Thread: Frustrating, but keeping at it

Originally Posted by Wxman2000

but I have noticed my cheeks aren't quite as smooth as that first shave which is a little frustrating.

Hi Wxman,

Without seeing what your doing, it's a little bit of guess work. But based on that one sentence I'd suspect sharpness is an issue. There are a lot of things that can affect the edge of your razor, and in the beginning it's not uncommon to be doing several of them. Things that can take a toll on the edge are too steep of an angle and basically scraping the whiskers off. Too much pressure. Improper stropping. Inadequate prep, etc. etc..
Do your in between shave stropping. Try a little extra prep and soften up the beard and then keep it moist as best you can. Then, as mentioned above, try lowering the blade angle. I try to get guys to start with a couple of short strokes practically flat. See if it removed any whiskers. If not re-lather that spot, increase the angle slightly and try it again until it starts shaving. It takes some angle to get it to shave, but not so much that it has a negative effect on the edge and face. If, at that lower angle you feel tugging and pulling then I'm fairly certain your razor needs a re-honing. A lower angle does help preserve the edge by eliminating the scraping and pressure, and if you just slightly cant the razor to heel leading in the WTG, north to south, stroke it gives the edge a slicing angle on the whisker instead of a chopping cut. Don't cant it too much or you can get a cut. Good Luck!! It'll all come together, you just have to eliminate variables one at a time.

Regards,
Howard