The learning curve, What next?

Hello, I have been str8 shaving for a couple months now. I have read and watched most of the videos and am doing relatively well with the shave. My question is, what next? I am at a point in the learning curve where I seem to be static. I am getting relatively good shaves on most of my face with a couple trouble areas, namely my chin and just below my lower lip. I have a moustache,mustache so no worries there. So how do I proceed to get the trouble areas better? Is it just a matter of continual practice or are there other techniques that I need to learn? I am sure there are others who have achived a reasonable degree of success but wish to proceed to the "better shave". Any words of wisdom from the experts?"

Both areas are hard. I do not shave either because at the moment because I have a goatee but one way to stretch the lower lip area is to gently bite it.

Al raz.

I'm not an expert :nono: but can only give what I have noticed in my learning curve.
- it is important to find out the direction of the grow especially in those trouble spots
- no matter how well I shave WTG and XTG or how many times in those spots ATG is the only way to get the final closeness
- If I can't get some spots properly I MUST develop something to reach so close shave that I'm pleased.
- Things what I can change or develop to step forward in my learning curve are following
* grips
* skin stretching
* how to slide the blade correctly in those hard spots
* how to slide blade correctly in those hard spots ATG
* do I use too much pressure which affects direct to the sliding motion
* prep work
* razor sharpness aka honing and stropping,
- I usually focus only one thing in each shave, judge it and after getting an improvement what matters step forward ( that does not mean that I must do the same all the time. Sometimes it is wise to leave it alone for a while and do something else and turn back to first part later)

I am by no means an expert, but unless you are doing exceptionally well, you will find that routine will bring even better results. There was a point in my shaving career where I thought I had found the right amount of pressure. Wrong. About 10 months into straight shaving, I noticed my shaves getting even better.

As an aside, mastering various widths and grinds is a challenge in and by itself. Enjoy.

Hello...
I'm certainly not an expert, but I'll tell you what have I learned so far...
The "ultimate" shave you tend to get is BBS... Now, I get BBS shaves from 3 passes (WTG, XTG and ATG)
Making a facial hair map is very good point to start from, after that shaves get only better... :)
You'll see that technique comes with practice... The technique differs between shavers because the curvature of their cheeks, sideburns, jawline, neck, etc. is not the same...
Have you tried different soaps, creams, brushes, razors?
Not a single shaving related product has same effects for each person...
You just have to experiment and see what's best for you...
And yes, never, ever, ever skip the preparation part... Preparation is 50% of good shave...:D

Hope this helps...

I think the old adage "practice makes perfect" applies. In alot of things we hit a plateau where it seems we are making little or no progress and then one morning we make a discovery. Maybe a different blade angle or direction of attack. From my own experience in a little over a year of shaving daily with a straight I have gradually improved my technique and my results. What TonyJ and the other previous posters said is spot on. Keep at it and you will find that it just gets better........ assuming you are shaving with truly shave ready razors.

Thank you all for your suggestions. They are what I expected and I probably could have answered my own question. Sometimes one is just looking for that MAGIC PILL.

Mark

as others that have posted, i am no expert, but i did have the chin problem early on and have solved it for myself. for me i go straight down while pushing my chin out to tighten the skin, then with a very light touch i go from left to right and then the same but right to left, and last i go straight up. i find i need less angle for all these passes as the hair is thicker and it is much more likely to catch and give a nick. this is something that took me a while to perfect and i did have some nicks along the way, so be careful and if nothing else reduce the angle at first and work your way up. the jaw line is a little touchy but use very little pressure and it gets easier. check out Xmans videos again as i think he does a good jaw line example.

good luck
Wes

Two things:
1. Wes, where is Xmans video?
2. Do you guys do ATG on your necks too? I tried it last night and got a major hack job. So I'll stick with WTG and XTG for now on my neck. But my checks are fine with ATG. I know everyone is different, so I'm just getting an idea from others.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by winterkid

Two things:
1. Wes, where is Xmans video?
2. Do you guys do ATG on your necks too? I tried it last night and got a major hack job. So I'll stick with WTG and XTG for now on my neck. But my checks are fine with ATG. I know everyone is different, so I'm just getting an idea from others.

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Here you are

http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...technique.html


It is wise to start with WTG & XTG and little by little step forward when you feel so.
Enjoy

+1 for a facial-hair-growth-map. that's always a great thing to do.

I've found its really helpful (YMMV) to create the shaving equivalent of a pre-shot routine, like you see golfers doing before a shot, or basketball players doing before a freethrow. So I always do the same things before I shave, and I try to shave the same places, the same way, in the same order, every time. Its kindof a zen thing, cause once I got it down, it took some of the mentality out of it, and now i can listen to music, or NPR, or just do nothing while I shave, and let my thoughts drift.

The next step may be buying an inexpensive razor from ebay and attempt to learn honing. Or try stropping with additional speed. Or try making uberlather. Or maybe experimenting with different soaps or creams.
Or anything.

Thing is, once your stropping and shaving technique are good, you can really experiment and explore. That's one of the things that drew me to straight shaving: The amount of things to learn is endless, and once you have the fundamentals down, you can go anywhere with it. Enjoy the journey.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by winterkid

Two things:
1. Wes, where is Xmans video?
2. Do you guys do ATG on your necks too? I tried it last night and got a major hack job. So I'll stick with WTG and XTG for now on my neck. But my checks are fine with ATG. I know everyone is different, so I'm just getting an idea from others.

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1. sorry about that, i am no good with links, and thanks TonyJ for helping. :tu

2. for me it is really hard to do and ATG as the hair grows from left to right. so really i do 2 XTGs and then a very light ATG on select areas that i can get to. i find with short strokes and a sharp razor the XTG gets me a nice shave on most of my neck though i am still perfecting a BBS technique for the lower part. but still better then any other shaving method i have tried, and funner.

Finally a qualified expert to respond:confused:
I hope I am not too late:roflmao

Your main problem, which is our same problem, is that your razor is not sharp enough. I know because as I progress, those places get tighter on my face. No lather, oil, stretching, prep or anything will make a more radical difference than having a perfect edge. Have you tried different grinds, sizes? (Ultimately I don't think it matters as we learn to use one, but we pick favorites)

For the longest time I knew i was getting something from stropping, so I thought that was it.:gaah:
There are lots of strokes and movement to stropping. Honing too. It seems rather common to each make some less than optimal strokes along the way. Leaving a mostly good clean shave- that's me. Sounds like you:) Stropping as you shave- should always works toward a closer cut.


There is always more to learn, I hope.