Thread: What bugs me

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.

Originally Posted by FrankD

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.

Hang in there man! It comes with time. Lots and lots of time...

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.

Originally Posted by FrankD

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.

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".

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

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.