Seeing what you're doing

OK -- I'm very new, so new I haven't built up the courage to actually put blade to face. But I have a razor, and I tried to get a sense the other night of what the postioning, angles would feel like. I must say that I found it terribly difficult to actually see what I was doing when attempting to mimic the initial passes by the sideburns. The hand holding the razor seemed to be, inconveninently, right in front of my eyes (or at least the eye closer to the sideburn area) pretty much blocking the view.

Is this something folks get used to, work around, or are my angles all wrong?

I'm new and have the same problem. My solution has been to crane my head (if you're shaving the right sideburn) left and my eyes right and grab the whiskers with the very end of the blade.

I'm pretty new -- shaved about 6 times so far. I've found that frequently trying a different angle to the mirror helps--for example, I face the mirror directly when doing the front part of my cheek, but turn so the side I'm shaving is closer to the mirror (a 45 degree angle) when I'm doing the back half. Sometimes changing hands helps too.

I do have a full beard, so I don't have quite so many places to shave. Still haven't quite figured out the right angles for my neck.

I am far from an old-timer here, but have found that I do a lot of my shaving by feel. I am talking here about when the blade disappears behind my jaw, and when it is behind my hand while starting at the lower end of my sideburns. The most important thing I do is go slow, and pay attention. Did I mention that you need to pay attention? No, really, inattention = blood and possible scars... Don't ask for my qualifications, please.
Good Luck and Best Regards, Ken.

Most likely you are not switching hands.

I am right handed, and find it easy to see when shaving my right cheek. If I try to shave my left cheek with my right hand, it is impossible to see.

So, I switch to my left hand when shaving my left cheek.

Make sure you can see. You will cut yourself if you can't.

- I put on my reading glasses to get my chin, mustachios, and neck.
- I even added a second clip-on light in the bathroom so I can see my adam's apple better.

Don't shave blind.

Hope this helps.

Switching hands also makes it easier to stretch the skin.

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Originally Posted by jojo1

OK -- I'm very new, so new I haven't built up the courage to actually put blade to face. But I have a razor, and I tried to get a sense the other night of what the postioning, angles would feel like. I must say that I found it terribly difficult to actually see what I was doing when attempting to mimic the initial passes by the sideburns. The hand holding the razor seemed to be, inconveninently, right in front of my eyes (or at least the eye closer to the sideburn area) pretty much blocking the view.

Is this something folks get used to, work around, or are my angles all wrong?

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Use a popsicle stick or craft stick to practice your blade positioning and hand holds. This will also help you to figure out how to turn your head and stretch the skin as well. I know it seems silly but it can help when your just starting out.

Hope that helps,
Randy

Another thing that works, for me, is to keep remembering to keep the razor at a good angle, like one or two spine-widths up from the skin. Whenever I start having trouble, it's usually because of an angle that's too shallow or too steep.

I think the use of a popsicle stick is a great idea.
I'm new and have two really good shaves under my belt. The others were a bloody mess :)
One of the best advice I received is
WORK ON TECHNIQUE

I no longer focus on getting a BBS in three passes. I focus on getting the best technique in three passes. I will continue to work on my technique..It only gets better.

I also have the lack of seeing where my blade is at all times.
I have been thinking that I NEED a long thin handle with a 1.5 or 2 inch blade. This will allow me to see the most of my face while shaving..
BUT
I like the usual str8s...so I have accepted that I won't see the blade shave at all times.
I have accepted this and will work on my stretching and contortions to better my shave...I guess I won't be seeing the blade all the time..Just how it is.

I alos have to work on being more ambidextrous..Get the left hand into play more.
I FEEL really good after and during a good shave.

CAUTION!!!!!
Don't get caught up in thinking about you shave and tap your cheek as you make a mental point
Hahahahahaha
Yes I did this...


Keep at it and the shaves will get better and better.
VERY cool razors!
Tom

Using both hands greatly helps. It's really awkward at first, but your non-dominant will pick it up pretty quick. Past that, you can get pretty far with creative skin stretching.

The main thing to remember with everything straight shaving related is to be confident! Just because you can't see it doesn't mean you can't shave it. As long as your angle is ok, nothing too bad can happen. Don't be afraid of the razor:)

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

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...VUL_SS500_.jpg

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. :shrug:

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.

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Originally Posted by zepplin

An interesting thread......

Does this make any sense to anyone?

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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