Originally Posted by
christophe
Does "what looks like stubble, but [...] feels smooth" look the same right after the shave or 20-30 minutes after the shave?
My understanding (and personal experience) is that the use of warmth (water, towel...) makes your facial hair more visible, more out, more exposed... (I'm not sure how to say it); which is of course one objective: so that you can shave even closer. But then, as your face cools (with cold water and with time), your facial hair get less visible, less out, less exposed...
So that what may look like a so-so shave right after finishing the shave, may actually be a really good-looking shave 20-30 minutes after...
I think my point is that: if you only care about looking closely shaved (for work for example), then, even now at your skill level, you may not need to do so many passes... In my case, when I started, I was doing 5 passes a shave, because I wanted to look perfectly shaved at the end of the shave. But soon after I realized, I could go with only 1 or 2 passes, and look perfectly shaved when I arrive at work...
cheers