Thread: My Thiers-Issard

Thanks to all for input!

By coincidence I have just had my almost weekly shave. No sniggering please, at least it saves me time...

I am getting very slowly better. However, I do feel I am struggling with the areas around the mouth. Upper lip just below the nose, just under the lower lip, and the lower chin area are all difficult.

I suspect these difficulties might have been encountered before by learners. Are there any existing pages on these areas?

That's a nice razor!

Just a word of advice about keeping it clean. If and when you feel the need to polish the blade, son't go anywhere near that gold with any kind of metal polish. Odds are it will disappear in a flash!

The good news about those tricky parts of the shave is that you are not at all alone. Some guys who have been straight shaving for years still run into troubles with them. I'm sure there is loads of info on just those areas if you take a look around both the forum and the wiki. I'll see what I can find and post links here.

My advice for the moment:

1) around the mouth: I almost always have to go back and get a few stray whiskers lurking right at the corner of my mouth after finishing my last pass. I suppose I could do a better job of stretching that bit of skin while shaving, but that's a good habit I never quite developed. I find that stretching that bit from the inside with my tongue works best. But as everyone's face is built differently, that may or may not work for you.

2) upper lip: do not worry at all about going against the grain (i.e. south to north towards your nose). Bad things can happen doing that if you're not careful. This is also known as the fool's pass or even the suicide pass. Don't worry, you're not likely to do yourself in with it, but the odds of a significant cut can be pretty high. I've been straight shaving for around 5 years now and I have done that pass about five times. In my book, it just isn't worth it. So stick with the north-south (nose down) stroke, and if you're feeling comfortable, add in an across the grain pass (east-west or west-east)

3) lower chin: another tricky one. If you are doing an against-the-grain pass there, keep your touch light, and lower the razor's angle a bit. I.e. if you normally have it raised two spine widths, drop it down to one and see if that helps. I find XTG (i.e. east-west) strokes are the most effective in that area for me. But again, depending on face shape and the direction your beard grows, that may or may not hold true for you as well.

So take comfort in the fact we've all been there, and most of us have had exactly the same difficulties with those areas. They are tricky ones.

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

I wonder if a singer is the right razor for me considering my tough beard?

If your technique is correct, ie spine kept low to the skin, the grind is irrelevant.