Pull that skin taut

Morning, guys;

I'm a rank newbie, and as such I still have lots to learn. I'm sure that there are lots of new guys like me struggling to figure out the whole process of a close shave. So I thought I'd share a revelation I had during this morning's shave.

Today was full shave #6. While some shaves have been better than others, they all seem to leave some rough stubble in harder to shave areas (i.e., below my jawline, moustache area, and tough chin beard). I've been doing a good shave prep with a hot shower & pre-shave scrub, then a hot towel, a good shave soap, and lastly, a well-honed & stropped razor. Then a few WTG passes before a careful ATG pass, and still lots of stubble. So what could be the problem? Well, lots of things, I'm sure, but today's discovery was that I'm not really pulling my skin taut before making that pass with the razor. I was just about finished and was still working on my chin, but the razor kept "grabbing" the remaining beard, even though I was making lots of goofy facial contortions. The light bulb went off :idea:, and I finally thought to pull the skin tight in the area I was working, and voila! a nice close pass.

I know that this elementary bit of shaving technique might seem obvious to most experienced guys. However, for me it's been easy to get distracted by the whole prep process and even more so by that sharp blade on my face. So much so, in fact that I've neglected to give my face a good pull where I'm shaving and making the skin taut. Now I'm just looking forward to my next shave so I can put it in to practice!

Enjoy your shave!

Larry

Great to hear about you moving up the learning curve. Technique does go a long way to a great BBS shave and there is always some new variable to discover.

Its always nice to hear someone chime in on new discoveries.

Pabster

Congrats on the discovery! Its really great when things start coming together and the shaves step up a notch. :)

And the really cool thing is that it just keeps getting better and better! :D

Larry,

When I hear grabbing or stubble, I usually think of this diagram from the Wiki. I will assume for the moment that you have stropped properly.

The angles of the blade to the skin are really really important. Look at the ATG pass. 5 degrees means that the blade is almost flat to the skin. When the blade is at that low angle on the ATG pass, you can shave comfortably, with almost no pressure, and no irritation or stubble. Remember, if you feel anything grab, stop, take the blade away and consider what you are doing and why you are doing it. You should know what you want to achieve with every stroke before you make it.

Good luck and enjoy.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...ing_angles.jpg