Thread: 3rd times an idiot with a weapon.

I've done the upper lip WTG successfully on my 2nd run, & I can do the sideburns & cheeks okay so far. It's the chin that I find awkard & anything ATG/XTG that messed me up last time. Needless to say, there will be only WTG this time.

Kaden, When I get a razor honed and stropped I have a test that I do that, for me, will imediately indicate whether I have a saw toothed face grinder or a nice smooth sharp cutting edge.
I tuck my upper lip down and over my upper teeth creating a nice taut upper lip. I start just below the nose using the tip of the blade and attempt a straight down stroke. The nose being in the way requires a very steep angle. If the razor will cut with relative smoothness at this angle I expect that the rest of the shave should be good.
The point here is that the angle of the blade really makes a difference. Also the tautnes of the skin. Most of the cuts I have got while shaving have been when I get cocky and go too fast. If skin balls up ahead of the razor the angle of attack changes too much. The rapidly changing angle of the chin area is always an extra challenge.
I hope this helps you to pay special attention to "angle of attack" of your blade's edge and results in a much nicer shave for you.
P.S.
Oh, one other thing. If you do nick yourself and you come again at the same direction as before the edge will fall into the cut you just previously made. Instead, come from a different direction and the edge will pass without hanging up in the cut.

Well, that was a much better result. Opened up a couple of small nicks, one above my top lip & one right at the corner of my mouth. Both of these were ones I'd previously done on Saturday morning, so not a single new cut. As soon as I'd done that, I got the gillette to do around by mouth, & then continued with the straight. Finished off the whole shave with the gillette to make sure it was as even as possible & left it at that. The shave itself also felt a bit smoother & less tuggy (if that's even a word), so maybe my stropping, pre-shave ritual & skin stretching are slowly helping. The Alum block certainly helped with grip, so thanks to all the recommendations I've seen for that. It definitely felt a bit more natural, although my left hand is still a bit shakey compared to my right. Saturdays hack n' slash job is also fading nicely now, so I can finally walk around without people thinking I've been attacked by that Mountain Lion ZeroCool found for me.

Cheers for the support guys.