[Jesse1973]

As some of you know ,I have tried Str8 razor shaving once before about 6-7 years ago .I gave it up due to the pain it was causing .After being turned on to SRP by a friend and lurking for awhile I decided to give it another try.I recently won a Wester's Str8 in the September giveaway.I stropped it up and decided to shave today.I knicked myself several times .And there was still some pulling .I am happy to report that it was alot less than my first attemp.And with the shaving balm I used the irritation and discomfort didnt last long.I want to thank the person that donated the razor for the giveaway, for a more pleasant experience than before . And I looking forward to many years of using the Str8 to get a nice smooth shave.

[dward]

Welcome back Jesse! I am glad you did. I have to admit that my first week of usage was painful. I managed to put 2 cuts (not nicks) on my checks. I have been at it for about 4 weeks now. Practice, practice, practice. I rarely nick myself now. I took a few pieces of sage advice. The first was from Lynn's CD (an excellent resource for all aspects of straight razors) where he recommends starting on just the areas between the sideburns and the jawline, and WTG only. Then work from there. I started slowly and have added XG, plus now doing the neck and throat areas. I still touch up using my twin Merkur safely.

The other piece of advice given in this forum was to go for comfort, doing closeness only when needed. Shaving for comfort has helped reduce the number of nicks and reduction of razor burn. This will help with learning technique and blade angles. Closeness will come with experience. I am getting closer shaves without the nicks (an occasional one or two) or razor burn now.