Thread: Seeing what you're doing

This is one of the most important tools I found to help my shaving with a straight razor...

This post brought to mind one of the old timers on the Yahoo forum who shaved with his eyes closed. We also have a member who is legally blind.

Food for thought,

Ive only been shaving since Christmass and noticed instantly that actualy seeing what i was doing was likely to be a problem, this being the case i do things by touch rather than by eye.

I lather up in front of a mirror in the bathroom and take a mug, towel and brush into the sitting room to either read or watch tv whilst i shave.

I dip my hand into the soapy water in the mug and feel around after an initial pass to see if ive got any patches of stubble left and get rid of them before going against the grain.

Bizarrely enough if i even so much as attempt to shave without a mirror using a mach3 or fusion i wind up wandering around with bits of bog roll all over my face the rest of the day.
I ituitively know how to use a straight, im aware that it could easily cause me a good deal of grief if i let it and i think its because of this that i enter into a state of awareness, a kind of respect for the tool. The only time ive nicked myself with a straight was in front of a mirror, because i could see it comming at my face next to my nose. My eyes told me to use one angle whilst my hands and my head told me to use the right one, my wavering hand caused me to move more diagonaly than straight whilst my eyes took over from my hands.

Without a mirror im more confident in my strokes, i get far less irritation and dont nick myself. I know how eyes can decieve and much like sex blindfold your senses become hightened and you can feel whats going on more visceraly than your eyes will allow.

Strangely enough i use my right hand for most of my shave, the left and right sideburns get the right hand treatment, its only the left side down and under my nose and a small part under the jawline that gets any left handed support.

I just feel the right way to do it, kinda like what my Robert M. Pirsig refers to in "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintainance" as a Metalurgical intuition: whereby when your tightening a nut on an engine you can actively feel the metal, you know the right ammount of preassure to apply to the wrench before the metal either strips its thread or shears the head off. its not loose but its not overly tight.

I go into my face at a 45 degree angle and adjust the blade to suit the countours of my face before stroking and adjust the angle on the fly to what feels correct and i get positive results.

Then again if your used to shearing the heads off of nuts or stripping threads your probably best sticking to a mirror.
The point is i guess that shaving is supposed to be enjoyable, do what feels right and you wont be all that far off.

An interesting thread......

There are some golf Pros who will teach the golf swing while their puple is blindfolded. I think it has to do with learning about balance, "inner feelings" and "intutuive feelings" - proving that our eyes can decieve us sometimes. I know if you have ever looked at angles in regard to putting(golf) - yes, what you think you see, is not really how it is, that's why expereince and intuitive knowledge can be a great help. While you stand perpendicular to the ball flight, pick a spot to hit at, then back away - and look at that spot, you will find you are misalighned. So you pick the spot before you line up perpendicular, otherwise it will seem you are hitting in a slightly wrong direction.

In regard to our eyes while shaving can sometimes produce some innacurate angles, hence, the blind person who uses his feelings from his other hand, can perhaps be more on the mark.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Are you guys recommending that Newbies try shaving without looking?

I was thinking of adding that to "Unsafe Practices..." but maybe I'm wrong?

you can read all you can ,but for some of us when you can see how it is done it all comes clear. i was straight shaving for about a month when i got through shaving i would shower again because i would sweat so much. the a ran acros a video on utube ( the art of wet shaveing ) there are three i think vidoes i think it realy helped me a lot to watch some one shave.

Originally Posted by zepplin

An interesting thread......

Does this make any sense to anyone?

It does for me. I am a welder by trade, and I teach as well. There have been lots of times when I would make my students close their eyes to get the "FEEL" of the welding process.

I did a "lights out" shave last night and it went very well. I have been shaving with a straight for about a month now, and had no problems. I think it all comes down to spatial acuity and awareness. We have learned to rely too much on mirrors for everything and forgotten that our bodies will naturally prevent us from hurting ourselves.

Just my thoughts...and I have been known to be wrong from time to time. LOL

It's a multi-sensory experience. Use them all. When your line of sight is limited, pay more attention to the feel, especially as you are learning. Slow down for the awkward spots to think more consciously about the blade and what you can't see so well. Over time, that feel will become more natural, and less conscious, and thus quicker. Even when you can see, your sense of how it feels is a great asset and will grow keener and more natural with time and practice.

- Dale