as slow as a tax rebate but I am by nature a cautious man and do not want to slash myself. This would not only disappoint me but would result in a win for the team I work with that have a sweep going on how many days before a major injury occurs, (I already lost as I had myself down for day 2).

My stropping is greatly improving with each session and the stop itself is feeling better. Every day I just rub my hand over it and the oils and stropping action is beginning to soften the leather. When I used it the first time it felt stiff and this made the blade slide very easily. Now that the leather is more supple the blade is getting more traction. I think this is called the “draw” which Latigo is known for having a good amount of, this apparently is good for a beginner.

I obviously cannot compare it to other leathers but I believe my stropping is now OK. I will work on the accuracy, I believe if you learn to do something well then speed will come on it’s own so I don’t mind taking ages to shave and strop.

So far so good, not amazing progress but each shave is getting better.

To be continued…
 
keep it up mate sounds like you are doing well and having fun.I take it you weren't tempted a slash on day two to win the cash? :mrgreen:
 
I have enjoyed the write up of your exploits with the straight razor. I have to admit you are doing better than I did when I started all in all it took me about 3 months to get a decent shave with the straight. I now look forward to my shaves and when I decided that it didn’t matter if I cut myself everything sort of just clicked into place. I have only cut myself bad once and that was because I shaved over a spot and it just took it clean off my face. However there is something to be said about a sharp razor I didn’t feel a thing when I did it.
 
You and me both graham took one clean off my right cheek last week I had finished
The right sides 1st pass just started left side pass and the blood just started to pour
It laughed when I applied the septic stick, it just wouldn't stop. Funny I never felt a
Thing though.
Had a real good shave again tonight only two bits that I'm having to really take my time
On is under nose, as I had a mole on top lip, HAD, don't any more 1st shave mistake
And a dimple in chin, but that's getting shallower lol.
No clean up again with the fatboy but a couple of straggalers,which I got with tweezers
But I'm getting there no blood again tonight
 
Good to know that this can take months and even then not master it totally. My steps have mainly been forward but am sure a backward step is due soon.

Thanks for the encouragement, will keep at it.
 
Day 7

Today’s choice of soap was obviously the newly acquired P160, a lovely soft soap with a smell of marzipan. Strange for me to work with as I have never had such a soft soap before but lathers easily and leaves a nice soft finish. Performance wise I find it gives a nice cushioning effect and doesn’t dry my skin. Overall a very nice soap courtesy of antdad and the infamous group buy that caused the ruckus at B&B, it can be obtained from Connaught shaving…feels good to be able to say that.


<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.connaughtshaving.com/">http://www.connaughtshaving.com/</a><!-- m --> There you go even put a link without getting banned. Paul graciously supplied a lovely dark wooden bowl to hold the soap so thank to both him and antdad.

As for the shave, nothing really to report, went as planned, still better on the left side more than the right side and getting more of my chin done. Right now I feel like the top lip and jaw line is like a mountain I will never climb, as soon as I get near tilting the blade to round the chin I chicken out. I feel the slightest hint of a tingle and stop, it is more in my head than anything. I think this is one of those milestone areas.

Learning to stop has been progressive and getting better each time I do it. Learning to shave in straight lines down both cheeks and neck is quickly attainable, each shave I improve that area. I have decided I am not going to try for it for at least another week. I am just going to work on getting my sides and cheeks right up to the edges and less patchy. I will have the odd go at getting round it, but am not going to get myself hung up on it.

May leave the updates till I get over the milestone of the chin and jaw and let you know how I eventually get there but I am sure patience and persistence will win through in the end.

To be continued soon...
 
That is not a silly question. I never thought about it before but understand what you are getting at. I lather left to right and also shave left to right. Most of the time I shave left, right then the center (chin down) and lastly top lip.

The right side problem I have with the hold, using my nimble left hand I feel confident yielding the blade on the left hand side of my face,. When I then move to the right hand side of my face my left hand gets in the way and it just feels cumbersome and clumsy.

Holding the razor with my right hand on the right side the angle comes easily. I just have no confidence in my ability to hold the angle with that hand over the whole stroke. Weather it can be completed with one hand or not I am finding this a hurdle.

Shaving with the DE in the right hand is helping me gain some more agility. I do not know if most straight users shave their whole face with one hand. Any ideas? I will look through some you tube videos and guides Neil sent me to see if this is mentioned.
 
Hi there,

Sorry, have not been updating this, my progress is slow but getting there.

I chucked it for a week as I have been on callout duty last week so really stupid hours and not got the attention span of a two year old. So that week I worked on nothing but gaining agility in my right hand, lathering, shaving with the DE, opening doors, trying to remember to use my right hand for as many things as I can, all to gain agility, and strength. I did not realise how profoundly left handed I actually am...or was.

I picked up the straight this Monday and I have to say it has improved greatly, left hand side now close to gaining enough confidence to think about going across the grain. The right hand side is still a bit ropey, still not got the confidence to go close to the edge at my ear, but a lot better overall.

I feel a breakthrough coming soon, still working towards my goal of completing a reasonable one pass shave both sides including the nose and chin areas, nearly there but not quite.

Will keep at it, I am patient.
 
Another week gone and some more improvements in my end result. I decided not to move onto ATG until my right hand caught up. I only used the straight over the weekend and can feel the mobility exercises (lathering etc) helping with my right hand and with that the confidence grows.

Ages ago when I was an apprentice HGV mechanic after a hatchet job I done on grinding a large prep area on the back of a flatbed for painting the old guy (every garage has one) told me to "Learn to do things right, when you learn it right speed will come on its own) and then moaned to everyone about the f*(%$n mess I made of it.

This is very true for straight shaving; take as much time as it takes. Some days it is quicker than others, or maybe it just feels longer either way I don’t worry myself if I miss a bit or take what feels like forever. i just try to remember the bits I didn't get so well and how I might try it the next shave.

I very nice slow boat down the straight road. I really toyed with the idea of a Shavette and am glad I went straight to the straight razor. It is a steeper learning curve but it is one curve not three and everything is coming along. Stropping, getting the right grip and the quality are all improving. Still feel as if I am a long way off but if I look at page one and think about it I am pleased with my progress.

Irregular updates to follow.
 
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