Thread: Progress, some forward, some backward

Well last night was interesting.
I got my CrO and had my bench strop so I touched up the edge on my Case, and tried shaving "gillotine" style as mentioned by someone else on here....
Best/closest shave I've had so far with the least irritation.... Except for the huge gash I put in my neck when I wasn't paying attention

Styptic stopped it up, but I've still got a nice scar/scab this morning for all the world to see... It's special..

That IS interesting...could you explain the "guillotine" style for me. Sorry, newbie

I can imagine that the styptic felt really nice on that gash!

From another thread here

A DE pass across skin is typically "head on" rather than angled or skewed like a proper straight razor pass. Even with a very sharp properly tuned straight and using a proper angle, I personally can't draw the blade head on into the whiskers in most cases, there's pull. The scythe/skewed motion is therefore recommended for straights. This is a morbid analogy, but think of a guillotine blade. It's angled. I doubt, and don't want to think much more about it than that, but if a guillotine blade was straight across and came down "head on", I would assume it would not be able to accomplish its task; too much resistance and not enough slice. You need to slice your whiskers rather than chop the whiskers.

I hope this helps.

Chris L

I see WHY you sliced yourself.

It DID give a better more comfortable shave... but maybe also contributed to the slicing.

Do you mean you just don't keep the blade level? That's what I do, I find it more difficult to keep the blade completely level.

Yes, as I go down my cheek (or whatever) the spine of the razor sits at maybe a 30 degree angle rather than horizontal...

You guys can do searches on "scything" if you want more info, and yes be careful, keep the face/neck hydrated and use a light touch.

WOW! You guys are right! I tried the scything or guillotine technique tonight. What a difference!

I lathered up twice with hot William's while stropping, then used 2 WTG passes. I did a third pass using a scything sweep, and it took most of the remaining hair off very smoothly. AND, I only nicked myself once next to the goatee.

Just a follow-up note:

As bbshriver noted in the OP, I've noticed much less irritation after the shave last night. My face feels much more smooth than past shaves, and very comfortable.

All should try this technique at least one, and go slowly the first time