Thread: Noob advice? Stubble 1 hour later.

Originally Posted by jgjgjg

When I shaved this morning I noticed something consistent between this 'I resharpened my razor' shave and the other shaves I've taken in this new world. I'm delightfully wonderfully smooth after I shave.

But as I drive work, my face becomes noticeably stubblier. And it's demonstrably time based. When I get in my car, I'm still pretty good. But by the time I get to the office, I can feel lots of stubble.

Clearly, this is user error. Is it more likely to be error in face prep? The shave? The (lack of) post shave treatment? All three? Where I should I go look first? Note that I don't have this issue with the cartridge razors, so I knows it's technique and not biology.

This phenomenon was first identified by the Dutch. It's called "faceshrinkiehairstiffen". Best described as inflammation caused by a bad shave, which upon resolving exposes the uncut stubble.

Sadly the cause is usually impossible to determine, and subject often experience denial.

Michael

Another reason to cold shave as cold makes the skin shrink. Hot water would cause the skin to swell. No science but it works for me. From the first cold shave.

I agree with Bob. Its easier to adjust your stroke than to grind it flat. You can certainly do that, but a surprising amount of razors new and old are not flat, but warped, short at the toe, heel etc. Glad to see the technique is improving as the results were better. All these will improve with experience and take some time to master, but you will master these if you keep going. Keep us informed as Im very glad to hear of the
progress. Lynns dvd is recommended as it covers it all. Worth the $20 IMO.

Just a quick addition here since no one seemed to answer the stretching with cartridge razor question. The better cartridge razors do indeed accomplish some of the stretching for you. They have that little rubber strip that grips and pulls the skin on your face to stretch it a bit...it doesn't take much to help. Also the multi blade cartridges tend to do this even more as they dull, since the first blade will grab and tug, then the next sharper blade will do the cutting.

So you DO need to make sure you are stretching the skin if you want the closest shave!

I have the same problem as the original poster. If I am up and moving for an hour or two before the shave, I get a nice 24 hour shave. If I shave upon awakening I have stubble an hour later, stretched skin or not. Most safety razor bars/combs do stretch the skin just ahead of the cutting edge.
So my opinion is that my facial skin is swollen / fluid bearing until circulation redistributes the fluid. The cold water shave mentioned above is a good idea...but...I started Str8 shaving to enjoy the process!
Anyhow a good scientific wild a** guess! YMMV
~Richard