Thread: Stubble!

I'm a right-handed person, and I stubbornly shave with the right hand even on the left side of my face. Today I did two WTG passes, as usual, and the results were:

1. No nicks
2. Aside from the standard "smooth with the grain, rough in any other direction" on the mustache area,
3. Nearly BBS in any direction on the left side; extremely short stubble on the chin if rubbing against the grain
4. Smooth with the grain on the right side, but massively noticeable stubble on the chin if rubbing against the grain

as usual.

Why does this happen? I know the problem in itself can be solved by doing XTG and/or ATG passes, but I'm wondering why the problem comes up in just this way in the first place. Isn't it supposed to be easier to shave the right side with the right hand and the left side with the left hand?

In my case I assume my dominant hand on my dominate dude is doing the job it is supposed to..but when I switch to my less dominate hand I take extra care and pay more attention to detail..a bad flaw but something I recognized because I had similar issues..You assume sometimes that is is going well until after you stop and examine..
I would imagine you will be arriving hands eventually...it is actually easier and you can learn it..a very true statement is that is becomes muscle memory and it could help.

Anthony

You may not be getting a good stretch on the right side so the hair is laying more flat on that side. Maybe try stretching your skin in different directions and see if any do better for you.

Check the direction your beard lays in that area. It is often not the same through out your entire face. Perhaps a different shave direction in the problem area is required.

Thank you one and all for the helpful replies.

Originally Posted by Trox

You may not be getting a good stretch on the right side so the hair is laying more flat on that side. Maybe try stretching your skin in different directions and see if any do better for you.

This sounds most likely. I'll try doing this the next time I shave.

Originally Posted by Eekspa

Check the direction your beard lays in that area. It is often not the same through out your entire face. Perhaps a different shave direction in the problem area is required.

It's weird. When I look in the mirror and feel the beard growth before a shave, it seems very clearly downward and outward, but when I'm feeling it after a WTG pass, it almost seems like the whole thing is slanted to the right. Including the left side. I'll have to check more thoroughly when I have thicker growth.

Edit: Just did WTG + XTG. The right side chin is smooth in most directions but rough in that one particular direction. I wonder if this simply means I've found the ATG direction for this patch of face and not others?

I've been shaving for about 6 months now, and I still haven't gotten BBS yet. Sometimes you just need to leave well enough alone and eventually, it will come to you. You might not notice, but you get better at it every time you shave. Just keep at it.

Thanks for the encouragement. Over the course of the past couple days I discovered that my beard does in fact grow entirely to the right. @.@ So WTG should have been rightward passes over the entire area to begin with. Shows what I know about my own face!

Edit: What a difference a little bit of knowledge makes! Armed with knowledge of the actual direction of my grain, I did two WTG passes today.

The first pass left my right chin smoother than the two-pass shaves I had been attempting before.
The second pass left me with possibly the smoothest shave I've had yet.

I had to stop at two because I forgot to strop for the second pass and gave myself a cut.

Good to see you have found the proper growth of your beard. Continued success.