Thread: What's the secret to really smooth?

Originally Posted by vgod

what amazes me is that you got a great shave from AOS. they normally know nothing about shaving. i love their products, but i have always found their staff to be utter morons.

From what I've seen (AOS in NYC) their staff are definitely morons like you said (at least when it comes to str8 shaving they are), but the guy/s who do their str8 shaves do it like one day per week and don't normally work at the store. They may be pro barbers that are hired from elsewhere for a day.

As for me and BBS? I never go after it. I know I can get it (I have) but I would rather do one pass and shave more often since my beard doesn't need attention everyday or even every other to keep it "shaven". I like stubble sometimes too.

I got a shave one time at a Russian barbershop in Queens near Freshpond. I wish I knew the name of the place or the street it was on. I bet somebody on here would be near the place. There was a father (who spoke no, or very little, English and son who was probably in his late 20s at the time (2002). The son shaved me, and I couldn't feel a whisker for 3 days afterward. That was my introduction to straight razor shaving. There was absolutely no irritation, no nicks, no discomfort. It was the most perfect shave I've ever had.

Although my technique is improving and my sense of what grows in which direction and how to get a smooth shave is still developing....

Sharp is a very big part of the solution.
`
Freshly honed and stropped I get a mighty fine shave. Second shave off the same razor with just a leather strop not nearly as good. Still acceptable and clean but not as good.


-Bob

I think you will be happier if you just go for the "perfect" shave and not worry so much about detecting and micro-managing any stubble:
By the "perfect" shave I mean:

1) Your face looks good in the mirror (as in clean shaven)
2) You did no damage to your skin
3) You enjoyed the shave!

Simplify. It's more fun that way.

Ron A

You can very easily get a 7+ day BBS shave. The key is to push really REALLY damn hard. You see, the secret is that your hair wont start to grow back until after they blood flow returns. Sometimes that takes a good surgeon 7-9 days to get all those tiny little capillaries sewn back together. A fringe benefit is that you use what ever aftershave you want, NO BURN! It's wonderful.

Idk dude, but I'm tryin to figure it out too :P

My razor is sharper than Achilles' spear, which he probably shaved with too because he's such a beast, but my technique still sucks (granted, it's only been a week). If you can get a good pass ATG, methinks that'll be what does it.

The hard part is waiting another day, or two if you've induced razor burn from being overly shave-zealous like me lol, to try again.