Measured Progress

Just wanted to hop on here and thank everyone for their help so far and for building such a great resource in this site!:bow

What a great feeling...I am on approximately my 7th shave and have been making steady progress. I have not got a BBS shave or eliminated all of the razor burn yet, but I am getting more and more confident which is allowing me to focus on utilizing more of the edge on each pass and keep a light touch. Tonight I had very little burn on my face (not neck) when I applied my aftershave:y. I have gotten fairly comfortable with the 1st pass on my face. I purposefully did not call it a WTG pass, because the hair on my cheeks grows diagonally and I am using a down stroke. So it is almost like a XTG pass first up. So here comes my first question. As I am sitting here writing this I had an idea. Should I try to alter my first pass to be more of a WTG?

Tonight I also started venturing into XTG and ATG passes. My cheeks and chin went fairly well. However, I am struggling with my neck...all of those curves, loose skin, and weird hair growth:banghead:. I know that it will just take some time, but I have been known to lack patience:rofl2:. One thing I will say is that I did not expect my left hand (non-dominant) to be the one that I am most comfortable with using on my chin, upper lip, and neck:shrug:.

So, time for my next question. I started by using Baum.be shaving cream. It lathers well and does not irritate my skin. Furthermore, it has a nice fragrance. However, I am moving a little bit slow during my shaves and find that by the time I get over to the left of my face the cream has started to dry and flake. Has anyone else experience this and if so what do you do to remedy it?

Ok, well I apologize for such a long post, but really appreciate the communal knowledge here. One last thing I wanted to ask is about Mentors. I have already asked if there are any in the Shanghai area and don't believe there are. If any of the forum Mentors would be willing to coach remotely, either through Skype or recordings, please let me know. I am keen on having an extra set of eyes on my shave and stropping technique.

:beer1:,

Brandon

Good to hear that you are getting better shaves. If you can go more wtg that might help reduce the irritation by removing more of the whisker before the xtg you are doing. Try lathering only 1 area at a time. Also glycerin in the lather might help. With the left hand many are surprised at how well they can shave with it and find it to have a lighter touch. Good luck and hope the shaves keep improving

Glad to hear that you are making measured progress. You could try altering your stoke to get a more WTG pass but OTH when you do your XTG pass you take care of that anyway. Sort of some and now some later. Where I do think altering your stroke to match the growth pattern on your face is really important is on the ATG stroke.

When you go ATG you should use a low angle on the razor, spine very close to the skin. Stretching the skin is very important especially while doing the neck. Raise your chin as High as you can, look to the opposite side of the part of the neck you are doing. I mean if you are on the left side look up and to the right. You can also use your free hand to pull down at the same time. When shaving around the Adam's Apple you can use your free hand to move the skin on it off to the side too.

When I first started I had the same problem with the lather drying out and flaking before I got to the last part to do. I was just going so slowly that it dried out. I would try lathering only the part of your face that you are working, just do it in stages. Once you are a little quicker in your shaving routine and are still getting this problem the you might be making your lather too dry to start with and should use a bit more water.

Bob

'Big bravo, Brandon. You're doing better than most & certainly better than I did.

Early on, we've got to take our time in the shave, often 45min or more to complete a multi-pass shave. No later can stand up that long and stay moist. One approach is to lather one area at a time. 'Works fine, but you might want to keep the rest of the beard wet by repeatedly moistening w/ water. That way the beard doesn't lose all the bloating that makes it easy to shave.

How to tell when the lather is too dry? When running water won't rinse all soap off the blade. Continuing to shave w/ dry lather is more likely to nick.

When it has gotten too dry, simply painting water over dry lather won't help. The moisture needs to reach the skin - so dipping the tip of a brush in water & re-lathering the dry area will get the water where it needs to be.

Its good to hear its going so well. I've read alot of posts that say guys were still trying new stretches and stroke for 6 months. I may be a slow learner, but I still try new ones for my more difficult areas.

'Hope the enjoyment continues. I know the improvement will.

Thanks everyone for their input. Like most things in life this is a dance...and I took a step back today:gaah:

I should have singled out my variables, but I chose to try soap instead of cream and change my WTG pass. I did not cut myself, but it definitely did not end up being a good shave. I am pretty burned and not clear which change caused it. I think I will go back to my old routine and just take it slow.

One other thing that I changed today and felt was successful was the placement of my strop. Originally I had it hanging from the hand towel rack near the sink. This caused me to hunch and fight with the shower to get a placement for stropping. Yesterday I read on the forum that the strop should be hung higher, so I placed it on a towel rack about neck height. This made it much more comfortable to strop my razor and I felt like the contact I was getting with my blade was far more consistent.