First shave with safety razor

[Bondage007]

Hello

Shaved face and head for the first time using a safety razor.  Didn't have to call 911 or apply a tourniquet to my neck.
I was very slow and careful, here are the details.

Razor was Merkur 180 London handle with factory blade, have personna's for refills.  Cream started out with Art of shaving sandlewood then finished with Harrys gel and used baby oil with Aloe as preshave oil.

Started lathering with with Art of shaving cream applied but I think either my inexperience with badger brush or the quality of it (van der Hagen cheap one) lathering only fair. 
Started shaving and dragging was unacceptable so I removed and replaced with Harrys gel.  The rest of shave other than me being overly cautious went well. 

If I had to compare it to my results with a Harrys cartridge I'd say it was about 90% as good.  I'm sure the remaining 10% is my experience wihich will get better with practice.
I've been shaving my head for almost three months now with the Harrys cartridges.  It took two months before I was comfortable and almost on autopilot.  So I guess practice and patience are par for the course.  I'm looking forward to mastering and improving the experience.

Cheers
John

[Sir Harry]

Nice job! Keep at it, it will get better.

[warhawk]

Hi John:  Congrats on your very 1st safety razor shave.  It took me about a week to get comfortable with my face shaves and about a month to get comfortable with my head shaves.  The traditional way of shaving is an art and it takes a lot of patience.  Good luck and kindly keep us posted.

WARHAWK

[gwsmallwood]

Welcome to the club.  Yes, everything will get better with practice.  Particularly your lathering.  You might even try whipping up some test lathers in the evenings to wash your head and face with, just for the practice.  Based on my experience when I first started, the two most common problems with my lather were not enough product, and not enough water.  Load your brush way longer than you need, and keep adding water slowly until the lather is nice and slick, not sticky.  It should have a shine to it like yogurt, rather than a flat look like whipped cream.

[AJ Q-Ball]

Congrats on first safety razor shave!