Thread: 30 Shaves In - Comments

I'm around 30 shaves in with a straight shaving nearly everyday. I'm to the point where I can make it through a whole WTG shave with no cuts or irritation. I've only tried XTG and ATG a couple times, but was getting nicks, so I stopped.

My prep is basic. I shower, soak my brush, strop, wet my face, build and apply lather, and shave. Post shave I apply some Nivia after shave balm to my whole face.

Some observations thus far...

My cheeks are just as smooth as my Mach 3 with one pass. Blade glides nicely and no irritation or pulling at all. Right side is a little better than left but not all that noticeable. More of a comfort thing during the shave because I'm right handed.

Neck stuble is not quite as short as the cheek area. Not sure what is causing this as I try to keep the same angle. Also, most of my neck I don't get any pulling at all, but on the sides of my Adam's apple there is sometimes some pulling sensation.

Under nose and chin still leaves considerable stuble. More so than on my neck. I have to touch this up with the Mach 3 for a smooth shave. I also feel a slight tugging/pulling sensation in this area. Not sure why, but I'm still equating it to my technique based on the success of the rest of the shave.

I rotate 4 razors right now and the results are the same with each. Razors are sharp and I'm pretty certain there is no issue on that end. Just wondering if anyone has any advise for getting rid of the stuble on the first pass so that cheeks and the rest of my face match up. I typically would only shave WTG with my Mach 3 so I'm hoping to get the same results with the straight.

Congratulations, you are most of the way there. There is no rule that you have to shave ATG, that's your choice. Your shaves will continue to get better as you have the biggest part of the learning curve behind you.

My chin is always my tough area as it's where my hair is coarsest and of course you have to continually be changing the angle of the blade. I'm sure your hair is more coarse around the chin as well...most of us are that way & of course it's got the most angles of our entire face. Keep a light touch & short strokes & multiple passes at different directions will help you to mow those whiskers down.

On the neck it's due to most of our neck hairs grow in various directions. You may need to practice with different methods of stretching the skin to help raise the hairs.

Lastly, you will not get all of the whiskers on the first pass. WHy try to force it? Think of a shave as a beard reduction program, the more passes, the more you mow down. The more directions you try, the more stray hairs you will get mowed down. Few of us do a one pass shave & those that do (or are in a hurry) typically use short overlapping strokes of 1/4" - 1/2". This is the method I use myself...give it a whirl no matter if you stay with WTG or add the others...

The most important part is that you enjoy the shave my friend!

Sounds like you're in a similar place to me. My neck stubble is getting marginally better each shave, but still not as close as the rest of my face, I just keep tentatively trying slightly different angles each shave & the goods ones stick, don't force it though or you'll just end up nicking yourself. There's no rush & no shame in finishing off with the mach 3, I still have to do it now & then, usually half an hour after I've shaved I'll rub my hand across my face & notice a bit I missed that I didn't see at the time, even this is getting less & less though.

The last revelation I had was probably 5 or 6 shaves back - the pressure I'm using is getting less & less as the shaves get better. It was initially very hard to do that with the chin area but it is the way you'll master it. Just keep going at it & you'll just get better & better over time & then suddenly it'll click.

I like that is says I'm now a senior member, I'm certainly no senior shaver - far far from it.

Originally Posted by bbaug14

I've only tried XTG and ATG a couple times, but was getting nicks, so I stopped.

OMG A smart newb

If more new guys would just follow that part right there it would make their shaving so much better, start slow work up to the harder parts as you gain experience...

Great post. I am 2 years and 3 months in and still having fun. Some things to think about... My WTG is really more of a north to south pass. Once I started paying attention I noticed that not all the hair grows in the same direction so simply shaving north to south was not always with the grain. This is especially true on my neck. The hair there grows east to west. I found that shaving my neck with a mowing or sything motion (moving the blade in more of an arc) seemed to shave a might closer. I also found stretching the skin in several directions seemed to make a difference, something about how the stretching almost made the hair stand up better. One other thing you might think about is the order of what you do. I sometimes make the lather and put it on my face before I strop the blade. The hair could be 'drying out' before you actually get ready to start mowing. It may not make a big difference, but big differences are not what you are looking for now.

Good luck, and happy shaves,
Sgt Scott

My stroke on my cheeks is more of a diagonal stroke from nose to the bottom of my ear or jaw line, as that's the direction my hair grows. Same with under my nose and chin. Last night I broke my chin up into three sections: middle, left and right. I did a more diagonal stroke for the left and right and straight down with the middle and got much better results. On par with my Mach 3. Same with under my nose and same results. These changes made it a more accurate WTG pass than north and south. My neck stuble is still a little bit longer but I think that will come with learning the proper stretching. My neck stuble grows in different directions in different places, so finding the correct stretches and strokes for each area is the key I think.

Now on to figuring out XTC and ATG. The times I've tried it seems like the razor doesn't want to glide well. It's like it wants to skip across my face and get stuck. I can't think of a better way to describe it than that that. Perhaps my angle is off for those strokes. That's a weekend thing for me as I don't have time for that long of a shave during the week, so we'll see how this weekend goes. I have some Proroso Pre Shave cream coming this week too, so maybe that will help as well.