Suggestions on how to Advance

The story thus far:
I have a Dovo Best Quality 6/8, 3" Strop, 3 shave soaps/creams I alternate with. Shaved about 30 times WTG only and followed up with a 2nd pass with my DE. Rarely cut myself anymore! Yay!

I'd like to move up. That means (to me) to try and tackle an XTG or ATG as my second pass.

Which one of these do you recommend? And, what would be the best way to approach it w/out losing blood. I don't want to look like I just wrestled a panther. (Been there, done that).

Thanks for any tips.

PaBlum

PS: I also have a Dreadnought Shavette but that is most likely irrelevant here

If you go slow (meaning start with one XTG or ATG stroke on an easy area and expand as you get comfortable), stretch your skin and keep the angle low you should be good.

I'd say XTG or ATG depends on what's more ergonomic for you - as you've probably figured it out already straight razor shaving is mostly about building the muscle memory. So, the conventional wisdom is to start with easier tasks and increase the difficulty as you get proficiency.

You may want to get your razor touched up, too. At 30 shaves as a beginner a refresh is not out of ordinary. Sharper razor is better than less sharp :)

Funny you should say refresh. I have a balsa wood strop and some pastes that I was planning to try out this week. I was just reading a nice thread on pasted stropping to mentally prepare myself for the task.

Yep, great! I'd do chromium oxide, less is more (basically few light green skidmarks is all it takes) :)

I cannot disagree with the advice given, but would like to pitch in on the importance of skin stretching and holding, especially against or across the grain. As always slow and steady wins the race, so don't rush your shave or your learning, although I have to say it sounds like you have been taking your time at it.

Right you are! I got my last cut, a deep one, by forgetting to stretch the skin in my cheek and perhaps having too steep an angle. Too bad I can't time it to shave after I have my coffee :-).

Wasn't there a song from "South Pacific" that was called: "You have to be taut"??? :rofl2:

I would do XTG next. Once you've got a few WTG and XTG shaves under your belt, look at adding ATG.

I'm back after a few days of trying out these suggestions.

The balsa wood strop I got at Whipped Dog has two sides. One has Iron Oxide (Red, 0.1 microns) and the Other Chromium Oxide (green, 0.3 microns). Oxide should not be confused with Oxhide which is the stuff that is on the outside of an ox and would probably make good strops.

Per instructions, I stropped 20 times on the green, followed by 20 times on the red, followed by 40 times on leather.

Yes, it made a difference. I even nicked my chin. All this time I thought I was getting better but my blade was getting duller :-). Guess I need to hit the balsa every few weeks.

Per suggestion, I only added XTG. First pass was WTG. 2nd XTG. 3rd DE. I lathered before each pass. Then Witch Hazel and then skin moisturizer to finish off.

After getting over the shock of looking into the mirror, it seemed obvious (to me?) that the only part of the face that XTG would work is my cheeks. My chin area is short strokes, manipulated to follow the chin planes. I have a mustache, so under the nose gets skipped. And my neck must only be for WTG & ATG. I can't imagine going XTG.

I've been shaving like that for about four or five shaves now.

That leaves some questions.

Does what I said make sense or are there things I need to vary?

Am I ready for ATG or should I stick with XTG for a while longer?

Am I correct in thinking that ATG should be for both the neck (as a 2nd pass) and for the cheek areas (for a third pass)?

It would probably be prudent to take either the cheek or neck first and add the other once I got it perfected. Which one is easier?

Thanks, in advance, for your patience and suggestions.

PaulB

3 or 4 passes leaves my skin irritated, so I only do WTG and ATG. Go slow and get as close as you can on the WTG pass.

large flat areas that visibility is good for are going to be the easiest so cheeks.

you are ready when you think you are, there are no rules or hours requirements, give it a go, if it isnt working out for you then stop.

i wouldn't recommend heaps of passes it will just end in pain, its better to have a comfortable shave than a sore one.

Thanks.

So, if I understand correctly: you are saying that I shouldn't go for lots of passes using various techniques but to pick a technique or two that works best in each area.

Is that correct?

In my opinion that would be correct. For me I attempted multiple passes before I really had a good wtg pass. Now for me I really concentrate on getting a really good wtg pass. I am a noob too. But I have found as I get better and better with the razor the only area I really need a second pass on is my under jaw area and chin. For me after abandoning multiple passes for about a month I found my skills had improved quite a bit to where I had a better understanding of how to attempt the other passes. I get a great ccs now with a daily wtg pass only. On special occasions or when my first pass just goes super well is the only time I do multiple passes.

Multiple pass shaves are overrated in my opinion, I do a BBS every now and then for special occasions , but with a properly honed razor and good lather and technigue( which comes from. Many. Many shaves) you will get a great shave with a WTG and some touch up buffing, and aless chance of razor burn. Don't get me wrong I love doing the whole thing , but daily shaving has found me happy without all the different directions , and you can only tell by rubbing my face , and the wife hasn't complained. Tc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PaBlum

Thanks.

So, if I understand correctly: you are saying that I shouldn't go for lots of passes using various techniques but to pick a technique or two that works best in each area.

Is that correct?

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Well sort of, you really want to get comfortable with the basics, then slowly introduce new things. You can just go for broke, but it will be harder to remember what does and doesn't work, best angles etc.
Once you are happy with your with the grain pass then give an across or against the grain pass a try on the easy sections of your face, then move on to the trickier bits, then try the more technical strokes and so forth much like learning any fine motor skills.

So I suppose the short answer is yes :)

You need to map out your beard. Everyone has a different growth pattern. Once you figure out yours then you will know what type of strokes you need to get the kind of shave you want.

Don't rush things. As you gain facility with the razor the difficult strokes will just come by themselves and seem easy. If you are doing a stroke and you feel really ham handed doing it that is a sign you are not ready for it.

You can also practice these strokes using a butter knife or an eboy special with the edge taken off.

I use a shavette with blade removed to practice my strokes. Thanks, all!

BLOOD, BLOOD EVERYWHERE!

That should get your attention. The following is why I should be named Turkey of the Week!

Yesterday morning, I just practiced my normal shave routine, not adding anything but being mindful of technique.

All went well, I thought.

So, i turned to my strop and gave the blade 40 round trips, my normal routine.

I turned back to the sink, wiped the blade, and then snapped it shut. OUCH! I wasn't paying attention to the position of my left hand (I'm right handed) and as the blade snapped shut, it sliced through the skin of my left index finger!

Blood everywhere! Luckily no artery or other serious thing was cut, but the pain and the blood took a while to stop. Of course, I felt stupid and was going to nominate myself for turkey of the day.

WAIT! There's more!

I said Turkey of the week, not day, didn't I?

Last night I took off the bandaid (actually the 2nd one as I had changed it) since I knew it was important to let air get to it.

This AM, I went to brush my teeth prior to shaving, and wrapped the floss around (you guessed it) my left index finger!

OUCH! I had forgotten all about the cut. It was now bleeding and in pain again. Now you know why I always buy Neosporin antiseptic with pain reliever in it.

Afterwards, I carefully went through the normal routine, being super careful and I did not add on anything since what happened yesterday and this morning.

Gobble, gobble!

Ouch, usually it is such a clean cut that it heals quickly and I hope that it does. Did you take a photo, if so post it in cut of the day.... With the rest of it, in my opinion take it easy and concentrate on getting a comfortable shave. I found that my technique progressed over a very short time and now after two years, I am getting a DFS with one pass and touch up. Under the neck will always be annoying, if I am on my right side and look up to the left and visa versa the plane of my neck is sort of flat which means I can get a almost XTG pass. My hair tends to grow toward my jaw line on the neck, however there is a little sort of crown in the middle of my neck where hair changes direction all over the place, that seems to have sort itself out now. I left the extreme experimenting for holidays where I could leave my beard to grow if it went a bit pair shaped.

Hi Paul

You have probably done this but I would map your beard so you know the direction of hair growth. This knowledge will be used to decide which stroke will be best. Like Ed said, knowing where the larger areas with a consistent growth pattern are located will indicate the place to start WTG.

As for me, I do almost no Against The Grain. My 66 year old skin does not like being assaulted in that manner. Once you get this shaving with a SR down, a one pass shave will probably serve your needs. YMMV

My 66 year old skin turns 67 later this month. I've been kind of nervous about ATG so it may be better that I stay away from it. Something to think about. I suspect that i may have to skip a day shaving to better see which way the hair wants to grow,

PaBlum, I'm 82 and shave in all directions, but I'll only address the neck. I had a lot of trouble getting a close shave on my neck area until I saw in a couple of videos of olde timey barbers start the shave on their customer by going ATG on the neck areas. I tried this with a shallow angle and followed it with a WTG pass. Miracles of miracles, smooth shaven neck area until I realized that there were little islands of minor stubble still there. Read up, in the Library, on the different shaving strokes that can be used. I adapted a guillotine stroke to address those area with success.

Read on those strokes and take your time in adapting to your use and I'm sure you will be pleased with the results.

The last few days has seen two errors and a big advance.

Error 1: One morning I didn't shower and should have spent time prepping my beard. Since I didn't, I thought my razor had dulled so I sharpened it.
Error 2: I watched someone's video and it seemed that he held his razor with a steep angle. I tried that and cut myself with my newly sharpened razor (see error 1)

The breakthrough:

I was never comfortable with the term "muscle memory". I tend to take things literally and I know that muscles don't really have memory.

I watched some shaving videos and read some texts (perhaps some I saw & read before) and picked up stuff I missed. Those taken with what you guys have been trying to drill into my head was coming together and making sense to me.

To put it in my words: The art of shaving (not related to the business by the same name) involves multiple skills that have to develop into habits. These habits need to work with each other in their proper amounts to result in a successful shave. So, I as a shaver, must practice each skill and coordinate the skills properly and be able to repeat all that easily. That is why it takes about 100 shave to get it right.

How did I do?

Where I am. One skill I hadn't learned was the grip. That is such an unfortunate term because grip says to the mind "hold tight." And that was what I was doing. A Lynn text said to hold loosely. Tight enough to have control but loose enough that if the razor starts to pull, the razor gives instead of the skin. I tried that and it made a world of difference. I even tried some near vertical shaving. The kind that cut me before and it didn't cut me now. Not the best angle for shaving, but I shows that I can avoid cuts more easily by doing this.

And, I actually have been going against the grain under the neck as a second pass! Something I was afraid of before.

I still use a DE as a final pass to pick up what I missed, but my SR shaving is so much better than before. It won't be long before I can put the DE away except for the times I need to get out of the house early. (Like when I'm working at the voting polls. Got to be there 5 AM). Or short on time because I've slept late.

Thanks, all. I'll keep practicing.

BTW,
I did leave something out. I was asked whether I mapped my face. I did. It turns out that all of my face hair points south.
On the chin line, it is both south and outward.
Below the ear area, it mostly south but a little towards the back.
About 50 shaves now and I believe I have the theory down pat. Just a matter of practice to improve and to be able to make shaving a natural part of my movements.
Ciao