Trying to go from a decent shave to a great one

I have been using a straight razor for about a month now. It has been going well. I have learned how to stretch my skin and how to avoid most cuts and irritation. However, the shave has never been super close. Some spots are tougher than others, but I never get a really smooth shave anywhere. When I look closely in the mirror I can see the razor pass over hairs and leave them untouched.


I have a razor from thewellhonedrazor.com and I am tacking my time with shave preparation. I have tried many different angles and am careful to stretch the skin properly. I shave with and then against the grain. A couple of times I have tried some touch up with a safety razor and that has worked well. So... my question is what could I be doing wrong and what should I try next? I am using Creamo-cream. Is it worth getting a brush and using soap? Should I try something else? Any tips for going from a decent shave to a great one?


Thanks,
Zack

Today, after 8 months I think I've finally, finally made some headway! For me it was three things:
1. Prep work!
I use preshave in the shower for total hydration, I've got a tough beard.
2. Sharpness and Stroposity! (yes, I made that up, but it works I think :hmmm:)
3. Stretch and direction
Our fearless leader Lynn has taught me, through his video's, how to get a great shave. I thought I had to go ATG to tackle my beard, I've learned I don't to get an excellent long lasting BBS shave!

Check out his video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...straight+razor

Thanks Lynn!

I was getting skin irritation because I had poor technique, preparation, and direction issues.

I'm sure more will chime in here with their .02, and I know my input may not have helped much, but I feel your frustration and I can only encourage you to stick with it. It's true, you'll be rewarded for your patience.

If after a month you are getting decent shaves I would say you are right on schedule for average guys. Of course some guys pick it up very fast but for most of us and as I recall after a month I was first starting to get some really good shaves and it took about three months before I was getting some outstanding shaves. So its a matter of practice and tweaking your technique to suit your beard. Just keep at it and keep experimenting and you will see continual improvement.

Thebigspendur is right. You're on good track.
For a few additional thoughts, that might ring a bell for your situation:

Better pre-shave preparation can make a big difference. Soap and a brush might be a good idea. It's relaxing to massage some lather into your beard, and you can pick up a decent boars brush for very little money.

I believe any straight shaver should, under normal circumstances, achieve BBSmoothness on some parts of his face, even with just a few shaves under his belt. Typically the cheeks would be the first to achieve that goal. With increasing experience, the area that gets real smooth, expands, to the point that you 'd be perfectly capable to get it perfect all over. If, by now, you are not getting at least some spots perfectly smooth, something definitely is wrong. If a safety razor does the trick effortlessly, my guess is that you really need to evaluate the sharpness of your razor. The good news is: IF you learned to ride on a bike with flat tires, you 're gonna be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to ride one with well pressured tires. :)

Are you doing two passes? three? WTG XTG ATG?
I personnally shave about every 3 days, and I never get smooth with a WTG pass only. My ATG pass makes all the difference. And If I don't use a smiling blade, I always end up with a small spot on my neck that still has a very faint stubble left.

I hope you'll find something useful among these thoughts,

Happy shaving,

Bart.

Getting a brush is a good idea. You can use it with your cream. Just rub a dab of cream on each cheek and work it up into a lather with your brush soaked in hot water. The lather and action of the brush is supposed to get your whiskers up and off your skin so you can shave them off at the base, improving the closeness of your shave.

I've been using a brush and cream for years, way longer then I've been using a straight, and it has been the single best thing I've done to improve my shave.

Lunumbra

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bart

I personnally shave about every 3 days, and I never get smooth with a WTG pass only. My ATG pass makes all the difference. And If I don't use a smiling blade, I always end up with a small spot on my neck that still has a very faint stubble left.

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Sounds just like me, I shave every two or three days and feel that the ATG is what gives me the good shave...I say to watch your strop technique. You may have inadvertently dulled the edge a bit by improper stropping. I thing stropping is the hardest aspect of straight shaving, but YMMV. I wish you the best of luck in getting that perfect BBS.

Hard to say without a more in depth description of what you consider taking your time with your pre-shave prep.

I shave every day before work and I had been catching some extra z's and slacking on the hot towels lately and just shaving after the shower.
It showed.

I went back to the towels and went back to proraso pre-shave cream and had a beautiful shave today.

Keep at it