Thread: Second straight shave

My first went okay for those you who didn't read my first shave post. Lots of nicks, but no major hospital bills. Yesterday I shaved again with the straight and there was improvement. Hardly any nicks and much smoother. I did a little ATG work to clean up and that went pretty well too. My biggest issue is the closeness of the shave, or lack thereof. I have a new Dovo 5/8, half hollow. I sent it out to Max Sprecher to have it honed, so it is sharp. I guess I just need to keep working on technique, as in blade angle and keeping my skin taut. I think my lathering needs work too.
It is a challenge to get this right, but it is something I definitely look forward to improving on.
Any ideas, observations, or advice would greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I think you are definitely on the right path. If you know your blade is sharp then the big three IMO are 1. Angle 2. Skin stretch (flat) 3. Pressure.

Steel,
More pressure or less?
Which cigar is that in your photo? I'm having an Oliva Serie G maduro this fine morning.

Joel

Sounds like a great start! And your thinking all makes sense. There are a lot of possible variables to plug away at, which makes it hard to be systematic. You'll set them up and knock them down.

Just also remember the variable "time." Sometimes, I'm not working away at any particular elements of technique, but nonetheless detect improvement over time. I think my mind learns things pretty fast; but my body learns more slowly, over the long haul.

Sounds like your doing well. Its all about gradual reduction which is why you hear people talking about multiple passes. A single WTG for me gets a good bit of it but there is still some stuble. Just remember to take your time and pay attention to your results as you try different passes, angles, and amounts of pressure. Soon enough you will know what gets you that BBS with little to no irritation

I'd also think some about what a "close shave" is. A lot of us never really inspected our faces after our daily 5 or 10 minutes with a Mach 'whatever', but now we seek BBS. Truth is with 1 or 1 and 1/2 passes with a SR (WTG and some XTG) I get as good as a shave as anyone in my life, including me, expected. However, when things are going really well and I have a lot of time I re-lather or refresh the lather on parts of my face and try different angles and strokes. I can get BBS, but then, I'm not one who has ever had razor burn issues with any shaving device since I was 15 (50 years ago, OMG).

My ultimate test now isn't to feel my face with my hand, but to go over my whole beard with a very light lather and a double edge and listen. Most of the time (90% or more) I hear nothing except in one or two very hard to reach places on my neck, under my ears. As far as I'm concerned, that's what I'm aiming for, and someday, I'll master those spots with my SRs.