Is watching the guys on video using a straight and with quick long strokes taking all the whiskers off their face like it is so easy peasy and I still take forever and never manage to get a bbs.:banghead:
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Is watching the guys on video using a straight and with quick long strokes taking all the whiskers off their face like it is so easy peasy and I still take forever and never manage to get a bbs.:banghead:
Hang in there man! It comes with time. Lots and lots of time... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankD
I'm new to straights and SRP but my thought that shaving in this manner is a learned skill. I imagine as with all learned skills the more you do it the better you get at it. I am a huge NASCAR fan and I can't imagine pit crews that bang out sub 14 second four tire pit stops were making those times when they 1st started.
Patience Grasshopper.............. While I'm still not quite getting bbs, my shaves get better every time. As far as taking "forever", I am enjoying the time I take in the bathroom. It's truly "me time".Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankD
I'm not gonna lie, I sometimes get frustrated as well. I've never been known for my patience, and I expect results with everything I do. When I start feeling that way, I think to myself that I am learning something new, and that I also have to "unlearn" the way I was shaving before. That's 25 years of unlearning to do!
The guys in the videos have been doing it for quite a long time. Stick with it, and you will see improvement. Until then, take it easy on yourself, and enjoy the self pampering! I love lathering up with warm uberlather that I created myself!
Hang in there!
FrankD,THANK YOU!! I thought I was the only one to have such feelings. Not wanting to offend anyone but it seems to me that in every one of those shaving videos the shaver is a full faced person. No nooks. No crannies. No hollows. No protuberances, Just full, slightly rounded physiognomy. It would be a boon to the many if some of the very experienced straight razor shavers of the forum who possess a face of valleys, canyons and mountains, or some combination of such would do a series of videos casting light on shaving in those areas that irritate many of the brethren of the razor.
I especially like the one with the worlds fastest shaver.
I hear you. I could go faster, but I might need an ear lobe or nostril for another few years!
That is the problem with a lot of the videos on shaving with a straight, it gives a newbie a false impression of how easy it is. It causes a lot of frustrations I am sure by reenforcing false expectations. It really takes time and if you are a slow learner like me expect to put in 6 months to a year of shaving daily before you get consistently excellent results. So hang in there it does eventually get better.
Bob
It sure looks easy in the videos, just like playing the guitar. The subtle points related to skin stretching, pressure, angle, blade sharpness, guillotine/sythe stroking, hair growth direction, lather cushion, glide, and wetness do not present well in a video. Reading helps and a mentor is even better. However, we are flooded with resources compared to the beginning of the last century.
I think in many cases there are other factors involved too. The majority of shaving vids that I've seen feature men with light, sparse beards. As well, they usually seem to have very minimal growth to begin with, to the point where you have to wonder why they are bothering to shave in the first place; this offers very little resistance for the blade, so they get this long sweeping strokes for the camera. And to be fair, we can't tell how close the resulting shave is :shrug:
Remember, very few shaving vids are done for educational purposes. Most are for fun or simply to show off to friends and strangers. I'm sure some have even taken some, oh, "dramatic/creative license" for that very purpose.
Flooded with resources and contradictions in those resources too which is a mine field to navigate for uninitiated.
Bob
Keep in mind that straight shaving gives you a completely customized shave. So try to treat it that way. When you're done with your shave, feel around for the rough spots you missed. Take ONE of those areas and think hard about how you can get it clean. Think about you ATG pass for that area and what angle the razor needs to attack from to accomplish that. Think about how you will need to hold the razor in order to do it. Now go to work on that spot in your next shave. If you nail it, move to the next spot that needs help. Later think about the sequence in which you will string these events together. It's a step by step process toward that customized shave. So take it one step at a time. Where you begin is your choice.
100% true,have seen shaving vids and the guys had nothing to shave off,The other side of the coin is you see very rotund guys posting vids.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan82
far easyer to shave a big fat face than one that is angular.Skin is already stretched from being overwieght.
I totally agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razorfeld
Thanks Ryan for those points I must admit my 2nd pass is so much easier than the 1st and the cynic in me wondered whether some of the videos were "set up" ie there was nothing there to shave off!
It's come to the point where I normally only do a 2 pass shave unless I have a weeks worth of growth. I have to agree with Ryan and the others where I wonder about some of these shave vids. Some of them make me wonder if they even have to shave to begin with..just a bit of "fluff" there and it looks sooo easy..lol.
It takes good while but u get better shaved with short multi strokes while stretching face a little different while making those strokes. Now doing that quick is challenging. But it comes to ya with experience.
Yes, the shaving vids, the sparse beards, the big fat faces, and there is the famous, "Willi" (??), who is / was a member of this site.
This video has had many titles, I'ts been posted here before, but it is a shaving video of a bearded thin man, str8 shaving. Now the title I saw it under was, "The Manliest Shave Ever", and the first time I saw it, I thought he was going to use the big knife hanging on the kitchen wall:
The Manliest Shave Ever!! - YouTube
I still love this video!
Enjoy!
Reminds me of when I was twenty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan82
+100 :)
Bingo,
I agree, if my face were the same shape as my upper thigh, I could shave my face in 30 seconds.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razorfeld
Phrank, at least his face didn't have that convexity to it that so many of the other shaving videos have. While a fast shave he does demonstrate what a really good well honed razor can do.
Something tells me you're gonna be just fine... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by wtrwar
This is exactly the right mindset to have.
Haha...leave the fat guys alone! Actually, I'm a thin guy, and I do long strokes on about 2/3 of my face. It is only the center third that I do short strokes on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razorfeld
For me, I can get through the cheeks fairly quickly, but for me, it's feels like a 90 degree angle from my cheeks to the jawline, and my trouble spot has always been along the jawline.
The neck and cheeks, no problem, but I have to use short strokes drops from above and up from below in order to get a DFS along the jawline....sometimes I feel like I'm shaving Max Headroom (now there's a reference from the past).
My wife said, "So how does it feel to shave your face with a weapon?" That pretty much describes her perspective of the ritual. I told her it is NOT a weapon when in the right hands and it takes time to master the use.
I have assembled an ensemble of different razors from different manufacturers that were acquired thru several means (antique dealers, flea markets, eBay and such). I have been following various forums here for the proper way to clean, hone, strop and prepare each razor.
I am building the arsenal of sharpening equipment based on feedback here.
However, the most important part about the entire process is learning the proper shaving technique for my face using a straight. My father started me on a safety razor years ago and I am now reminded of how careful one must be with the straight shaving technique. Slooooow down and pay attention!
Everything comes down to the touch and the approach: sharp ready shave razor with as straight a blade as possible, face prep, good lighting, use both hands, get the angle right and shave. Then learn from that experience, write down the mechanics afterward and evaluate this shave. I have shaved 8 times now using different blade weights and designs. I am finding what works and what doesn't work on my face. I have a very long way to go before I can give any advice to anyone else but patience is at the top of the list.
After shave #1 & #2 I was wondering if this was the right way to go. After #7 & #8, I look forward to each experience (except for the CHIN)!
A pencil can be a weapon in the right hands...how does she feel about that? Or a rolled up magazine?Quote:
Originally Posted by r2razor
I would say, far from it being a weapon, it's a tool that's been used to shave with long before cartridge razors and such were even thought of. Sheesh, safety razors were an innovative thing and they are what, maybe 150 years old?
Perspective is important, the device you use to shave is no more a weapon than the knife you use to cut your pancakes, with Canadian Maple Syrup of course!