Thread: once over shave?

Those passages from the manual, while sagely, are generalizations. Each man must find his own best way through.

My small beard is stubborn and I usually do a kind of once over. Once the first pass is done, I merely wet my face with water for the ATG pass. There is enough lubricity remaining from the previous lathering to get me through well. Contrary to what the manual says, I experience the most irritation from not shaving.

X

My guess is that the manual refers to the quality of shave expected in the 19th century. The definition of a "close shave" may therefore differ a bit from nowadays expectation of a BBS shave.

No matter how much I would like to be done with a one-pass shave, as long as I don't go against the grain the shave is nowhere near to be called close. And yes, my razors are nice and sharp

YMMV,
-Axel-

The barber manual from 1960's era says the same thing.

For my beard, no matter how sharp or what type of blade, a once over is never enough.

Generally, my first pass is with the grain and then I relather for a cross-grain pass, which just means that if my beard grows down in a particular area, I shave from from left to right.

X is right though, you need to find what works best for your beard type and growth pattern. The suggestions in the barber's manual is for professionals to give their customers a good shave without the irritation because an irritated customer may not come back.

After making a stroke with the grain, immediately shave the same patch across the grain. Your blade winds up making a series of chevron strokes down your face. Although you removed the lather in your first stroke, there's enough residual slickness left that you can easily do the cross-grain stroke. Do it quickly though, as that residual slickness goes away within a few (5-10) seconds.

This is my usual workday M-F shave.

+1 on the chevrons. I never thought about it really - I always assumed I was doing a single wtg pass, but if I analyze it, I am shaving two different angles 90 degrees apart on every part of my cheeks because of the way my hairs there grow.

BTW - my pre-shave oil will leave enough residual lubrication to do a second pass straight away. Maybe that would help?

Si

The manual and MParker line up with me.
On a single pass, I do multiple angle stokes on each area of my face before I move on to the next. Their is enough moisture after the lather is removed on the first stroke to immediately go across the grain.
The result is a quality shave in less time.
HOWEVER, if I am enjoying myself and have plenty of time, I'll relather and go at it again---partly for a slight improvement in the final result, and partly just for FUN!
Ron

your mistake is mistaking a Feather for a straight razor, completely different beasts.