Thread: First Straigh Razor Shave

Originally Posted by Shoki

Really how hard would you have to cut to open up your jugular? It seems like you would need to seriously be trying to cut into your neck to kill yourself. Most nicks and cuts seem to be superficial.

There are actually 2 jugulars per side, and internal and an external one. The internal is a massive pipe and deep down, the external is quite close to the surface though.

If someone hit your hand/elbow at just the right time, you could conceivably cut into that vein. Likely? No, not really. But I don't want to risk the nicks or shallower cuts either.

Good Morning Everyone. Not much time so I'll (try to) be brief...lol. The goal of BBS is a wee bit closer. Certainly the previously mentioned trouble spots still rear their ugly head but...getting closer the the "golden chalice" so to speak. I've noticed twice that when I'm first starting out the shave, I have gotten a bit hurried to start and guess what...a nice little cut. I generally start off WTG from the top of the cheekbone and proceed downward from there to the jawline. All it takes is a bump with the razor or starting move that is too quick at the wrong angle of approach...no slicing motion at all. I knew it immediately...didn't hurt but I felt it. Lesson here: start off even slower. To add insult to injury, it was with my right (dominanat) hand. I remember commenting on another thread about this very same topic. Seems that overconfidence with the dominant hand is a possibly valid phenomenon. Gotta ssssssssllllllllllllloooooooooooowwwwwww it down a nothc and remember to respect the blade. Stropping technique seems to be getting better incrementally too. Another thing that I've noticed that as the shaves get closer, the Bay Rum has correspondingly more sting... ...go figure huh...lol. Funny thing, one of the same guys that has commented before (the retired Army guy) came in and was wanting to talk and asked "is that thing sharp? ...I told him "sharp enough to shave with" and then proceeded to demostrate...WOW...seriously?!?! Then he starts asking about if I had a strop and all that. . Talk about "Clueless in Seattle" huh. Anyway...gotta run folks. Hope you have a great day that starts off with a gr8 str8 shave. Rich.

...to the mythical BBS experience. Same trouble areas but getting better with that. Re-discovered this morning that getting the soap "not too thin, not too thick nut jjuuuuuuusssssttttt rrrrriiiiggghhhhtttttttt" is not a given. Otherwise, not much else to report.

Originally Posted by certifiedbodyman

...to the mythical BBS experience. Same trouble areas but getting better with that. Re-discovered this morning that getting the soap "not too thin, not too thick nut jjuuuuuuusssssttttt rrrrriiiiggghhhhtttttttt" is not a given. Otherwise, not much else to report.

I'm here to tell you, BBS is not mythical. Elusive maybe, but not mythical.

cheeks almost there...neck and "problem areas" still a work in progres...

The "elusive" (not mythical...lol) BBS is coming closer to fruition. As I stated in an earlier response, the cheeks ahd jaw are getting closer and closer to achieving the BBS that we seek. I actually managed to get the "problem areas" a bit closer to the BBS as well. Funny thing that I've noticed too...the smoother the shave I achieve, the longer it stays smooth. In the morning, it's still about the same...must be growing fast at night. Getting the str8 in that area between the neck muscles and trachea was a bit interesting, knowing that this is so much the opposite of what my shaving experience is to this point. What I've learned too is that with the str8, there is an almost infinite variety of options as far as how to hold the blade and approach the whiskers to get that shave. Having said that, holding the blade perpindicular to my windpipe and shaving upwards and to the front was a first for me. I still want to do the cold water rinse in between passes in the guise of maybe tightening the skin in preparation for the second pass going ATG. I generally do a WTG and ATG for a total of two passes but rarely do I get the XTG shave . Today I did what I call 2 1/2 passes, where I did my usual then went back to the problem areas and focused strictly on those areas. That seems to be the difference. Maybe tomorrow I'll remember the cold water rinse in between the first and second passes. Have a great start to the day with a gr8 str8 shave.

Getting better results almost daily with the cheeks and jawline...neck area getting better too...trouble spots getting closer too. Getting better with the blade (still respectful though of course) as far as manipulating the positioning and grip in the trouble areas. Perhaps the BBS will prove to be less elusive than I am anticipating.