Originally Posted by
RazorCut
We'll I'm on my way not sure to where yet :P but I'm getting there or so I think :). Shave #2 and #3 complete. Shave #1 I made a uberlath, shave #2 I swapped to just a soap lath and on #3 I went with just a cream lath, tried a different blade derby vs. the previous merkur as well as a AOS pre shave oil sample in lieu of my musgo oil. I must say wow that AOS oil is so thick they may as well call it grease. Also I really liked the C.O. Bigelow on its own, stuff is so easy for me to use and it forms up so quickly too. So here goes a few questions I have thus far:
1) Preshave oil. Optional or necessary / highly recommended? I find it helps with glide but at the same time makes it very difficult to stretch skin because everything just slides. In turn this effects how close of shave I get because I cant seem to get the whiskers to lift up with a stretch, Am I doing something wrong?
2) Disposable blade differences. I realize by and large the difference will most likely simply boil down to technique/experience for good/bad shaves but aside from that how readily should one expect to be able to tell the differences between blades that work and don't? It's hard to figure out with the multiple variables. I was just wondering if the differences are subtle in most all cases and only really perceived later down the road once one is more proficient OR are some differences so significant you can notice them right away even if you don't fully have the hang of things yet? Again, hard for me to tell with multiple variables.
3)Technique / angles. It seems like a lot of howto's, vids, etc. say the area around the chin and mouth are the toughest but I find them to be a breeze. However, I struggle like crazy on my neck. I mean, it seems so obvious and straight forward but I just cannot find any comfortable angle to save my life, even when practicing in the mirror with no blade and cream. I understand the concept of using your hand for the side its on instead of just using your dominant hand for both. Well that's with my understanding being that the large reason behind dual hands is visibility, please correct me if otherwise. The point I'm headed to is, while I was dry run practicing (no blade) I finally found something comfortable using my right hand on my left side and vise versa. Is this a bad idea to try and if so why? I don't want to start any bad habits but it is the only position I've found even remotely comfortable. I've heard you gotta find what works for you but to what end? On shave #3 I tried to force my wrist to do things I know I really shouldn't have but I still did it just to try and get some angles and nicked myself several good times. Needless to say, lesson learned, don't force something, especially when you know you shouldn't :). Anyway I just cannot seem to either hold the razor properly and/or bend my wrist to the right angle, especially on the upstrokes towards my jaw line. I could really use some tips to try here or some good videos on various strokes on the neck (specifically the back/sides, not front/center).
Thanks all.