"shave the lather, not the beard"

[Haroldg48]

That quote is in a post by Razorfeld in a thread on sensitivity, and he said it was originally posted by another member, but it struck me as so insightful that I thought it was worth its own thread in the Beginners section of the forum.

i think one of the worst mistakes I made when starting out (and still do occasionally) is bearing down on the blade to try to get a closer shave. I can testify, it leads to nothing good. Maybe you're trying to make up for a dull blade or bad technique, bad lather, or lack of stretching, but with a properly honed razor, the truth is that almost no pressure is needed if all else is done correctly.

I concentrated on it this morning, when using an extra hollow singing blade, and with just enough pressure to wipe the lather off, the razor swept through the whiskers.

For all those recent starters with a SR, try it with a razor you know is well honed. I think you should be pleasantly surprised to find that excess pressure actually gives you worse results than just "shaving the lather".