Thread: Organizing my shave

As a beginner, one of the obstacles for me is to follow an organized pattern for my SR shave. I tried to follow a sequence but end up in a chaotic sequence, re lathering, going for a second pass in trouble spots before I have even tackled other areas. I end up rather anxious and it takes me forever. Any suggestions about how to get into a more systematic approach? Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by Razorthin

As a beginner, one of the obstacles for me is to follow an organized pattern for my SR shave. I tried to follow a sequence but end up in a chaotic sequence, re lathering, going for a second pass in trouble spots before I have even tackled other areas. I end up rather anxious and it takes me forever. Any suggestions about how to get into a more systematic approach? Thanks in advance!

The good news is that you’re already on the path. You know that a sequence makes sense, you’re just not there yet. The first thing that will help you is getting more comfortable using the razor. If you’re like I was, the reason why your game plan falls apart is because you’re having trouble doing what you anticipated doing when you set your plan. So instead of shaving the area you intended, you give yourself a break and tackle another area that is easier to manage. Next thing you know, the whole plan falls apart. Here’s what I did. First, I resigned myself to inferior shaves for the short term and concentrated on getting myself cleaned up enough to leave the house. Then, over time, I would focus on the best way to get an area cleaned up. For instance, my side burns always seemed to leave a touch of roughness even after a 3 pass shave with an ATG pass. My solution was to stretch the skin in the opposite direction that the hair grows. It mostly grows up and down. So I don’t begin at the jawline. I begin at the very top, pulling the skin right at my hair line and shaving an inch ATG. Then I move my hand down, pull up again and do another inch. The lesson here is that you need to clear the soap from position A in order to shave B. With B cleared, you can now get to C. As you approach your shave, think about where you need to anchor or stretch your skin from in order to achieve what you want to do. You’ll find that it fits together like a puzzle. I switched to SR from DE. DE taught me to pay attention to the growth of my beard so I already had it mapped out as to what direction I needed to shave. The hard part was trying to figure out how to duplicate it with the SR. The key was the sequence of events. Get comfortable first, then piece it together on section at a time.

OSDshaver:

So I followed your advice today. I also dedicated more time and care to the pre-shave prep and stropping. After about 20 minutes I was able to achieve a decent looking shave, a few whiskers left over the chin and the jaw line. I went back to my "training wheels" (my Mach 5) to take care of those. I believe I achieve a better shave than yesterday, definitely more confident and slowly acquiring a more systematic approach.

Originally Posted by Razorthin

OSDshaver:

So I followed your advice today. I also dedicated more time and care to the pre-shave prep and stropping. After about 20 minutes I was able to achieve a decent looking shave, a few whiskers left over the chin and the jaw line. I went back to my "training wheels" (my Mach 5) to take care of those. I believe I achieve a better shave than yesterday, definitely more confident and slowly acquiring a more systematic approach.

Great. Keep going. Soon you’ll be comfortable and you will be tired of just getting acceptable shaves. Now, what to do? When that time comes, think about a single area that you’re going to improve. Pay close attention to how your beard is growing. During the day you can run your hand over it in different directions to know what direction the grain is running in. After your shave, you’ll be able to tell where the problem areas are. Get to know the techniques and grips on the razor that make the shave not only possible but exceptional. Anchoring and stretching the skin is a must. BUT, if you stretch the skin in the opposite direction of the beard growth, it makes the hairs stand up more and makes it easier to get them all. And you’ll find that tough areas can often be overcome by pulling the skin to an area that is close by but easier to work from. Under the jaw line is a good example. You can pull the skin over the jaw line to make cutting easier. Likewise you can pull the skin on the adams apple to either side so as to make shaving it easier as well. (An alum block is good for this. Rub your wet finder tips over the block and it helps give you grip on soapy skin.) You might also find that with the grain passes are so inefficient that it makes no sense in actually performing them. In those cases, try to XTG passes in different directions. The area of the center neck for me is like that. It grows left to right. I do an “X” pattern in that area beginning with a down stroke on the diagonal from the right side of my chin down to the left side of my adams apple. Then the next will be from the right side of the adams apple up to the left side of my chin. Straight down is useless for me. Finally, the last pass is a hard line from right to left. So when you get to a problem area ask yourself what needs to happen here in order to get it shaved cleanly and how do I need to hold the razor in order to do that? There are going to be a couple spots that you’ll be convinced have no solution. But if you give it time, you’ll probably find the solution. In the end, a truly good shave will be a truly customized shave.

Nearly two months into SR shaving now. I am now somewhat more organized or methodical and shaving time is down to about 20 minutes. Here is my current plan of attack:
1- Sideburns and cheeks WTG both sides.
2- Neck WTG both sides.
3- Under the nose WTG.
4- Under the lower lip and chin WTG and XTG.
5- Sideburns, cheeks ATG.
6- Fine tuning, mostly taking care of stubborn whiskers around the mouth area and around Adam's apple.

This plan seems to be working so far. Thanks for all the input!!