Thread: file it under better late than never

So I picked up my first straight razor in 2009. I lived in Kansas City at the time and had access to some really great mentors. They put me off to a great start and will be grateful to them into perpetuity.

That being said I think I put the cart before the horse a bit I learned to hone. I was buying old razors and restoring them too working condition, and generally doing all the things around the edges but had never really perfected my shaving.

Over the years I mastered the curves of my face, knew very well how my facial hair grows and generally could reliably reproduce a nice clean shave. That being said I had a few persistent problems I could never solve. My skin was super irritated after every shave and below the chin I would not get nicks but rather little bleeding spots. Over this recent holiday break I had time to take an account of my hobbies and decided to reengage my shave and try to correct this issue.

I spent a number of hours going back through the beginner forums clearly something in my technique was wrong. After much research I had identified the culprit... Not pressure not razor sharpness. It was my angle of attack. I was coming in way to steep and no matter how light I would go it never quite resolved the matter.

This morning I made a serious effort to keep the angle down and with this the result was night and day. No blood, skin felt great. I am completely reinvigorated.

I really want to mentor people starting out and I think this aspect of the process cannot be overlooked. I will be forever indebted to the people that help me get started I wish I had discovered this issue earlier.

If you had Mike, Kelly or Sham helping you in KC, then you got as good an intro as anyone could wish for.

It was all 3. They are great guys. I think I must have never talked to them about the issue I just sort of thought it came with the territory.

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I am happy you resolved your issue and can now have a beautiful shave clean close and comfortable. It was all about finding a comfortable shave for me. That was my focus in the beginning. I think we can say your thread title says it all, and best.

I really hope to mentor with time permitting and I can pass it forward.


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Originally Posted by RezDog

I am happy you resolved your issue and can now have a beautiful shave clean close and comfortable. It was all about finding a comfortable shave for me. That was my focus in the beginning. I think we can say your thread title says it all, and best.

I like to call it CCC:

Clean Close & Comfortable.

Personally, I don't believe in the BBS; Baby Butt Smooth. I read time and time again about guys doing 3-4-5 pass shaves in pursuit of the elusive BBS shave.

Learn how your beard grows, then map out a shaving plan and do at the MOST a two pass shave and enjoy the time while doing so!

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I like to call it CCC:

Clean Close & Comfortable.

Personally, I don't believe in the BBS; Baby Butt Smooth. I read time and time again about guys doing 3-4-5 pass shaves in pursuit of the elusive BBS shave.

Learn how your beard grows, then map out a shaving plan and do at the MOST a two pass shave and enjoy the time while doing so!

Yup, I do two passes but the irritation was still so rough.


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Originally Posted by vinnyt

Yup, I do two passes but the irritation was still so rough.

Yes but I believe that was before you learned the evil of your ways and once you learned the right angle the irritation went 'away'.

Yes/No? Maybe So

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Yes but I believe that was before you learned the evil of your ways and once you learned the right angle the irritation went 'away'.

Yes/No? Maybe So

Yes before


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