Thread: Newbie here

Hi everyone, just wanted to introduce myself to the forums.

My cousin is the one to blame for dragging me into this, as he started talking about straight shaving a few months back, and after watching him do his thing, I must admit that it peaked my curiosity!

I just received my first razor in the mail today, a Sheffield 'Improved Yorkshire Bite' 1/2 hollow (I think?) with a french point. I acquired it off of ebay, and at this point, I'm going to be generous and say the blade "has potential" , but is not going anywhere near my legs until I get my cousin to help restore it. Incidentally, is there anyone in the Toronto area who does restorations?

I had a quick question to the other ladies in this forum in the mean time: when preparing to do your legs for the first time, did any of you find some way to practice first or did you just dive right in?

Welcome to SRP, Izzy.

I'm not a lady, but I just dove in on my face when I started.

I'm not sure if anybody in canada does restorations right now. Dan/floppyshoes used to but, my understanding is he's currently in a transition and isn't doing this.
Lools like your cousin can help you out with these things though.

Have fun, I hope you like it here.

Originally Posted by izzy416

I had a quick question to the other ladies in this forum in the mean time: when preparing to do your legs for the first time, did any of you find some way to practice first or did you just dive right in?

I just dove in. Only by actually shaving can you get a feel for the right angle and pressure, so you just have to do it. Good luck!

Welcome izzy416 to SPR!!
Just like LilithParker, I dove right in! I was scared but I finished both legs without any nicks. I found shaving the back of the upperthighs were a little tricky, but otherwise everything else was easy. On my 1st shaving, I had a bumps on the legs but I notices after my 2nd time there were less .
Good Luck !

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Well, my little ebay prize has been sent off with my cousin for refurbishing, all I get to do now is wait, impatiently I might add, for him to work his magic for me!

We've talked about new scales for it too, I'm hoping this will turn out well, though I have a lot of reading/research ahead of me :P

Another question for you all though. When stretching the skin while shaving, it looks like you mostly do so by flexing the leg/knee/ankle appropriately. Do you ever try to stretch the skin with your other hand? And if you do, do you stretch from the top of the leg or the bottom? And if from the top, do you work from higher up the leg using shorter strokes?

Oops... that's more than one question...

Great people at srp to help you!....wecome.

I mostly just stretch the skin by flexing or moving the leg. If I stretch the skin with my hand, I pull up from above where I'm shaving, usually between 2 and 6 inches above, depending on the area.

Welcome to SRP. If you'd like a loner blade I should have one that's available until the other razor is finished with restoration. I understand if you'd rather use YOUR own razor. Also, I don't know that I have any razors that are short enough to be "ideal" for leg shaving but let me know if you're interested.

Thanks for the offer! I actually still need to pick up all the other essentials before I can take you up on that.

I'll have to start looking around for a brush, order some soap, and see about getting a strop first.

Greetings Izzy!

Welcome to SRP and straight shaving, sounds like you bagged yourself a good blade there.

Mamma Bear does a wonderful range of shave soaps or if you have sensitive skin Millers Wool Fat is about the best non irritant you can get IMHO.

If no one has mentioned it before check the Classifieds for your accessories or to get a better idea of what is available.

Have fun.