Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

So, made my first attempt at a straight razor shave. Surprised myself by having a nice smooth (with the grain pass) right out of the gate. Then switched hands to tackle the left (non-dominant) side of my face...and the wheels fell off.

My razor instantly dulled in my left hand, and snapped back to life in the right. My hand shook, more than usual. The left side of my face looked like a dog with the mange.

Any of you have similar problems? Any tips?

Darren

Welcome to SRP Darren, from a fellow Canadian

It sounds like you didn't have the right angle when you switched to your left hand, and the infirm grip probably didn't help either. I'd recommend taking baby steps when using your left for now - just do small sections until you don't feel comfortable anymore and then switch back to your dominant hand to finish it off. It will become easier with practice, I promise

In the mean time you can practice using your left hand by doing tasks like brushing your teeth. Another popular task is using a butter knife to "pretend" shave.

Keep us posted.

Thanks for the advice Ryan. I'll practice patience. Not my strong suit. In truth, I did a complete shave by "accident", originally only intending to make a single swipe along my right cheek.

Yea, I think most people have had similar problems using the non dominant hand at the start. Its very hard to trust the non dominant hand to do what you want it to do when it is holding a very sharp piece of steel to your face. That automatically makes it nearly impossible to hold the razor with a firm confident grip that you need to. That trust and confident grip come with time and practice. take it slow, use short strokes and it will come.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, I think most people have had similar problems using the non dominant hand at the start. Its very hard to trust the non dominant hand to do what you want it to do when it is holding a very sharp piece of steel to your face. That automatically makes it nearly impossible to hold the razor with a firm confident grip that you need to. That trust and confident grip come with time and practice. take it slow, use short strokes and it will come.

Bob

There's a good reason for not trusting. Actual neurological/muscular inferiority. Neural pathways simply not established. And so it takes time to actually lay down the connections. There's a really easy way to see this, for those who can raise their right eyebrow (like Spock). Try and raise the left. Same head, same brain, different result!

Shave # 16 - Now That's What I'm Talkin' About!

l'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (14)
Alum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

Now that's a shave! After shave 15.5, I let my skin rest a couple of days before trying to apply some of what I learned.

Pass 1 (N-S): Went straight N-S on the face, but when I got to the jaw line I began sliding the blade downwards and towards the ear (guillotine strokes towards the ear) for each side of my neck.

Pass 2 (W-E E-W): Made a bit of a change here and began making my XTG pass on the face by starting at the nose and moving towards the ear, using the same hand as the side of the face being worked on. It seems to be a bit easier than how I was doing it before. When I reached the neck I did guillotine strokes from the ear downward and across towards the adam's apple.

Pass 3 (S-N): Straight S-N both on the neck and face.

Pass 3.5: Guillotine stroke S-N and from right to left around the whole neck. Did not shave my face, just the neck.

Today I did a cold water shave, not really to experiment with cold water shaving, I was simply hot and this was a pleasant way to refresh myself. This whole shave I concentrated on one thing - using the lightest touch possible. I did not try to "shave" at all, instead I visualized myself simply lightly wiping the lather off my face with the blade. *BOOM* Awesome result.

Results: Cheeks, moustache, chin, under the chin, left side of neck and right side of the neck - BBS!!! Soul patch and center of the neck - DFS+. Not even the slightest hint of irritation. Just an awesome shave!

Conceptualizing simply lightly wiping the lather off my face with the razor really improved all my passes. but especially the ATG passes. I did not have my normal problems with juttering the razor or getting caught up on the whiskers...I just very smoothly removed the lather. A bit like punching something and visualizing following through the moment of impact and past whatever you're hitting (studied martial arts). Likewise while simultaneously cutting upwards and sideways on my neck, I never felt any real danger of cutting myself, presumably because of the very light touch.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Another popular task is using a butter knife to "pretend" shave.

The butter knife is also good to use learning to strop!!

I agree with the previous comment about the angle, or what I refer to as angle of attack. This term from flying applies well to straight razor shaving if you ask me. Have the correct angle of attack or you will stall in your quest to get the best shave of your life! And as you perhaps know, a poor angle of attack in flying leads to the same issue in straight razor shaving; blood being shed.

Hi Augustagj,

Thanks for reading and commenting. I assume that your reply refers to one of my earlier posts, but nonetheless I appreciate the interest.


Shave #197 - Shavette Shavexperiment

Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Don Jae Chopper + Feather (6)
Krampert's Finest Frostbite

I decided to try my dulled Feather blade in the shavette to see how it works. I have tried this before, but I think I had used the blade less times in the DE before repurposing it to the shavette. That time I found the blade much too cutty and dangerous. After 5 DE shaves the Feather felt fine in my shavette, however at the end of the shave when I rinsed my face, I found that I had about 20 micro-cuts that I hadn't felt happen. I'm not sure how much this is due to lack of shavette practice vs. the residual sharpness of the blade. Since the blade felt fine, I'm guessing it is down to technique. If that is correct, I reckon I could get another 2 shaves per side out of the DE blade. But, I don't suppose I really need to save those pennies, and still prefer a duller/smoother blade in the shavette.

As for this shave, I did 2 passes N-S and S-N, no extra cleanup on the neck. My face is BBS and my neck is CCS, but I look a bit of a mess, little red cuts everywhere.

Shave #197.1 - Happy New Year

Klar Seifen Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (1)
PAA CaD

A little neck clean up after 3 pass, and the new Feather has delivered a comfortable BBS.



Happy New Year