NEVER AGAINST THE GRAIN!?
I recently met a woman who owns a full servise shave shop. She used to work for the royal family as a barber. I explained to her that I am very interested in a new way of shaving.. ie, Straight razors to get the closest possible shave and to reduce razor burn and ingrown hairs. She said that under no circumstances should you EVER shave against the grain of growth. She suggested shaving down, and across only. She said the trick is to "train" your facial hair to grow straight out instead of downward. She intructed me on how to "train" my hair to do this and recommended certain products, the same products recommended in these forums. Does this make sense to anyone? can I train my hair to grow straight out? She runs a store called Shaving Gallery in Cartersville, Ga. www.ShavingGallery.com
Against the grain, I'm older now but still shaving against..
I shave with the grain first and then against the grain. It doesn't matter what I've used in my life (shaving for 40 years), I've always had to shave against the grain to get a close shave. If I'm in a hurry and don't care, I just go with the grain but I may as well be using a Mach 3 as it's about the same quality shave.
I've talked to my facial hair and offered it treats as well as strong admonitions but haven't been able to train it to do what I want yet. Best of all would be for me to utter a power word and have it just fall off.
Howard
P.S. I also shave against the grain on my upper lip which I've also read is a no-no. Just be careful.