Thread: Extremely Coarse Dense Beard

Sharpness has been covered above.
Don't forget a good beard and skin prep. Shower before shaving is a good start, next you have to work the lather really well into the whiskers to soften them. IMHO skin lathering does a better job here than scuttle lathering. Not everyone here will agree so try them both. It takes me a couple of minutes to build a nice lather on my face but it is well worth it.

As member Phatman put it..between me and him..we have the same facial hair as you do..;-)

As he put it...

1 day no shave=facial scratch wood
2 days no shave=same
3 days no shave=whiskers form into hairs=good time to shave..much easier than mowing down tough stubble ;-)

pcdad..I have 3 razors all different in sizes and feelings..FYI

I have a very heavy harsh beard. I get 2 shaves from a DE if that gives you a comparison.

The first thing for me that made a difference was while I was in the shower my wet bar towel, which is wide enough to fold and long enough to tuck into itself at the back of my neck, is in the microwave and being heated for about 1.5 minutes. I put enough water in it that it is pretty wet. I put this on when I am stropping and then when I am making lather. A soft beard is a real bonus.

The edge of a razor is very, very fragile but you have already gotten that action.

It has to be honed by a professional and eventually, if you stick with it, you are going to have to learn to hone.


Good luck,
Richard

We must be facial twins cause I do just that..no towel prep but scrub with body scrubber in shower then lather up well..I feel 3day wait is easier than 2 day wait..perhaps

Pcdad

I also have a very coarse beard. (2-3 shaves from cartridges, 5 o'clock shadow within 4 hours, stubble that makes shirt collars pill, BBS only lasts 8-10 hours, etc).

My observations are:
- Sharpness is the most important thing for more comfort & less passes. ie: Even between "shave ready" razors honed by the same honemeister, the slightly sharper one seems like it performs about 50% better to me.

- If the razor is shave ready, but not super extra sharp then I find myself automatically using a more upright angle since it catches more hairs per pass, but this also leads to quick dulling. (60 strokes on poly webbing will fix it up daily, but will it will need touching up on a pasted strop weekly). Super extra sharp allows me to use a less upright angle - which results in a lot less irritation / razor burn.

- A heavier grind is about 25% easier to use when the edge is shave ready but less than super extra sharp due to the extra momentum it provides. The stiffer grind is also more comfortable when you are using too much pressure against your face to compensate for the less than perfect blade sharpness. But when both the full hollow and heavier grind are super extra sharp, then the heavier grind has little advantage and I prefer the lighter weight / easier manueverability / control of angles of the full hollow.

- I find no difference between the following prep routines in terms of how much comfort I get or how many passes I need to cut my beard:
1. Shave after showering, let the lather sit on my face while stropping (~1 min)
2. Shave without showering, but let lather sit on my face ~ 3 minutes
3. Use conditioner on beard in shower, let the lather sit on my face while stropping (~1 min)

Also, using cream or soap doesn't seem to matter - the big difference is whether I mixed in the proper about of water to get wet lather that isn't too thin to help prop up the beard hairs.

I've also tried bowl & face lathering. It didn't matter as long as I spent the same amount of time rubbing the lather around on my face. (I tended to spend much less time rubbing the soap on the wiskers when bowl lathering).

I've tried both hot and cool water. Hot water softened the wiskers better and I got a noticeably closer shave. However, the cool water didn't soften my skin as much, so I got noticeably less irritation. I pefer hot since irritation is not a problem with good technique, and a truly sharp razor. (I can tell when it's not super extra sharp anymore since I start getting irritation / razor burn - even though it's still shaving closely).

I've tried shaving with just water. Lather worked 500% better for me.

One way to tell if your razor is sharp enough for a coarse beard is to see if it will cut stubble with a very short stroke. If it gets stuck and won't cut without the monemtum of a longer stroke then it's not really shave ready for your beard. If this is the case, my recommendation is to send your razor to SRD for honing. I think it's very very hard for a beginner to build correct shaving technique if you have to compensate for a slightly dull razor.

Good Luck !

as i posted in another topic, i have used sunflower oil with a few drops of essential oil for scent. to me it worked better than conditioner. i let the sunflower oil sit on my face for a good 10 minutes. it does make a difference to me compared to conditioner.

I will argue the grind makes no difference point. I have a tough beard as well and most all my razors are wedges. i do have a few hollows but they are stiff ground hollows like Dorko, Whacker, Livi. Even at the same sharpness, an extra hollow ground blade just flexes to much. Almost as if the edge is bowing under the strain of cutting whiskers. A properly honed blade and a stiff grind may help. Add some good soap/strop and a lot of practice. Different razors shave in different ways. You may want to try a few different brands in different grinds and sizes.

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

I will argue the grind makes no difference point. I have a tough beard as well and most all my razors are wedges. i do have a few hollows but they are stiff ground hollows like Dorko, Whacker, Livi. Even at the same sharpness, an extra hollow ground blade just flexes to much. Almost as if the edge is bowing under the strain of cutting whiskers. A properly honed blade and a stiff grind may help. Add some good soap/strop and a lot of practice. Different razors shave in different ways. You may want to try a few different brands in different grinds and sizes.

The barbers of yesteryear seemed to have a preference for full hollows. They had to be able to shave every type of beard, from the lightest to the heaviest, multiple times a day. It just goes to show that grind is ultimately up to the user. Nothing wrong if a person prefers a heavier grind, but a hollow is still more than capable of doing the task, and doing it well.

Originally Posted by Kees

Sharpness has been covered above.
Don't forget a good beard and skin prep. Shower before shaving is a good start, next you have to work the lather really well into the whiskers to soften them. IMHO skin lathering does a better job here than scuttle lathering. Not everyone here will agree so try them both. It takes me a couple of minutes to build a nice lather on my face but it is well worth it.

I'm new to this and I spent a lot of dough on hones, blades, and the like. I didn't spend money on a good soap. I was using the Colonel's soap and I thought it was okay. Last week I bought a cake of Provence Sante soap; a hell of a difference; easier shave, not as drying, and no overpowering scent.

I have a coarse beard as well I am probably honing my razor while shaving. I have to shave every day for my job and find that if the razor feels like it is pulling in between sides or just not cutting as smooth I just run it over the strop a couple times and that fixes the issue. I make sure that while taking a hot shower before I get out I turn the water up as hot as I can take it and just let it run over my face for about a min then get out and try not to dry off my face. Make sure you get a good later I find if my lather sucks then the shave does as well. Face prep is probably one of the most important things.