Stretching the skin

[sensei_kyle]

I've been playing with a couple of different ways to stretch the skin. On the face I'm usually doing the opposite hand reaches over the head pulls up like Lynn does on the video. This is stretching the skin behind the razor, cutting edge moving away from your holding point.

On the neck I'm typically pulling down at the base of the neck, followed by looking up and to the opposite side I'm shaving. This is stretching the skin in front of the razor, cutting edge moving toward the holding point.

I've been experimenting with stretching the skin in front of the razor on my against the grain passes, and have been pleased with the results on my cheeks & sideburns. I also use this method when cleaning up my chin on my 3rd pass (chin & stragglers only). By stretching in front of the razor, it seems to make the whiskers stand up more, and seems to provide a better quality shave.

The main thing is that you have to be *really* cautious, becuase if the blade gets out of control it's headed right for your off-hand fingers.

Any comments/ideas/opinions?

[azjoe]

On my face, I get the best results if I stretch from behind the str8. I've never had good results the other way, but that's probably just me. I use a lot of chin jutting and thrusting to stretch my skin naturally (ie, w/o using a hand for assist) in many spots on my neck and cheeks. How I handle my chin line and "grand canyon" deep dimple is a whole different story... when I've conquered shaving those areas in a repeatable way I'll let you know

[xman]

I find the same thing, Kyle. What I do is move the hand in front of the blade along with it so it's always the same distance in front of the blade. This is only for the finest cleanup. Man is it smooth after that.

X

[Joe Lerch]

Stretching depends on where you are in the shave and what you're trying to accomplish.

With a str8 you're trying to avoid folds in front of the razor because they'll get cut. So, the MAIN purpose is to flatten the skin. Since we're trying to avoid cutting ourselves, putting the fingers in front of the moving blade works against that.

I recently had a series of e-mail threaads with Adam and Brett at methodshaving.com. Their attitude is that stretching is of no consequence. I disagreed strongly, but eventualy came around to the idea that thry're partially right.

In str8 shaving, you need some stretching to hold things flat, as I said above, but it should not affect your shave untill you're trying to cut down to skin. For maximum comfort that shouldn't be on your first pass. As long as the passes are only cutting hair, stretching will not affect your shave (except for keeping things away from the blade).

Again, for maximum comfort, you should not cut to skin until you have a light stubble. If you go after the stubble as lightly as you can, again stretching will avoid cuts but shouldn't affect your shave that much. When you get down to those last stragglers, that when stretching makes a big difference. I find that I can't get the most stubborn ones without local stretching on each side of the spot (like between the thumb and index finger. Now, my fingers are in danger, but they're doing more than just flattening the skin to avoid a cut. So, there's a reason for the risk.

I've been playing with a couple of different ways to stretch the skin. On the face I'm usually doing the opposite hand reaches over the head pulls up like Lynn does on the video. This is stretching the skin behind the razor, cutting edge moving away from your holding point.

On the neck I'm typically pulling down at the base of the neck, followed by looking up and to the opposite side I'm shaving. This is stretching the skin in front of the razor, cutting edge moving toward the holding point.

I've been experimenting with stretching the skin in front of the razor on my against the grain passes, and have been pleased with the results on my cheeks & sideburns. I also use this method when cleaning up my chin on my 3rd pass (chin & stragglers only). By stretching in front of the razor, it seems to make the whiskers stand up more, and seems to provide a better quality shave.

The main thing is that you have to be *really* cautious, becuase if the blade gets out of control it's headed right for your off-hand fingers.

Any comments/ideas/opinions?

[newdovo]

A while back, the topic of stretching the skin came up. One member responded "I just grab a handfull and pull." Too funny.

[Lynn]

I still like stretching where practical. When I pull the skin from the sideburn up, I can get that hard to reach spot under the jaw. Saves in the nick area big time......lol. The side stretch of the neck reall helps get the area where the folds are clean as well. This probably is a personal preference thing as well in addition, in my opinion, to an age thing! Have fun. Lynn