Thread: My boker straight is sharp enough to cut a held hair but I can't get a baby face shav

Question...are u shaving in the shower or at the sink. It is rarely if more like never recommended to str8 shave in the shower. Too many dangerous factors that then come into play. Do you have fixed mirror you can shave in front of.

Originally Posted by metulburr

How many passes are you doing?

I started with one. This cuts the hairs, but it is not baby face smooth. This, i go with the grain. I go with this when i am rushing. I bumped it to two passes to get agaisnt the grain. This pretty much gets it baby face smooth for me. However just a week ago, i started doing 3 passes because i found a patch above my jaw that kept getting bypassed along with a spot on my neck and chin that require special attention. It would mess up my rhythm. So i just do all the "odd" parts on the 3rd pass. I think after a couple months i am now aware of "how" to shave my face to get it all baby smooth.

At first i was particularly uncomfortable going against the grain. I cut myself almost each time. But i kept forcing myself to do it each time. It took me awhile to figure out how to do it properly. I still sometimes cut myself going against the grain, but now it only happens when i am trying to rush through it.

I shave with a zen like state (by which I mean I relax and focus intently) I use more than one pass and go sideways to the grain on my chin and use air in my cheeks etc... to compensate for hollows and my angular face as I am thin and don't have a nice rotund shaped face. I used to stretch my skin but found it no longer makes much difference. And by the time I am at a place where I can go against the grain e.g., after I have gotten what I can with the grain, my razors edge feels duller to where it pulls and I'm scared.

Sadly I don't know anyone personally that either does or used to shave with a straight razor other than myself as I am from an era where everyone started with a disposable and have seen via movies straight razors used as terrifying weapons by men and cartoons in zoot suits and thus our psychology has been conditioned to think only old men without any other choice or use is faked in movies such as James Bond (btw is not why I started using one it came up in results when I was searching about them)

Originally Posted by machv5

I am not being lazy I can't hold the mirror and shave at the same time in the bath. And yeas I can see my face properly I dunk the mirror in the hot water so it doesn't fog.

This is just comical and the source of your problems

I usually shave at the sink. And sometimes in the bath, hence my knowing my razor is sharp enough to cut skin with the slightest of touches. In the bath is also where I learned that dunking the mirror in the hot water stops it from fogging up. I tried once to shave without hot water towel conditioning or soaking for 20mins in the tub and the pain from what seemed like ripping my hair out and fear of permanent scaring stopped me halfway through the second stroke.

OK I'm getting a bit off topic I think. I am off to shave now and will try the face stretching techniques, as to be honest I can't remember when I did that throughout the shave since I got my hone. I will get back to you in about an hour unless I fail horribly which will take longer assuming I don't bleed to death before the paramedics arrive. lol

Originally Posted by RedGladiator

This is just comical and the source of your problems

Hey, it's a zen thing ........

Shaving in the shower might be alright for a cartridge, maybe even a DE, but with a straight razor it is advisable to stretch the skin with the opposite hand. Unless you do that you'll never get a satisfactory shave, even if the razor is properly shave ready. Begin to properly stretch skin when shaving, and then, and only then, will you determine if the razor is shave ready.

Originally Posted by RedGladiator

This is just comical and the source of your problems

Sorry I have a tendancy to add humor into my forum posts and that one actually wasn't meant to be one of them and was due to my having issues with a foggy mirror in the past. I just envisioned a response to the state of my mirror as hot water. I would have thought to ask that as I live in Canada and it's -12c outside right now and a foggy mirror is an issue for me

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Hey, it's a zen thing ........

Shaving in the shower might be alright for a cartridge, maybe even a DE, but with a straight razor it is advisable to stretch the skin with the opposite hand. Unless you do that you'll never get a satisfactory shave, even if the razor is properly shave ready. Begin to properly stretch skin when shaving, and then, and only then, will you determine if the razor is shave ready.

ty. and it actually is for me odd as that sounds and one of the only times I can shut off my head completely and just exist in the moment.

With this situation I think there is more than one thing going on here that needs to be addressed. One is that u are still new to str8 shaving. When I think new I think anyone <1 yr under their belt. And with that you are still dealing with the learning curve. Especially since you said that you don't know anyone personally that str8 shaves. Granted I'm like that also but I look up to people here on SRP who have shown yrs of experience as the guru's (at least to me) whether I like what they say or not.

2. From what has been said I don't think that you have provided yourself with a good shave den setup that will optimize your performance while reducing your learning curve. For example make sure you have a fixed mirror you can shave in front of. I have seen picks of some peoples shave den be in their bedroom but they get good shaves. If fogging is an issue. Wipe it down, crack a window or door, or go get some rain-x anti-fog. But you will need both hands at all times when str8 shaving in order to get the best results.

3rd and lastly. Though we recommend in order to get the most comfortable shave to prep your beard, if your razor is pulling that much on an unpreped beard I would want to think that your razor is not "shave ready" even though it passes what we call a HHT. Only the shave test will tell if the razor is shave ready. And so I might venture to say even though I think it is too much a go to answer for too many here. Here I go. Your bevel may not be set anymore or needs a good refresh. So either give it a good refreshing to where it passes the shave test or go ahead and rehone from bevel set. Plus not having a good strop will definitely hurt your results so I would get that alleviated ASAP.

I too see a few issues here. One is your technique and lack of skin stretching and the other is it sounds like you need a proper strop. I would think that if you start with a shave ready razor it would take some of the variables out of the equation. There are quite a few members in Ontario and a few guys that hone. I think you might want to try to hook up with someone in your area. This might work better if you put a more specific location in your profile

Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8

With this situation I think there is more than one thing going on here that needs to be addressed. One is that u are still new to str8 shaving. When I think new I think anyone <1 yr under their belt. And with that you are still dealing with the learning curve. Especially since you said that you don't know anyone personally that str8 shaves. Granted I'm like that also but I look up to people here on SRP who have shown yrs of experience as the guru's (at least to me) whether I like what they say or not.

2. From what has been said I don't think that you have provided yourself with a good shave den setup that will optimize your performance while reducing your learning curve. For example make sure you have a fixed mirror you can shave in front of. I have seen picks of some peoples shave den be in their bedroom but they get good shaves. If fogging is an issue. Wipe it down, crack a window or door, or go get some rain-x anti-fog. But you will need both hands at all times when str8 shaving in order to get the best results.

3rd and lastly. Though we recommend in order to get the most comfortable shave to prep your beard, if your razor is pulling that much on an unpreped beard I would want to think that your razor is not "shave ready" even though it passes what we call a HHT. Only the shave test will tell if the razor is shave ready. And so I might venture to say even though I think it is too much a go to answer for too many here. Here I go. Your bevel may not be set anymore or needs a good refresh. So either give it a good refreshing to where it passes the shave test or go ahead and rehone from bevel set. Plus not having a good strop will definitely hurt your results so I would get that alleviated ASAP.

I assume HHT stands for hanging hair test. I last tried the cold shave when I was only using a 4000 grit stone and my belt for a strop. I agree with your comment on experience fully, I still feel like a noobie when it comes to str8 shaving. I will invest in a proper strop when I can. And I will seek out a pro to see what actual shape my razor is in I did find one here in Ottawa but haven't as yet followed up and met him. I tried the against the grain but couldn't complete my entire face due to a few skips which were due to too much trepidation and a lack of confidence. However where I did manage to complete the against grain shaving I have to say it is as close to pre-pubescent as I can get without reverting back to 10yrs old so that did help. Once I have attempted the against grain shaving more and become comfortable with doing so I believe I will achieve what I am after as an end result and coupled with more knowledge on honing etc... I appreciate all the quick responses and advice.