Thread: Beginner Update

Ok - so I've been shaving with a straight since 9/9. . . three weeks . . . and probably about 16-18 shaves? So yes, I'm now a tried and true expert!

The last few weeks I've been getting good WTG, XTG shaves, and added in ATG last week to start working. As a whole, I skip "problem areas" in my ATG passes and even a bit XTG, but overall, I'm feeling pretty good. So, this morning, with a bit of extra time, I decided to take it slow and really break down what I was doing. Now, perhaps something that should be done at the start, but honestly, the experience of a dozen plus decent shaves has helped me understand the game, and now I decided to be more analytical.

So, I broke my face down - right sideburn, right cheek, right neck, right jawline, right side of chin, middle of throat, left sideburn, left cheek, left neck, left jawline, left side of chin, upper lip. Twelve different areas. I then proceed to shave each of those four different ways - WTG, XTG, XTG (other way), ATG. To solidify the feedback, I did all four passes for each area before moving on to the next. So I shaved my sideburn four times before sliding over to do the cheek, etc. I did have to reload my brush once before I did the chin and upper lip area, but otherwise just marched on through.

Some lessons learned (hopefully to help others) and feedback

1. Best, smoothest shave I've ever had. Period
2. A bit of irritation/razor burn, but that came from two pieces - first, was four pass shaves, and second, I didn't do any post shave treatment as I moved from area 1 to 2, to 12. So, hindsight - my right jawline is a bit irritated (area 4), but upper lip is great (area 12)! (Lesson learned, if you are going to march through like this, maybe do some post-shave treatment on the "right" side before moving to the left? Or don't decide to do all 12 areas in one shave routine . . . )
3. Skin stretching is really important for two reasons I found: the closeness of the shave, but also, it keeps skin from bunching up. I ran into a bit of that issue on my chin and by working slowly through the passes and concentrating on the skin creases, and eliminating those, I was able to go with some XTG strokes much easier!
4. Scything motion - especially WTG, I was able to get a lot closer with the right skin stretching. Still working on it, but I'm finding the slight circular motion is helpful, albeit a bit more difficult, than just a diagonal pass . . . but both work better than just a straight cut.
5. Grain growth patterns - thought I had that figured out, but actually noticed my neck growth, while I thought was more down at 45-degrees from the center is more 90-degrees to the sides of the neck. Part of it is down and out, part is just out. I noticed that big time as I slowly moved the razor for the XTG strokes, and realized some of it was pulling a bit more, and it wasn't my angle or technique, but I was actually starting to cut ATG. So, a bit of a mapping update.
6. Play with grips - I did everything from the "standard" L shape, moving it to a 7, to straight out like the Japanese blades, and even folder all the way back around so the spine was next to the scales. Also, determined to at least try, even did ATG on the upper lip - held the blade at the shoulder with one hand and at the tip of the spine with the other and moved it slowly through the mustache area. (Recommendation - wouldn't normally do that, but it did get some tough whiskers and was pretty safe with that much control on the blade.)
7. Play with the blade and contours - found several spots where most of the blade was off the face, and only a part of the blade did any work, and it worked great with careful planning as to when a part of the blade that was "in the clear" would run into a new curve of the face and possibly do some more work or cutting.
8. Finally, pausing after each section - got great feedback on where the stubborn whiskers are or where gaps in my technique exist. Fun part was that in some cases, it was quite different on right and left sides where i was using different hands or grips. But, that should help in the future know where I need to concentrate the shave a bit more.

Overall - fantastic shave, two small nicks on the chin, and a bit of irritation due to some lack of post-shave treatment in a timely manner...

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

Great write up! Glad to hear your shave journey is going so well. Some real easy post shave treatments is an alum block and/or some witch hazel.

Originally Posted by MattCB

Great write up! Glad to hear your shave journey is going so well. Some real easy post shave treatments is an alum block and/or some witch hazel.

Thanks - and yes, I think the next post-shave treatments might involve those as well as trying a new after-shave. My experiment though does help to reinforce the idea of doing post-shave treatments after shaving and not waiting too long! My face feels like a case-study in comfort vs. irritation; and it goes almost directly in the opposite of the shave order I did . . .

skin irritation can come from pressure and blade angle as well.... when I started out I was getting some razor burn, but that's all gone now

Congrats. I hope I am as fortunate in my journey.

See what you can do when you pay attention to your technique. Sounds like good progress. I'm sure your shaves will continue to progress with fewer but still great aha moments.

Originally Posted by RezDog

See what you can do when you pay attention to your technique. Sounds like good progress. I'm sure your shaves will continue to progress with fewer but still great aha moments.

Bottom line ... Shaving has completely gone from a chore to a fun experience every day.