A Successful Shave!

Finally got a fairly successful shave! 95% of my face is smooth feeling against the grain with my hand, and there was only one little blood spot that had already settled on its own by the time I went to rinse. I did 2 passes, one with and one against the grain, and then did some little touchups on the tricky spots. It probably took me a half hour though. Still have to work out how to get these 2 stubborn spots on my neck, which I have never really been able to get completely done with any razor. But man it feels good! I even used the toe to clean up my unibrow. :D

Congratulations on your success. You'll find things continue to improve and your shaves will speed up in the process.

Sounds like a pretty successful shave to me. The neck spots are hard for me too...it feels like I have to do razor acrobatics to get them smooth.

Things are going to keep getting better too. Have fun!

Today I had similar results, but a little rougher on the neck and jawline - watching Jockey's great video in the wiki afterwards made me realize I may be going at way too flat of an angle on the ATG strokes, so I'm hoping for an improvement tomorrow!

You have the algorithm for success now.

Doing + reflecting on what you just did = improvement for the next time.

Congratulations on your success

Z,
You're definitely on the right track. Don't get discouraged. I've been at the straights for just over 3 1/2 months now and I'm finally just now starting to get some consistently decent shaves. +1 to MAXI--great advice!

Congratulations on your success. You are off to a great start and it only gets better with experience.

Pabster

Well another day and another shave. This time I decided that I was going to do a WTG and XTG pass, but no ATG after reading a lot of threads that suggest avoiding this as a beginner. I found I've really got the WTG pass down well, it goes quickly except around the chin, and am starting to get a feel for the XTG. But I finished those two passes, and there were a few spots that I simply could not get satisfactorily close. And there was the ATG, laughing at me, calling my name. :D

So I did a few ATG strokes, and after a doing some dragging, irritating strokes which I had been able to tolerate earlier last week but which have become uncomfortable I figured out that if I lay the razor more or less flat on my face I was able to get minimal dragging and irritation. There is a gentle pulling sensation and it doesn't feel like it is cutting close, but if I go back and inspect the results it is velvety smooth. Is there ever supposed to be "zero" drag on the razor? The sensation I experience is similar to the feeling of taking a clump of hair off my gf's brush, and doing a "HHT" with the clump, and feeling lots of hairs sort of "click" off the blade as I push into them. Except with more hairs, if that makes sense. My WTG strokes I barely feel any resistance at all, it's as if I'm running the blade over the face and I can only feel a faint ticking of the hairs popping off, no sensation through the hand though.

I also found out that I may have been using too little pressure when stropping. I did a touch up strop in between the first two passes, and tried a little less tension in the strop which enabled me to comfortably apply just a hair of pressure to the razor while not feeling like I was bearing down on it. The strokes felt a lot smoother, and the blade seemed to work a little better on the next pass.

So I got some Chromium Oxide and a piece of nylon strop material to put it on from SRD today...this stuff is amazing! Edge feels so smooth and really just glides through the hair. Really pleased with today's shave. I also figured out how to properly stretch my neck which has made a world of difference, I had been starting to think it was actually impossible to get these 2 spots completely done.

On another note, I am really finding I am not satisfied with my results unless I go ATG, and even then I need to do some slicing/guillotining to get those stubborn neck areas that grow at impossible angles. I always found the same thing using even a fresh cartridge razor. Is anyone else like this or do I just have strange facial hair (or too high of standards)?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheZ

On another note, I am really finding I am not satisfied with my results unless I go ATG, and even then I need to do some slicing/guillotining to get those stubborn neck areas that grow at impossible angles. I always found the same thing using even a fresh cartridge razor. Is anyone else like this or do I just have strange facial hair (or too high of standards)?

---

I am also a Newbie. I also use guillotining when I go ATG. It simply makes it easier and more effective. In general, I find taking short strokes works better than long strokes. It seems to cut easier and more effectively.

Do what works for you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheZ

So I got some Chromium Oxide and a piece of nylon strop material to put it on from SRD today...this stuff is amazing! Edge feels so smooth and really just glides through the hair. Really pleased with today's shave. I also figured out how to properly stretch my neck which has made a world of difference, I had been starting to think it was actually impossible to get these 2 spots completely done.

On another note, I am really finding I am not satisfied with my results unless I go ATG, and even then I need to do some slicing/guillotining to get those stubborn neck areas that grow at impossible angles. I always found the same thing using even a fresh cartridge razor. Is anyone else like this or do I just have strange facial hair (or too high of standards)?

---

Possibly too high of standards. The neck is probably the hardest, most talked about area that is a problem for countless of us. Just remember to stretch the skin out and use no pressure and if it's not BBS, don't worry about it. Just keep working on your skills and it will come to you. Like everything else... time and practice.

Good Luck!

~Pary

Nice! Congrats! I still have trouble with a few spots on my neck, and depending on how well the overall shave went, I have to clean them up with.....more modern means. I loathe to actually name what I use on this board though.:ziplip:

Another day another successful shave.

Today's shave was an "away game" at my parents' house as I visit for the weekend, which threw an interesting curve ball into the mix. The much harder water, greater distance from the mirror, and the more intense bathroom lighting was very different, but my hands knew what to do and a quality shave was had.

I've also decided the ATG is "for me", my face can handle it without irritation all week, and it gives me the shave I desire (I always did ATG with cartridges as well).

All in all I'm happy to say I'm traveling confidently without bringing a Mach 3 along "just in case," in fact I'd feel fine throwing it in the trash. Travel kit consists of the typical shaving kit with a travel strop I made of bridle leather from Larry Andro and matching nylon webbing from SRD, as well as some Chromium Oxide and my Coticule to cover the "just in case."