chin and stash

After nearly a dozen shaves of the sides and neck which are now getting pretty consistent this morning I tried the chin and stash. rough cutting resulting in lots of little nicks that only showed up very slowly after a minute or so. lots of razor burn as well. maybe should stick with the mach blades to finish the chin and stash and use the straight for sides and neck only.

I have been recently shaving cold before the morning shower using proraso preshave and giving it a couple minutes to sink in before lathering up. Seems to work great atleast for the sides and neck. Most of the irritation though happens after the hot shower. wondering if the swelling of the face after such a close cold shave can cause ingrown hairs?

Let's see, you have problems after the shaves, and you shower after the shaves, in stead of before. While it may be that is perhaps is a little early for you to do the full face, I'd recommend at least trying the chin and moustache areas, but give yourself a proper preshave treatment first. Shower first, then lather up well, then strop your razor, then very lightly shave the chin. It is not a failure to resort to the mach if straight shaving causes irritations, it is supposed to be fun - but preshave is very important, especially so if your technique is not flawless.
Ingrown hairs could happen. People usually have less problems with ingrown hairs when using a straight razor than with other means of shaving, but still it could happen. Perhaps not go for BBS, go light and only one pass, or what every makes you presentable.
Best of luck, let us know how it goes.

Hello Daryl,
First up theres nothing wrong with using the mach to finish up with while you are learning how to shave with a straight. The chin and tash are tricky but as your technique improves they can be conquered. For the tash area you could try two XTG passes (E/W & W/E). The chin needs to be broken down into several small flat areas. As for the cold shaving, I do this also but AFTER my warm shower. Sounds kind of weird but the shower helps soften the whiskers before the shave. So my routine is hot shower, dry(not the face), strop up my razor then rinse my face with cold water before face lathering and shaving.
Learning to shave with a straight takes a lot of practice and a lot of time and patience but luckily there is so much info here at SRP to help. Read the threads and wiki, search out the videos and ask lots of questions. Take your time and go slowly, watch your angle and pressure, but most of all enjoy the journey.

I have been trying the cold water shaves as discussed in the Pre-Shave forum and have noticed they give much closer shaves but was not sure if you should do this before your shower as some have said or after the shower and then just splash with cold water.

Thanks for answering my question as to before or after the shower for the cold water. I thought I read some people doing it before their shower instead of after which makes some sense to me since you then are rinsing off the shave with the shower which feels good and clean but it seems like shaving close with a tight face and then jumping in the hot shower might plump up the face skin and 'bury' the hairs of the close shave to then cause ingrown hairs or additional irritation. I do notice that the hot shower following the cold shave seems to really dry out the face to a point where even skin food has trouble re-moisturizing it. I will give a shot at doing cold shave after the shower.

In regards to the 'stache and chin, I'd say leave it alone for awhile until your confidence in the straight and pressure during the shave become extremely consistent. The chin, for me, came along slower than the rest, but the 'stache, by far, took the most time to achieve BBS. Don't rush yourself, accept that it will come eventually. Rome wasn't built in a day, my friend.

Thanks for the feedback, wasn't sure if I was just going slower then most so I wanted to give it a try. dots of blood that took over a minute to develop but nothing serious and razor burn like you wouldn't believe. I did it by doing 2 pases left to right and right to left on the chin. Too nervous to go up or down on it.

Only drops of blood WOW! My bathroom looked like it had been used in Hitch****s Psycho for my first few shaves!

Go as slowly as you need. Slow and steady wins the race.

Dont be nervous of the blade - it cant hurt you if you stay in control of it. No sideways movement and no twitchy movements and you'll be outshaving that mach before you know it.

i'm growing out my goatee while i learn to use the straight!

Exactly right Rearview!!! I have a patch and mustache right now, so I'm not even learning how to shave those areas yet. Who knows, I may never need to learn.

I'm still relatively new to straights as well (about 6 months deep). I had the same problems with chin and upper lip, untill I started treating my stache like the rest of my face. Just go for it, several small strokes on the upper lip WTG and it will work out. As for the chin I don't feel like i can give any good advise, as it remains a tricky area for me still. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by joben

I'm still relatively new to straights as well (about 6 months deep). I had the same problems with chin and upper lip, untill I started treating my stache like the rest of my face. Just go for it, several small strokes on the upper lip WTG and it will work out. As for the chin I don't feel like i can give any good advise, as it remains a tricky area for me still. Good luck!

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Yeah, the stache is always hard for me too

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Originally Posted by mjhammer

Exactly right Rearview!!! I have a patch and mustache right now, so I'm not even learning how to shave those areas yet. Who knows, I may never need to learn.

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I've had a donut for some 15-20 years now. At one time I shaved it off just so I could shave more of my face - but I decided I did not like it so it grew back :p

Hi,

that seems to be backwards from what I do, but thats not nesecarily bad.

Try hot shower, then a cold splash after your shave.