Thread: Am I being over ambitious

Since you said that you are bullheaded, a type I know well(been living with one since I was born), I think you will manage going forward. I dont find as much satisfaction in the easy way and have always loved a challenge, the tricky parts of the face are where I have learned the most and gained the most confidence, of course I have paid for that in discomfort(never a cut) but can you put a price on knowledge? When I started I went right for the whole enchilada, but I only went WTG for the first few shaves, then added the XTG. I tried the ATG but I didnt feel like the price was worth that knowledge just yet(guess you can put a price on knowledge), then as my skill level increased I found that my shaves were very close to BBS and I added a second XTG in the opposite direction and I am very happy with the closeness(BBS, for the most part, but doesnt last as long as I have heard it would if I did ATG) and extremely happy with the comfort. I did allow 2-3 days in between shaves at first so the shaved area could fully recover. For me it was about 5 or so shaves before my face felt fine, and about 15-20 shaves before I got my neck down, but I have never regretted going for it from the first. Pay lots of attention to your prep, quit pressing the razor so hard against your skin(I know your not using much but it is still way too much, trust me), learn which direction at which your whiskers grow, and dont forget to stretch and before long you will be saying WOW!!! instead of OW!!!. Good luck and have fun.

Edit: Woops forgot to mention the angle.

Here is another tip that may be applicable..... take the blade out of the shavette and practice manipulating it , making the moves on your face while you are watching TV or at the computer.

This was an idea posted by forum member dannywonderful and by doing that with a dull razor I was able to learn to shave with my non dominant hand. Adding that practice to the relative few minutes of the daily shave got me over the hump.

So last night I shaved only my side burns and only with a WTG and XTG pass. I'm happy to say that I didn't nick myself, and I had minimal irritation, which is great considering how much I had before.

The shave wasn't BBS but, it was about as good, if not slightly better than what I was achieving with my gillette fushion. and it was certainly much more enjoyable then shaving with the gillette.

I'm soon to order a proper wet shaving set from SRD, but until then, does anyone have any suggestions for building a decent lather without a puck of soap or a brush?