Thread: ATG or not

'Certainly a good question & I don't think the answer's the same for all faces. One school might preach that regardless of face, lay of the beard - a skilled person should be able to do any stroke on all places. Even a few successfully do the 'fool's stroke (atg moustache). Another school preaches atg isn't necc.

With this and similar questions, its helpful not to lose track of the original objective - close, comfortable, preferably enjoyable. Is it necc. to have pro-level skills to shave? Hell no. One thing I really love is Lynn's enduring dictum: have fun. Go ahead & try to improve skills. Because we do it daily (most), it'll probably happen whether or not we try. If the challenges give too much carnage or irritation - no need to make it a life & death battle - get back to 'fun' until you get the itch for challenge again. I have to say/remind myself of this, 'cause I'll get in acheivement ruts like anyone else.

'Just 'cause I'm in more than one rut - recent shot attached.

Certainly a good question, I do WTG first then 1 ATG, I also use a smaller razor for my neck say a 3/8ths for it. I have about 10 razors right now in my rotation.

In a word, no. The best shave, for me, is a three pass shave. WTG, XTG, and ATG. The result is a face that feels as smooth as porcelain, and the smoothness lasts a lot longer than a one or two pass shave.

Originally Posted by pinklather

'Certainly a good question & I don't think the answer's the same for all faces. One school might preach that regardless of face, lay of the beard - a skilled person should be able to do any stroke on all places. Even a few successfully do the 'fool's stroke (atg moustache). Another school preaches atg isn't necc.

With this and similar questions, its helpful not to lose track of the original objective - close, comfortable, preferably enjoyable. Is it necc. to have pro-level skills to shave? Hell no. One thing I really love is Lynn's enduring dictum: have fun. Go ahead & try to improve skills. Because we do it daily (most), it'll probably happen whether or not we try. If the challenges give too much carnage or irritation - no need to make it a life & death battle - get back to 'fun' until you get the itch for challenge again. I have to say/remind myself of this, 'cause I'll get in acheivement ruts like anyone else.

'Just 'cause I'm in more than one rut - recent shot attached.

Absolutely +1. I do a muti directional 1 pass now that either gets me BBS or it doesn't. Most times it does but when it doesn't I remember the poor results I used to get with a disposable that I used to use far beyond it being sharp and it was a miserable chore. Anything with a straight beats that. Once in a while I will go all out. Hot water, towels, 2 passes, smell good stuff, ect but 99 out of a 100 days I just shave and enjoy it.

Originally Posted by Rdefreitas

Wtg,xtg,ATG that's the general look at it. Does anyone get a clean shave by just going wtg?


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Clean shave? With relative ease. My facial hair is fairly sparse and mostly thin, so if I have a decently sharp blade for the most part I can get close, clean, and comfortable in a single WTG pass if I shave daily and pay close attention to form.

On the other hand, if I have the urge/inclination to attempt a BBS shave sometimes I can get the desired result with 2 passes, WTG and XTG. But more often than not, I'll have to use a 2 pass WTG/ATG configuration - 3 passes leads to an unbearable amount of razor burn so that route is out of the questioon.