Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #15 - Sometimes Lube Just Isn't a Good Idea

Removed the Pre Shave oil from my routine and had a much better go of it.

T&H 1805 Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (13)
Alum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

Did a quick 3-passer. In a bit of a hurry to get out of the house, so no experiments. Just tried for a competent shave in a reasonable amount of time.

Result: BBS on face except mustache which was DFS. Neck DFS. Some irritation in mustache area, which is the area I irritated the most yesterday, so maybe left over from that. Very good shave, but I think in the future, when I'm needing to go out, I should switch to a 2-passer. It's quicker, and I don't think I'm really gaining so much by going with 3 passes.

Shave #15.5 - A Little Neck Noodling

Had a hurried shave this morning, so for some reason I decided to shave again this evening, but just the neck. I wanted to try some things on my neck, the only part of my face that consistently fails to come smooth.

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 4/8" Ugly Duckling
Alum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

I did 3 passes on my neck. Pass 1: N-S while doing a guillotine stroke running from left to right, approximately WTG. Pass 2: N-S while doing a guillotine stroke from right to left, approximately XTG. Pass 3: S-N while doing a guillotine stroke from right to left, ATG-ish.

Result: An improvement over my normal results, definitely quite a bit smoother, nearly BBS on my whole neck. So I think I've found a good way to approach shaving my neck in the future. I'm very happy with that as I want to try to peg down a solid routine for my shaves, think I'm closing in on it.

The bad news is that my skin has been a bit irritated for a day or so, and deciding to do an extra 3 passes on my neck today was not so smart. Got a full blown case of razor burn on the neck. My skin is generally normal to tough - I haven't had a real case of razor burn since I was young. Kinda forgot the feeling. Also, got a bit of a weeper on my S-N pass when I lopped the tip off a blemish.

Gonna call this experiment a success, but it might keep me out of the shave den for a day.

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.

Shave #17 - Always a Little Step Backwards

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (15)
Alum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

Tried to repeat the results of my last shave, so I kept everything the same for this shave. Though I repeated the same procedures and techniques, I did not repeat the results.

Result: Neck, chin and mustache - DFS. Cheeks BBS/DFS. One small nick on the chin which I didn't really feel happen.

I'm not too sure why the results lagged behind this time, but as I was shaving, I didn't feel like I was moving as smoothly as last time. Almost like mentally I didn't really feel like shaving and it showed in my movements and subsequently in the results. Also, my last shave was on 3 days growth, and I notice that I tend to get a better result when the whiskers are a bit longer.

Oh well, two steps forward and one step back is a pretty normal learning pattern.

The Art of Learning

What kind of person orders Ceviche from a taco truck parked outside a Canadian Tire in Moose Jaw? Clearly a person who is not going to find the bathroom in time - but, also a self-taught person and a believer in trial and error. But, is this the best way to learn? I wouldn't think so.

I'm mostly addressing this to other newbies who might be reading my journal. I'm very much a newbie, so do what I do at your own peril. Specifically, I jumped in and started doing 3-4 pass shaves right off the bat. Is this a good idea? Nope.

I have spent many years both learning and teaching martial arts. The way you learn martial arts is one very tiny step at a time. You learn a very small piece of the puzzle, practice it endlessly, and then add another very small piece. This is the best way to learn a physical skill. Learn one small thing - get it "in your hands" - and then move on and add another small bit.

Most of the veterans on this site recommend learning to straight razor shave very slowly. Start with a downward stroke on the sideburns of your dominant side. Get that under control and then slowly add pieces. Frankly, I also believe this is the best way to learn.

So, why haven't I been doing it that way? Well,... what can I tell ya...I'm a contrarian. Partly I suppose it is because I've been on summer vacation, so I've had a lot of free time to play around with my straight razor. If I had been working I wouldn't have had the spare time to be attempting so many passes. Since I headed back to work this week I may find myself doing less shaves and less passes now.

So for any newbie who might be reading my journal, in the interests of full disclosure, I should tell you, I am exactly the type of person who would order raw fish from a taco truck just to see how it goes. Follow my learning style at your own risk.

Darren

Shave #18 - ...And in an Apparent Contridiction to What I Just Said...

...Today's shave was great!

l'Occitane Shave Soap + T&H 1805 Shave Cream (über lather)
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (16)
Alum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

It was such a hot day, and I was out in it all morning and much of midday as well. Wasn't planning to shave. Didn't really need it, but I was looking for a way to refresh myself. Tried to concentrate on a gentle touch, just wiping the lather off my face.

Results: Most importantly, I'm refreshed and feel human again. I retried the 3.5 pass routine from shave #16. Got a nice result. Cheeks, mustache, soul patch, chin, under chin and left side of neck - BBS. Right side and center of neck - DFS+. I nicked the right side of my neck and so worked around the nick on the last 2 passes, likely resulting in my right side being a bit less smooth.

It was just such a fun and refreshing shave - I feel so much better.

Shave #19 - Playing with the Passes

I experimented with my passes a bit today.

l'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 4/8" Ugly Duckling (3)
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

Pass #1: N-S. Pass #2: N-S again. Pass #3: S-N.

I was just checking to see if the pass pattern I have been using is really paying dividends. It seems like it is, this shave wasn't quite up to standard.

Result: My face is actually pretty decent. Cheeks - BBS. Mustache, chin and soul patch - DFS. But, my neck is quite a bit below what I was achieving by making 4 passes, guillotining the neck in various direction. Neck - socially acceptable shave. No irritation at all.

My last 4 shaves have been cold water shaves. I have really been appreciating how refreshing that cool lather is during hot days. Also, with no heat, the lather is less prone to drying. Don't know why I never tried this sooner - I'll definitely be continuing the cold shaves at least until the weather turns.

For your inspiration and mine:

Chimensch's Shaving Video - YouTube