Thread: For the Beginners - How Far is Too Far?

Very true. Right after a shave its like wow...an hour or so later, its holy sh*t thats smooth

Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

Very true. Right after a shave its like wow...an hour or so later, its holy sh*t thats smooth

Yup, I can relate to that.

Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

Very true. Right after a shave its like wow...an hour or so later, its holy sh*t thats smooth

That's EXACTLY how it is

Extremely good post. I have made the mistake (more than once, so clearly I take a long time to learn) of trying to get rid of every hair while shaving. I feel like with all the time spent prepping, heating, hydrating, lathering, etc. that I should be able to be BBS before applying my aftershave... This leads to attacking trouble areas over and over with the result being a nice ugly, painful case of razor burn.

This morning I just did a nice leisurely WTG, XTG shave with my DE razor and it was the most pleasurable shave I have had since starting this wet shaving hobby. I didn't come out BBS but I felt very refreshed, smelled great, not a single nick, cut, scrape or weeper. I think it may have been because I am testing the blade (Merkur) to see how many shaves I can get out of it (this was the 5th) and was focusing on using zero pressure. I had reggae music playing and it was a very zen experience to not worry about every last hair.

OP, you're totally correct that the 'true shave' doesn't reveal itself until later on, when the skin has relaxed back to normal. No reason to try to force BBS.

Originally Posted by bplipschitz

I would add that if you are going to shave ATG, it's very important (on my face, at least) to get a good WTG *and* XTG pass in. If I don't get a good XTG pass, or if I skip it, I'll get razor burn on the ATG pass for sure. The reason is that my whiskers are long enough at that point to have the blade catch them, and then dig into my face. They're much shorter after the XTG pass, and that doesn't happen with a subsequent ATG pass.

So, for most weekday shaves I'll do 2 passes (WTG & XTG) and on Sunday I'll take my time and do all three.

As always, YMMV.

Excellent, excellent advice. See, I'm not doing a XTG, I'm doing just a WTG and then a ATG. I think that in fact my whiskers ARE too long, and the blade catching them and digging in is EXACTLY what's happening, esp on the point of the chin! Since i shaved off my goatee I feel like a beginner again (not that I'm an expert at all. only about 6 months in), but I like experience on the chin..

Thanks for the post; most helpful. This is why I LOVE this forum and this, umm, hobby? Sport? Pastime? So much to learn and read and do...