Beginning the SR shaving journey.

A

Andrew C

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2024
Location
Sydney NSW
After being the very lucky winner of PIF No. 22 I received my Gold Dollar 100 from @rbscebu on Thursday evening.
Having watched a million YouTube videos and reading the SR Shaving Instructions for Beginners (Rev. H) dozens of times, today was D-Day.

I’m under no illusions about this being even vaguely interesting to 99% of you but hopefully it will provide a no nonsense read to other beginners suffering prom the information overload that seems endemic to the field of SR Shaving.
Get on with it Andrew…

The razor: Absolutely beautiful. I was genuinely surprised upon opening the mail at just what a terrific job Richard had done with the GD 100. It looked immaculate and much better than the pictures in the PIF thread. The edge, under the magnifying glass, looked malevolently sharp. I’ve honed a million knives and chisels and hand plane irons but nothing as well as this looked.

Soap: Paraso Red in the tub. Because that’s easy to get at the Shaver Shop around the corner and I don’t know if it’s good bad or ugly.

Brush: Yaqi 24mm defect for $10 on AliExpress. Again, cheap and didn’t know better. I also got a huge plastic Yaqi mug to lather in. I wish my coffee mug was so big.

Aftershave: rbscebu recipe of Wahl Bay Rum and Witchazel.

Finally, how’d it all go???

I have to admit I was sh*tying myself as I got ready to attempt my first SR shave. You can watch a million videos and read a dozen treatises but sooner or later you have to risk major surgery and actually do it.
I only attempted to shave my throat (I have a short beard). The whiskers grow upwards towards my chin.

My hand was shaking like a leaf which was strange because I’ve shaved with a shavette for a while now with no problems at all.
Everything I’d watched and read went out the window but off I went.

Did I butcher myself???

Surprisingly NO 🤷‍♂️

I did a WTG pass and an ATG pass. The resulting shave was as good as anything I’ve ever had with the Feather Artist Club shavette clone.

Things I learned:

1) Read, watch all you want but like any other skill you learn by doing, so just do it, over and over.

2) it feels less harsh on the throat than a shavette but cuts whiskers just as well if not better.

3) No matter how many times you remind yourself not to rinse the lather off the blade under the tap, you’ll do it multiple times out of years of habit with disposable razors.

4) Having funny paper nearby is very helpful for wiping off lather 🤣

5) Less and wetter lather seemed to work better.

6) Don’t be scared of it. Respect it, but don’t be afraid of cutting yourself.

Many thanks to @rbscebu for not only the razor but also the many back and forth messages offering advice and support.
 
Andrew C said:
After being the very lucky winner of PIF No. 22 I received my Gold Dollar 100 from @rbscebu on Thursday evening.
Having watched a million YouTube videos and reading the SR Shaving Instructions for Beginners (Rev. H) dozens of times, today was D-Day.

I’m under no illusions about this being even vaguely interesting to 99% of you but hopefully it will provide a no nonsense read to other beginners suffering prom the information overload that seems endemic to the field of SR Shaving.
Get on with it Andrew…

The razor: Absolutely beautiful. I was genuinely surprised upon opening the mail at just what a terrific job Richard had done with the GD 100. It looked immaculate and much better than the pictures in the PIF thread. The edge, under the magnifying glass, looked malevolently sharp. I’ve honed a million knives and chisels and hand plane irons but nothing as well as this looked.

Soap: Paraso Red in the tub. Because that’s easy to get at the Shaver Shop around the corner and I don’t know if it’s good bad or ugly.

Brush: Yaqi 24mm defect for $10 on AliExpress. Again, cheap and didn’t know better. I also got a huge plastic Yaqi mug to lather in. I wish my coffee mug was so big.

Aftershave: rbscebu recipe of Wahl Bay Rum and Witchazel.

Finally, how’d it all go???

I have to admit I was sh*tying myself as I got ready to attempt my first SR shave. You can watch a million videos and read a dozen treatises but sooner or later you have to risk major surgery and actually do it.
I only attempted to shave my throat (I have a short beard). The whiskers grow upwards towards my chin.

My hand was shaking like a leaf which was strange because I’ve shaved with a shavette for a while now with no problems at all.
Everything I’d watched and read went out the window but off I went.

Did I butcher myself???

Surprisingly NO 🤷‍♂️

I did a WTG pass and an ATG pass. The resulting shave was as good as anything I’ve ever had with the Feather Artist Club shavette clone.

Things I learned:

1) Read, watch all you want but like any other skill you learn by doing, so just do it, over and over.

2) it feels less harsh on the throat than a shavette but cuts whiskers just as well if not better.

3) No matter how many times you remind yourself not to rinse the lather off the blade under the tap, you’ll do it multiple times out of years of habit with disposable razors.

4) Having funny paper nearby is very helpful for wiping off lather 🤣

5) Less and wetter lather seemed to work better.

6) Don’t be scared of it. Respect it, but don’t be afraid of cutting yourself.

Many thanks to @rbscebu for not only the razor but also the many back and forth messages offering advice and support.
Click to expand...
@Andrew C, well done to the 1st of many SR shaves 👍, just remember following SR shaving is “always” followed by a journey into Kamisori, ask @rbscebu? 😂😂
 
Enjoy your SR journey. I have cut myself a few times over the years and I put it down to user error. I began to daydream while shaving and lost my concentration.

There is nothing as satisfying as a DFS or BBS SR shave. It takes me a bit more time than a DE or SE shave, but both me and my face feel great all day.
 
@Andrew C, great to read about your first traditional straight razor shave and I am glad that you like my workmanship on the blade. Try and shave daily with your SR. That will help you quickly build up muscle memory.

A little tip - CONCENTRATE!

All the information you have gathered on SR shaving are only suggestions. Fortunately every man's face is different. Over time you will need to determine what is best for your face.

I use a damp flat sponge to wipe the lather off my blade. This also allows me to inspect the lather to see the whiskers that I have cut off.

Be careful of @LesC, he has coerced some experienced SR shavers to join him in his kamisori rabbit hole. That rabbit hole can run deep and become even more expensive.
 
Last edited:
Andrew C said:
After being the very lucky winner of PIF No. 22 I received my Gold Dollar 100 from @rbscebu on Thursday evening.
Having watched a million YouTube videos and reading the SR Shaving Instructions for Beginners (Rev. H) dozens of times, today was D-Day.

I’m under no illusions about this being even vaguely interesting to 99% of you but hopefully it will provide a no nonsense read to other beginners suffering prom the information overload that seems endemic to the field of SR Shaving.
Get on with it Andrew…

The razor: Absolutely beautiful. I was genuinely surprised upon opening the mail at just what a terrific job Richard had done with the GD 100. It looked immaculate and much better than the pictures in the PIF thread. The edge, under the magnifying glass, looked malevolently sharp. I’ve honed a million knives and chisels and hand plane irons but nothing as well as this looked.

Soap: Paraso Red in the tub. Because that’s easy to get at the Shaver Shop around the corner and I don’t know if it’s good bad or ugly.

Brush: Yaqi 24mm defect for $10 on AliExpress. Again, cheap and didn’t know better. I also got a huge plastic Yaqi mug to lather in. I wish my coffee mug was so big.

Aftershave: rbscebu recipe of Wahl Bay Rum and Witchazel.

Finally, how’d it all go???

I have to admit I was sh*tying myself as I got ready to attempt my first SR shave. You can watch a million videos and read a dozen treatises but sooner or later you have to risk major surgery and actually do it.
I only attempted to shave my throat (I have a short beard). The whiskers grow upwards towards my chin.

My hand was shaking like a leaf which was strange because I’ve shaved with a shavette for a while now with no problems at all.
Everything I’d watched and read went out the window but off I went.

Did I butcher myself???

Surprisingly NO 🤷‍♂️

I did a WTG pass and an ATG pass. The resulting shave was as good as anything I’ve ever had with the Feather Artist Club shavette clone.

Things I learned:

1) Read, watch all you want but like any other skill you learn by doing, so just do it, over and over.

2) it feels less harsh on the throat than a shavette but cuts whiskers just as well if not better.

3) No matter how many times you remind yourself not to rinse the lather off the blade under the tap, you’ll do it multiple times out of years of habit with disposable razors.

4) Having funny paper nearby is very helpful for wiping off lather 🤣

5) Less and wetter lather seemed to work better.

6) Don’t be scared of it. Respect it, but don’t be afraid of cutting yourself.

Many thanks to @rbscebu for not only the razor but also the many back and forth messages offering advice and support.
Click to expand...
Amazing👍🏻

Just mark my words. When you start feeling comfortable with the blade than you have to remember to be careful. Keep concentrating.
At the beginning we are very, very careful and we are slow. That means the mistakes are not that bad. Just little nicks.
When we feel comfortable, doing longer, faster cuts, feeling soo great that we lose a bit of attention then the bad cuts happen😂. Routine is dangerous!
 
Well done!

I can still remember my first straight shave also - pretty much the same experience. And it's like a lot of other things in life, practice practice practice.

As for the red Proraso from Shavershop - it's good stuff. I have a tub, plus the matching Proraso Sandalwood splash. I really enjoy the Proraso white with it's green tea and oatmeal scent. The white pre-shave is good and I use it with the white balm. All the Proraso stuff is good.

I run my sudsy blades under the tap! As long as you dry them properly, I have no problems. Only had a rust issue with one blade but that wasn't due to rinsing it under the tap. Not sure why just the one spot on that blade rusts and no matter what I do to fix it, the corrosion keeps on occurring.

Key points to remember - keep the angle low - the flatter the better.
No pressure on the blade.
Wet Lather
If you are not comfortable in the first few shaves, it's quite ok to do a few strokes than finish the job with another type of razor.
Tricky bits are always going to be the chin and jawlines - it will take a few shaves to master them.
have fun!

cheers
Andrew
 
SR shave No. 2

It’s been almost a week since my maiden voyage. Not because the the first effort scared me off, but rather because I was waiting on the diamond paste to complete my balsa strop before I bugger up the edge that @rbscebu spent all that time and effort preparing.
As Murphy’s Law would have it, the delivery came while I was shaving. 🤷‍♂️
Today was my first effort at stropping the SR before shaving. Whilst it’s not difficult to manage, it was awkward to rotate the blade at each end and did take some concentration. I managed to keep the spine down on the strip and practice will tell me how much if any torque should be applied to the edge.
I did 25 laps on the denim side and 50 laps on the leather side of my Titan strop.
I might have mentioned that before I received my. PIF Gold Dollar, I had ordered a Gold Dollar 208 from Strike Gold Shave in the USA. It arrived yesterday with an almond sized sample of shave soap. “DJT” - “shave like a President”. I used that today (I didn’t use the GD 208 because I’m going to try to take some close up picks of the edge and heel and toe work for those interested).
The soap is much harder to lather than Poraso red (it feels a lot like lamb fat I used to use as a maker of stock whips) but once it lathered up it was good and reasonably slick with a nice scent.
The actual shave was a lot less dramatic than my first. At almost a weeks worth of neck tough beard I was wondering if my first attempt at stropping might have ruined the edge but I managed both a WTG and ATG pass with no problems. No hand shaking or stutters this time. No nicks, cuts or weepers and a very smooth result. Being less nervous, I was able to concentrate more on which grip worked better for which part of my neck. The Adam’s apple is still tricky and the rear of the throat under the ears is hard to stretch but overall a very pleasant experience and a very smooth result.
I dried the razor, stropped it on the denim for 10 laps and left it open to air dry before I oil it and put it away until Sunday.
Now to complete my balsa strop.
Hope you all have a terrific weekend.
 
SR Shave No. 3

Getting more and more comfortable with the SR shaving experience.
Stropping is getting less awkward. Trying to keep the pressure light.
The edge is still keen. As @rbscebu predicted, I didn’t any difference shaving after the diamond balsa strop but I also didn’t feel like the edge was any less than when I received it and I guess that’s the point.
Much more confident shave today. Still using my dominant left hand for both sides though. Nice close shave with WTG and then ATG pass.
Performed 10 laps very lightly on denim and then hanging balsa progression afterwards.
 
Andrew C said:
SR Shave No. 3

Getting more and more comfortable with the SR shaving experience.
Stropping is getting less awkward. Trying to keep the pressure light.
The edge is still keen. As @rbscebu predicted, I didn’t any difference shaving after the diamond balsa strop but I also didn’t feel like the edge was any less than when I received it and I guess that’s the point.
Much more confident shave today. Still using my dominant left hand for both sides though. Nice close shave with WTG and then ATG pass.
Performed 10 laps very lightly on denim and then hanging balsa progression afterwards.
Click to expand...
I would recommend using both hands. Not to have a better shave but because it is a great exercise for our brain👍🏻
After SR shaving for over two years I still feel a significant difference between my hands. But I do not give up👍🏻
 
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