Thread: Third shave new issues

I have had my third straight razor shave and I seem to have taken a step or two backwards, a couple of nicks and the shave not as close as my second however the main issue I have discovered is seeing what I am doing in the mirror I have 3 different mirrors in the bath room (ask the misses why?) my shaving mirror on window sill above the sink, medicine cabinet to the right on the wall at right angle to my shaving mirror and a larger wall mirror on the wall oppisite my shaving mirror but no matter how I tilt or turn my head I just can't seem to see what I'm doing very well, any advice or ideas?

Well, I'm afraid as a rookie you need to be able to see what you are doing in order to get a good shave. Later on you do it more by feel but that is later on. So that's a problem you need to solve in the short term. maybe a portable mirror or a different location.

As to the shave itself. probably the first 10 shaves or more have zero to do with actually shaving and more to do with gaining facility with the razor and mapping out your beard and figuring which way to stretch the skin and what strokes to use and the angle to use on the razor. Also start easy in the easiest parts of the face and get more adventurous as you get better.

I had same with the angles or P.O.V. I soon found out its a lot more about feel and muscle memory.(also trial and error) what I have learned as a trick is different ways of stretching my face and on different parts of face what I would do is let my fingers hang over the shaft enough for at least 1 of them to ride on my face as sort of an angle guide. Now as far as your razor not bieng as comfortable as it was or getting as close as you would like. I would say (guessing) that its probably your stropping. The smallest oops while stropping can dull and even ruin your edge.

I'm not to worried about getting a close shave yet I'm just concentraiting on getting used to my razor and I know my stropping is going to cause me problems until I gain the experiance to know what I'm doing. Have to figure out this mirror thing though because as a rookie I have a long way to go before I trust myself with the face my mrs loves.

I use the flat medicine cabinet mirror in the bathroom and just turn my head right or left and view out the corner of my eyes when doing right or left sides of the face. Head up and/or turned right or left looking down at the mirror while doing the neck. Don't know, never much trouble viewing what I am doing. Stumped on what to tell you unless you are trying to use multiple mirrors at the same time and that may be a bit confusing to do.

Bob

I'm going to make a guess that might be way off base but I'll make it anyway in the hope it helps. Your issue isn't insufficient mirrors, it's grip. If you're trying to e.g., do your whole shave with one hand and one razor position there's no way you're going to be able to contort yourself enough to be able to see what you're doing. Using both of your hands (one at a time ) and different grip positions you should easily be able to see what you're doing over your entire face and neck.

I shave with a single flat mirror and have no problem getting a good view of what I'm doing.

Hope this helps!

There are some great videos of guys shaving on youtube... these really helped me get started and helped me plan my angle of attack when approaching different portions of my face.

One thing that has really assisted me is using my free hand to stretch the hell out of my skin. Once your skin is stretched out nice and tight, the razor has less of a tendency to bind to your skin or skip over parts of your face. This will really help mitigate the nicks and cuts.