For the Beginners - How Far is Too Far?

Reading some of the recent beginner posts, it reminded me of a post I did about a year and a half ago titled "Scrambled Eggs". In it I stated that if you cook scrambled eggs until they are complete in the pan, they will be overcooked on your plate because of carry over cooking.

Similarly, if you try and shave every last bit of stubble off, you can vey likely get your basic razor burn/rash. Your true shave does not reveal itself for an hour or two after your shave. The skin and stubble, which are swollen from all of the hot water and lather shrink back to normal and then you can tell for sure what you did.

My basic point is that you can overshave in an effort to get that perfect shave WHILE you are shaving.

As with everything in this crazy hobby - YMMV :deal:

I'd have to agree. I guess also of some consideration, for those of us who are morning shavers, is that one's face can be a little puffy in the morning. I've only just started doing a lot of ATG shaving. I do one WTG and then an ATG (no XTG). The other day I got a lovely close shave, but with a little too much red in the shaving cream when I wiped off the blade. I think I may back off on the XTG a bit for a while, and may also try to go without shaving on weekends (unless I have an event to attend). This will give my skin a rest; but also make the shave on Monday that little more interesting.

BTW, good points re the scrambled eggs, they are very easy to turn in to rubber... :-)

I'm a beginner too and, currently, I'm at the 'quit while I'm ahead' stage! My shaves are definitely getting better but I'm still not at the BBS stage however I think it's best not to push it. Also, as I have fairly slow growing stubble, it has the added benefit that I can shave more often!

You always have to balance closeness of the shave on the one hand and skin irritation on the other hand. Would you feel happy with a very smooth face with red blotches? Lynn addresses this in his DVD.

Very good point about the way your face feels right after you shave compared to an hour or so later. Used a new injector razor that I just bought for the 1st time yesterday and after 4 passes thought: 'well, put this one away, not very good' and then later felt my face for stubble and there wasn't any. Difference between a warm bathroom and a cold car!

A great comparison to eggs Alembic.

I also completely agree with this post. Quit while you're ahead, and you cheeks will like you....your neck will like you too. The best part is that if you don't go too far, you get to do it again tomorrow. IME, razor burn has always taken a couple days to calm down.

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Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I'd have to agree. I guess also of some consideration, for those of us who are morning shavers, is that one's face can be a little puffy in the morning. I've only just started doing a lot of ATG shaving. I do one WTG and then an ATG (no XTG). The other day I got a lovely close shave, but with a little too much red in the shaving cream when I wiped off the blade. I think I may back off on the XTG a bit for a while, and may also try to go without shaving on weekends (unless I have an event to attend). This will give my skin a rest; but also make the shave on Monday that little more interesting.

BTW, good points re the scrambled eggs, they are very easy to turn in to rubber... :-)

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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.

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Originally Posted by Alembic

Reading some of the recent beginner posts, it reminded me of a post I did about a year and a half ago titled "Scrambled Eggs". In it I stated that if you cook scrambled eggs until they are complete in the pan, they will be overcooked on your plate because of carry over cooking.

Similarly, if you try and shave every last bit of stubble off, you can vey likely get your basic razor burn/rash. Your true shave does not reveal itself for an hour or two after your shave. The skin and stubble, which are swollen from all of the hot water and lather shrink back to normal and then you can tell for sure what you did.

My basic point is that you can overshave in an effort to get that perfect shave WHILE you are shaving.

As with everything in this crazy hobby - YMMV :deal:

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Excellent post!! I have noticed the same thing about 30 minutes or so after my SR shave that my face felt smoother than right after my shave. I sort of figured the whiskers retreated into the skin, but I was not certain.
This should be in the forum's Wiki page for the beginners!!

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Originally Posted by jaym72

I'm a beginner too and, currently, I'm at the 'quit while I'm ahead' stage! My shaves are definitely getting better but I'm still not at the BBS stage however I think it's best not to push it. Also, as I have fairly slow growing stubble, it has the added benefit that I can shave more often!

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You are on the right track!! I like your attitude!!! As you shave more, your technique improves and with that your shaves will improve. SR shaving in my opinion is a lifelong learning experience.

Thank you. I've discovered this myself this past week. I've been using a straight razor for about a month and went from a true BBS last week to a patchwork quilt of small irritations/abrasions a few days ago and even went back to a DE razor for a couple days' time thinking that would help (it did, some) while the skin healed. This isn't anywhere as easy as it looks but it's fascinating and I'm determined to get better at it. I really hated electric razors which I started using after those double-bladed disposables got popular and I was living somewhere I couldn't find/buy DE blades (pre-internet days).

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

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Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

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

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Yup, I can relate to that.

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Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

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

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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.

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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.

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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...