Most valuable and UNCOMMON tips and advices

Ok, lets think a bit outside the box. Every newbie or experienced shaver appreciates and follows (ok, sometimes even forgets and pays with blood) the traditional shaving advices (stretch the skin, first WTG, never shave the whole face when starting, etc)

what about those unusual things that sometimes you think works only for you, but can make others life easier?

here is mine:

-Start from the chin and upper lip area : this goes against a typical advice that says that letting chin and upper lip fully coated with lather as last in the game will make the hair softer. This is indeed true, but my razor is sharper when I start from this nasty hairy area and then move to the others shaving places that are not so tricky and with thinner grain.

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Originally Posted by biazottipaulo

Ok, lets think a bit outside the box. Every newbie or experienced shaver appreciates and follows (ok, sometimes even forgets and pays with blood) the traditional shaving advices (stretch the skin, first WTG, never shave the whole face when starting, etc)

what about those unusual things that sometimes you think works only for you, but can make others life easier?

here is mine:

-Start from the chin and upper lip area : this goes against a typical advice that says that letting chin and upper lip fully coated with lather as last in the game will make the hair softer. This is indeed true, but my razor is sharper when I start from this nasty hairy area and then move to the others shaving places that are not so tricky and with thinner grain.

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I guess mine is kindof unique due to the way my facial hairs grow, but ill give it a shot anyhow. Since i have just small patches of hair that grow on my cheeks, i do a WTG pass stretching the skin like normal. But when i go ATG to get smooth results, instead of stretching my skin..i actually blow and puff my cheeks out and shave the small area like that. No matter what ways i have attempted stretching my skin, i seem to get the best results doing this.

Im still new though, so its possible i will find something more effective in the future.

Mine isn't uncommon, I guess, but to pay very close attention to the grain of your hair. The hair on my neck grows up towards a point on my right jawline. The easiest strokes from me on my neck are S to N, with some scything angles- this is mostly WTG, and somewhat XTG. ATG (mostly N to S) is very difficult, because of the way it grows sideways underneath my chin.
J.

Integrate the non dominant hand to shave.

Pabster

I've actually found that moving my hand down the contour of my chin is much more difficult than placing my razor above my chin and using my mouth to stretch the skin in such a way that the skin moves beneath the razor. This effectively makes that challenging turn without even moving the razor (and it works really well for me.

I have no idea if I explained that in a way that makes sense, but it works for me :shrug:

LOL!
shorynot if I skin stretch anywhere but my chin I get ingrowns, and the solution was exactly what you do! Gently blowing means my cheeks are concave out, but since its gentle it flattens them perfectly when a razor goes over them... and I though I was the only one...
and richmondesi another coincidence! Moving your face is a lot more stable than moving your hand. I did this at first. though once you learn the angles its faster and easier to freehand it.

But my contribution is these two things-
-Newspaper works like CrOx though not as well- needs more laps more often and I don't will KEEP a blade, just prolong its dulling. Newspaper was my only strop for 2 weeks, and a touch up thingy for 3 months til I got a barber hone.
-Buy the best your budget can afford. (within reason... a Dovo Redwood is the same as a Dovo snakewood, the $80 price difference is in the scales...)

A general list.
-Experimenting yields good results
-Ask specific questions, asking general questions often leaves out the most specific helpful answers
-Ask lots of questions

I was reminded of this in a recent n00b post so I'd like to offer up this little gem which helped me particularly when i was a new straight razor shaver.

In The Deep End » Blog Archive » Creative Visualisation

X

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Originally Posted by khaos

LOL!
shorynot if I skin stretch anywhere but my chin I get ingrowns, and the solution was exactly what you do! Gently blowing means my cheeks are concave out, but since its gentle it flattens them perfectly when a razor goes over them... and I though I was the only one...
and richmondesi another coincidence! Moving your face is a lot more stable than moving your hand. I did this at first. though once you learn the angles its faster and easier to freehand it.

But my contribution is these two things-
-Newspaper works like CrOx though not as well- needs more laps more often and I don't will KEEP a blade, just prolong its dulling. Newspaper was my only strop for 2 weeks, and a touch up thingy for 3 months til I got a barber hone.
-Buy the best your budget can afford. (within reason... a Dovo Redwood is the same as a Dovo snakewood, the $80 price difference is in the scales...)

A general list.
-Experimenting yields good results
-Ask specific questions, asking general questions often leaves out the most specific helpful answers
-Ask lots of questions

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I know you're right, but I can't help laugh when I look and see that many of the str8 users I know have goatees. I can't help but think it's to avoid that problem :roflmao

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Originally Posted by xman

I was reminded of this in a recent n00b post so I'd like to offer up this little gem which helped me particularly when i was a new straight razor shaver.

In The Deep End » Blog Archive » Creative Visualisation

X

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Good stuff there!:)

I guess my little "quirk" would be that when I shave my cheeks I dont go WTG then XTG, I just go straight to the XTG pass. IE: I start my stroke by my lips and make the pass going back across my face towards my ear on both sides. This results in a BBS finish with only one pass, so I get less irritation!

This started because I was finding it hard to shave WTG (from sideburn down to jawline) on my left cheek when I started using a straight. I found I got better results on this cheek so I just started doing it on both sides..!

My piece of advice is learn to shave with distractions. If you can only concerntrate with complete silence, then at the first noise you will slice something off. I often shave with my in-laws arguing a few feet behind me, my father in-law singing (or doing what he thinks is singing) and sometimes even with people standing beside me cooking (I have to shave in the kitchen).

Stretching is very important but sometimes your face is wet and soapy, or it's very humid and you're sweating, and you can't get a good grip. If you rub your wet fingers on an alum block it acts like rosin and you will get a very good grip on your skin for stretching.

Until you get a close shave WTG don't start an XTG or ATG and expect good results or comfort.
Strop lightly.
Water and good lather is your friend.

Over-stretching=ingrowns... I've spent a week with an unwanted mustache inorder to fix this, and not only does it look bad it feels bad.

I have several tips I have written about before that might be of help.

1. How do I know when my lather is wet enough?
Well, after I lather up and take a few strokes with my blade, when I put the blade under the faucet and lightly rinse it, if the lather doesn't totally wash off the blade I know I need to add a little water to the mix. When it washes off completely, I know it is wet enough.

2. The chin seems to be a problem for most. I stretch the chin after I shave the cheeks clean by putting my thumb on the corner of one jaw and my middle finger on the other corner and push backwards. This stretches the chin tight so I can shave it without issues, in most any direction I like.

3. What about under the nose?
It seems that doing the masters pass is pretty simple, once you get the rolling technique figured out, but then what? I decided to try something a little different to do the fools pass, from south to north, without cutting my nose. It seemed logical to me that you can cut hair two different ways. Move the razor, or move the hair. So here's how I do it. I place the blade almost flat right at the top of my lip, and roll the lip down over my teeth, pushing the hair through the blade. This cuts about half way up so I then move the blade up a little and do it again. I do this all the way across my upper lip and end up with a really smooth shave there.

Hope this helps.


Ray

newbie tip.

When your face is sore after shaving, corn husker's lotion makes a very soothing balm. Try it you will thank me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xman

I was reminded of this in a recent n00b post so I'd like to offer up this little gem which helped me particularly when i was a new straight razor shaver.

In The Deep End » Blog Archive » Creative Visualisation

X

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That is the first time I have seen that approach applied to shaving. I have read of it and have successfully applied it to bicycling off road. One in particular of the trails I ride is loaded with obstacles. Large log piles to go over and such. I visualize successfully making it over the logs as I am approaching them and usually do.

The best advice I've ever received is in my sig line below.

Keep a towel folded next to the sink, to have a soft place to put down your razor and to keep your shaving hand dry and free from lather... Never hold your blade with a slippery hand.

-Chief

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Originally Posted by BHChieftain

Keep a towel folded next to the sink, to have a soft place to put down your razor and to keep your shaving hand dry and free from lather... Never hold your blade with a slippery hand.

-Chief

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+1 on the towel. The alum trick works well too for this.

dont try new passes or angles during the week. save it for saturdays and sundays...case you nick your face or irritates your skin you dont need to spend the whole day at work answering questions and explaining why do you use a straight razor instead of the "amazing, confortable, safe and other kinds of blablabla wonders of the disposable razor" from the users of the regular methods.
ps: fans of the eletric shavers tends to be really agressive! :)

Something I read about a long time ago and do this at the end of every shave. The soaps we use are not cheap so at the end of every shave I squeeze the soap out of my brush and return it to the mug to use it next time. This has made the soaps last much longer they they use to.

Ray

applying alum to your face pre-shave is counterproductive.

I tried it once as a curiosity and could not get a close shave

Wow a lot of good tips and tricks here,

As a Newbie I am soaking it all in,

I am going to try to do the chin first, I liked that idea.

I also liked the rinse of the blade to tell if your shave cream is too dry when it sticks to the blade. I have noticed that numerous times.

I also liked moving the chin not the razor, tried that last night and it did work.

I am still experimenting with the chin area. Tricky tricky...

I wish I had some tips to add but Im still learning.

THANKS to ALL

:beer2:

I generally go XTG just lateral to my mouth and as noted in previous posts I use a yawning motion on the sides of my upper lip. The area just under my lower lip was the most problematic in learning how to shave and I found that a very sharp blade with a more acute angle did the trick.

Lewis

The quality of your shave will be a direct result of the component you are the least adept at; honing, stropping, or shaving.

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Originally Posted by Stubear

I guess my little "quirk" would be that when I shave my cheeks I dont go WTG then XTG, I just go straight to the XTG pass. IE: I start my stroke by my lips and make the pass going back across my face towards my ear on both sides. This results in a BBS finish with only one pass, so I get less irritation!

This started because I was finding it hard to shave WTG (from sideburn down to jawline) on my left cheek when I started using a straight. I found I got better results on this cheek so I just started doing it on both sides..!

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Gee, I do the same type of passes, except that first pass, toward the ear, it WTG for me. Though I find that the best for me is a 3-pass shave. Then I am BBS for about 8-10 hrs, and I only have to shave every other day, or every third day.

The only tip I have to offer, being as new as I am, is this:

If you find the jaw, right under the ear, to be a difficult spot, I know I have, clear your cheek, dry your hand, and stretch from the cheek, it pulls the skin from the jaw up onto the cheek, giving a much smoother surface to work with.

If that doesn't work, you can always just drop your jaw, effectively doing the same thing.

Hope it helps.

Instead of shaving the chin first I use two razors if I let my beard grow a lot. I shave my whole face except the goatee, and then use one of my ultra sharp blades from utopian to mow it down. Sometimes I use this technique anyway, but do the first couple of passes with water ever I want and then switch to my current "smoothest" shaver for a nice feeling, smooth final pass.

If you want to make shaving the neck / jaw area below your ears a lot easier, and stop any possible nick from happening, lift the toe of the blade ever-so-slightly to shave with the centre of the blade.

This works in other areas of the face as well, and makes shaving those areas a lot easier with a spike or square point.

I find it hard to stretch my face with wet fingertips against wet skin, so I cut a wascloth into ~2" squares and use those for traction between fingertips and face. A whole washcloth is too big and dangles in the way.

Also, for learning to use your nondominant hand or experimenting with daring new passes, tape the edge of an old blade and practice the motions with that.