Thread: Every Other Day Shave?

In my eight years or so of shaving with a straight razor I've noticed a tendency to play. I've played at various times with turning into a night shaver (I've been a morning shaver almost since birth). I've played with one pass shaves. The theory being that if it can't give you at least a DFS in one pass it probably needs some honing. I've even blocked out long periods of time to play almost exclusively with shavette's and safety razors. Although to be honest, this one wasn't so much a conscious choice as it was having lots of straights that needed a touch up hone that I was far too busy to bother with.

My latest play involves every other day shaves. Yeah, sometimes it's hard to start a day without a nice straight razor shave but I've found that if the razor has a really good edge I really don't start to look excessively scruffy until afternoon of the off day (at which point it doesn't really matter.) Yes, this does put a bit of a damper on daily faceturbation (too much of that will make you go blind anyway). However, aside from being a great test for the edge on a razor, I've found that some substantial stubble seems to give a better shave than the standard twenty-four hour growth. I haven't had a shaving bump in eight years and my skin is anything but sensitive. I think I just skipped a day one time and shaved the next day and said, "Hey, I like the way that feels" and decided to play with every other day shaves. Anyone else find that the shaves seem better if you let the stubble brew for a spell?

yup, I get better shaves off of a 2 day growth.

But my whiskers come in so tough & dark I gotta shave in the AM every day.
Luv them wedges!

I'd like to try every other day shaves but as a basically inert person the act of prep and shave every morning gets my gears moving and the day going in the opposite direction of inactivity. Had a full beard for 40 some years and each morning was a mental struggle to face the !@#~ of the day. First retirement was a glut of sleeping in till late morning and 3 AM bedtimes. Dare I say it, shaving saved my soul and get me back into a healthy rhythm. Don't dare disrupt that melody any time soon.

I like the tic-toc rhythm of shaving every second day. My growth is about like the OP's, and it's part of how I assess my current edge/technique/soap/etc: how do my whiskers feel by dinner time on the off day? And if I need to shave the morning of the off day, then I know something's really off!

Unless circumstances call for it, I've always been an every other day shaver.

But lately, I've been toying with the idea of trying to shave every day for a week, just to see what's it's like....now this thread has me one step closer to giving it a try. Maybe this Monday I will embark!

I shave every Monday and Thursday. That's it. I find that a day after a shave I have hardly any stubble. I have tried every other day but find I prefer the regime I've established of Mondays and Thursdays. But to each his own. Or whatever ever works for you.

I don't have the experience or time in with a straight yet to comment. That being said as a DE shaver for the last several years I find that every other or even every third day is optimal for me. Going three days is a bit rough an tends to take more work to shave off. But every other day gets me a good irritation free shave. I have what I would consider slow growth for sure. Since I've been using a straight I can still be fairly clean shaved through two days. I have thought about trying to shave every day but don't believe my skin could handle it. A tad sensitive.

Like some others here, I am retired with vastly different sleep/wake times than when I was working. I've found that shaving twice a week or as a minimum every 3rd day gives me the best feeling shaves. My stubble grows mostly on the chin and neck areas with minor growth on cheeks. So it takes several days to have enough stubble to get the maximum effect of a straight razor shave. During off days, I'll strop several razors to make sure my selected razors are ready to shave. I didn't start straight shaving until after coming home from a life saving surgery which jolted me into realizing that life was too short to keep shaving with flimsy plastic, throw away cartridge thingies. So I reverted back to shaving with several custom handled DE razors and from there to straight shaving with a small collection of new and vintage razors. Along the way, I found a new hobby with new skills which has turned shaving into an enjoyable adventure.

Shaving on the 3rd day gives me the best shave, although I start looking a little overgrown. Not too bad but... I wish my beard did grow enough to warrant every day shaving.

In Christ
SB

I'm stuck in the terrible spot of daily shaving is too often and every other day isn't quite enough (I work and must appear reasonably well groomed). I've taken to the dark side, mixing it up with a safety razor a few days/week.