Thread: "First Shave"... AKA, "The Kindness of Strangers"

Shave 3. This morning I was headed to work at 7am, so I shaved with the Mach 3 (with hot shaving soap lather... much nicer) on my way out the door. This afternoon I was possessed by the idea that perhaps I should try now that I had less stubble on my face. I used a lot less pressure than before with this shave.

I tried the backhand grip suggested by Bart for the left side of my face. I was on my XTG pass, when suddenly, on my left cheek, going from nose to ear, I had a perfect view of my shaving angle. I had been going with too much of a low angle. When finished, my left cheek made the right look like crap, even though it had been shaved only 6 hours prior.

Right after this, it hit me that I've probably been cheating myself by attempting the entire face each time. I figured all the advice said start with the cheek just because it's easiest. Only this afternoon did it hit me that if I focus on one area I can develop a better muscle memory, then go to other areas and adapt what I've already learned for a new area. I think shaving the entire face may be hindering me from learning the correct angles and motions.

Jawline is rough, but 8 hours after the shave, cheeks are still smooth, even stroking against the grain, and I'm starting to feel the impact of the shave soap on my skin.

Looking forward to tomorrow, tomorrow's the DOVO again which seemed a little easier to handle yesterday than the Elliot.

Also, the corners of my mouth seem to be the biggest problem area for me in terms of cuts. I'm currently sporting two fine red lines on either side.

Great job! Your well on your way!

Jawline is rough

Try opening your mouth really wide whilst shaving your cheeks down to the jawline. It gives you about an extra inch of cheek space with your mouth open as opposed to closed. When you close you mouth again, you will see that you are now clean shaven down to below the jawline.


And you used to shave with an M3 dry?!

That isn't rhino skin you have, it's a callous! Yikes!

Originally Posted by Seraphim

Try opening your mouth really wide whilst shaving your cheeks down to the jawline. It gives you about an extra inch of cheek space with your mouth open as opposed to closed. When you close you mouth again, you will see that you are now clean shaven down to below the jawline.


And you used to shave with an M3 dry?!

That isn't rhino skin you have, it's a callous! Yikes!

Thanks for the tip, I'll try it out.

Yah, I've always had a thick beard (grew my first full beard my Sophomore year of High School), and once after 10 days of backpacking, just having returned to civilization, I was trying to shave and dry was the only way I could get the whole beard off (not having any clippers).

After that I always just would shave the 1"-2" above and below my beard dry as I'd keep taking little nicks out of the beard when I couldn't see the line due to shaving cream.

Shave 4, and I think I may have hit a major milestone. Today I shaved with my Dovo and the new tube of Speicek cream courtesy of chrichton, and when done, I was able to go straight to work without cleaning up with my M3. I seem to be getting a better touch, much less irritation, but still a few cuts.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to add a spot of the cream to my Mama Bear soap for a super lather and see what happens.

Great job.
You spoke about doing only part of your face, training muscle memory before moving on.
But I reckon it's much too much fun shaving the whole face, isn't it?

Keep at it. You're doing fine. Focusing more on skin stretching is often the remedy for reoccurring cuts. What the other hand does is sometimes almost as important as what the hand holding the razor does.

my congratulations, and keep it up,

Bart.

It sounds like you are really well on your way! Just keep at it and you will be able to throw away that M3 in no time. Here is a big for Tony (richardhead) and his incredible generosity in giving you the proper equiptment to give you the best possible chance at early success.

David

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

It sounds like you are really well on your way! Just keep at it and you will be able to throw away that M3 in no time. Here is a big for Tony (richardhead) and his incredible generosity in giving you the proper equiptment to give you the best possible chance at early success.

David

Yes indeed. Every time I shave I am grateful for the hand from Tony. At the rate I'm able to squirrel away money, it would have been about3-6 mos till I would have been able to really start shaving. I have a feeling every time I pick up a razor it will be for Tony

Originally Posted by Bart

Great job.
You spoke about doing only part of your face, training muscle memory before moving on.
But I reckon it's much too much fun shaving the whole face, isn't it?

Keep at it. You're doing fine. Focusing more on skin stretching is often the remedy for reoccurring cuts. What the other hand does is sometimes almost as important as what the hand holding the razor does.

my congratulations, and keep it up,

Bart.

Yah, both of my last two shaves I've started out intending to only do the cheeks, but with the lather on and the razor in my hand, it's just too hard to resist.

I'll try to focus some more on skin stretching (probably re-watch Lynn's shaving video as a reminder of where to stretch), but it's mostly in the curvy areas that I seem to be cutting myself, so I know some of it is also just learning to adapt the razor to the changing face angles.

Congratulations on making such good progress with your str8 shaving.

I love the members on this forum, their helpfulnes and generosity is unsurpassed.