Member and practicing for 1 year now...and here are the results
Hello fellow shavers,
It's been exactly 12 months now since I've started shaving with a straight razor. It has been a bumpy road but I can honestly say that I now can shave extremely smooth: sideburns, neck, chin & upperlip. All with-, across- & against the grain.
Most difficult part is to get the upperlip really and I mean really ultra smooth. I've avoided the fools pass for quite a while but that never gave me a satisfied feeling. The sides, neck & chin where smoot except my upperlip. So I started here too to shave against the grain and this caused (quite) some cuts, nicks and swearing but I've come to the conclusion that verything there is to know about shaving comes together on the upperlip.
The type of steel really makes a difference: a Thiers-Issard damast razor shaves VERY different compared to a hollowground Dovo or a vintage silversteel Wade & Butcher. For me a more heavy & solid blade works best so I prefer damast to achieve the best results. In all cases it stayes extremely important to use a surgical sharp blade. In some case if I notice that the razor starts to 'pull' or the resistance increases slightly I just stop and strop the razor 2-3 times on leather and 7-10 times on canvas.
Also the angle is much different: almost flat against the skin while the rest I use an angle of 30-45 degrees. Overstretching the upperlip doesn't help compared to the sides or chin. What does help is the preparation before your shave: the hotter the water the better, also the mix of lather makes a difference in the quality of the shave: when I make my lather I use a combo of 2 creams (Proraso/Trumpers) or a combo of a few drops of shaving oil and cream. And I always preshave with Proraso menthol & Prep > this better prepares the skin/whiskers to be shaved.
Final points of shaving the upperlip: I use 2 hands to keep the blade steady, I never push the razor but move my face downwards and I've never altered my nose. This skill took me 6 months to develop and I must say that I now shave most of the times nick-free.
Next step is a video but shaving the upperlip but something (scared) is holding me back.
How are your experiences with shaving the upperlip?
Greetings from Amsterdam,
Mark-Peter
Yes, I've become a collector too