Thread: Third Shave Not As Good As Second Shave

Third shave today. Did everything but the upper lip & the chin.

The blade wasn't nearly as smooth across my skin as it was for the second shave. I'm going to chalk this up to my own error in making a lather that was too dry. It seemed to be better when I added a little water, worked the lather again, and applied that more moist lather to my face.

Three shaves and only one small nick on the very first shave.

Not too bad, I guess.


~ Ryan

Not bad...I found my first few shaves were best, then they were awful for about the next 7 or 8 - stropping was my problem. Once I got into the groove the edge improved and so did my shaves.

Keep us posted!

Hey you did pretty good, I found my first couple shaves to be ok, then I got lazy and tried to speed things up. Oddly enough, the only actual cut I've gotten was below my left eye, where I don't even shave! I accidentally tapped it with the blade and didn't even realize I cut myself until I was done shaving, but the bleeding didn't seep or anything, it was pretty shallow.

Originally Posted by MWS

Not bad...I found my first few shaves were best, then they were awful for about the next 7 or 8

I sure hope that's not how it shakes out for me. I've been taking my time on the stropping, so hopefully my edges stay nice and strong.

I already had my lathering and preparation down pretty well through DE shaving for a couple of years when I began with straights. It still took me two or three weeks before I was able to leave the DE go and finish with the straight alone. Some shaves were better than others but they continued to improve with practice.

Sounds familiar...My first few shaves seemed to have been better than the next few to follow. My initial problem was stropping and I suspect I rolled the edge of my first razor and that forced me into learning to hone before I really wanted to. Make sure you are keeping the strop taught and don't use too much down pressure on your blade as you strop. Allowing the strop to sag and/or using too much pressure will cause the edge to roll and in turn, cause the shave to not be so smooth or maybe even agonizing.

I found if my lather was too dry, it would just cause the blade to not gluide smoothly across the skin. But, as soon as I would re-lather, it would be fine. If it's a stropping or blade issue, the blade would slightly pull on my whiskers even with a good, wet lather. After the shave, I could feel littly pricklies all over my face.

please don't get discouraged. we all have had little set backs. you will get better with time and practice...

Originally Posted by 59caddy

please don't get discouraged. we all have had little set backs. you will get better with time and practice...

Oh yeah...I'm not discouraged. Just trying to troubleshoot.

Thanks for the encouragement, though.

Manchester, eh? I've been there several times as I spent some time in Fayetteville.


~ Ryan

Dont get discouraged!

Like all these things, learning this is an art, not a science, and the road is not a straight uphill run.

There will be peaks, troughs and plateaus as you learn new things and try them out, and as your technique develops.

It sounds to me like you are on the right path, and you are taking the time to learn things properly and not rushing into it. Keep at it and you will get the results you want.

Good luck!

It's not a race, take your time. All good things come in time. One thing you didn't talk about was stropping. It's equally important as face prep...