Thick Stubble Shaving

[paulwjax]

Maybe you guys can give me some pointers...

I've got thick, dark beard hair that grows pretty fast. I get my shadow by lunch time and by the next morning I can probably sand fine scratches off the back of the shave brush on my face. When I shaved most of my life before straights I always shaved ATG and would be smooth for a couple hours.

I've got a boar brush since I read guys with thicker hair would benefit from the thicker bristles and their lifting power although I haven't really felt much of that. I would think that a softer badger brush would not improve my shave that much. But I digress...

So my question is this: Do you guys who have thick facial hair shave WTG and then ATG to get smooth or is WTG all you need?

[Oglethorpe]

I'm in a similar boat as you, and I go WTG first, then ATG. Sometimes when I feel like spoiling myself I do two ATG passes because my neck hair grows in all goofy directions. I started out with a boar brush and was pretty happy with it until I got a Rooney

[paulwjax]

I'm in a similar boat as you, and I go WTG first, then ATG. Sometimes when I feel like spoiling myself I do two ATG passes because my neck hair grows in all goofy directions. I started out with a boar brush and was pretty happy with it until I got a Rooney

Is your Rooney a Badger or Boar? How much difference does it make?

[Oglethorpe]

VintageBladesLLC::...

I also have an EJ best badger and that's on the soft side. The Rooney is firmer (not as firm as my Vulfix boar bristle), and I think is a perfect match for my face.

[paulwjax]

Thanks Oglethorpe I'll have to check them out. Let's see if I can tame this perma-stubble...

[Leighton]

I have to do ATG on my chin. But everywhere else my hair grows I can do WTG and get a DFS. I'd have to do a 2nd pass because an odd hair seems to always survive the carnage. That said, I like BBS and can't live without it and do ATG.

edit: What really helps to chop down the whiskers is a ridiculously sharp razor. I won't get a BBS if my razor is not up to a certain sharpness level. Its annoying, but a good test.

[thebigspendur]

Everyone needs to evaluate their beard and growth pattern and find for themselves the right combination they need to get the shave they want. For me I go WTG on my face first but on my neck I do ATG first. On my chin I do WTG then ATG and then straight across. For most of my face I don't need to do ATG.

As far as brushes go I have never bought the idea that a brush lifts the hair unless you have several days growth, maybe. For typical 1 or 2 day shaving you can use whatever you want. Maybe a wiskbroom will lift those wiskers.

[rayman]

Maybe you guys can give me some pointers...

I've got thick, dark beard hair that grows pretty fast. I get my shadow by lunch time and by the next morning I can probably sand fine scratches off the back of the shave brush on my face. When I shaved most of my life before straights I always shaved ATG and would be smooth for a couple hours.

I've got a boar brush since I read guys with thicker hair would benefit from the thicker bristles and their lifting power although I haven't really felt much of that. I would think that a softer badger brush would not improve my shave that much. But I digress...

So my question is this: Do you guys who have thick facial hair shave WTG and then ATG to get smooth or is WTG all you need?

I have a light thick wirery beard, similar to your problem, only not quite as noticible. Here's my solution. First, Leighton is correct, your razor MUST be sharp. Second, don't expect the beard to dissappear on the first or second pass. I generally have to do a pass WTG, XTG then ATG, and then do it again, to get complete removal. I also found that with this type of beard, a shallower angle, maybe 20 to 25 deg. seems to work better. And Three, the preshave routine is absolutly mandatory for a close shave. I have to warm the beard with a hot towel, and then again with a hot towel and lather to get that close shave. One other thing I do too is not take long strokes. The stroke is like 1" or less. I'm not sure what that does exactly, but it seems to let the blade do its work better. My beard will generally not start showing for about 6 to 8 hours normally using this method.

Hope this helps,

Ray

[riooso]

A complete shave for me is WTH, XTG from the chin to ear, XTG from ear to chin and then ATG. When you get it down you will find that you can get a shave that takes over 8 hours to show and will feel softer a lot longer than that. Just not the same as a razor blade shave, much superior.


Have fun,
Richard

[paulwjax]

For typical 1 or 2 day shaving you can use whatever you want. Maybe a wiskbroom will lift those wiskers.

That's awesome!

Today I had a good amount of time before I went to work so I created the perfect lather and then used the brush to make marks in the lather on my face indicating the growth direction. I'm not certain it made a difference. But what did seem to matter was that on certain parts of my face a different blade angle made all the difference. And Ray, I agree with you, the shallower angle seemed to cut a whole lot better. Tomorrow I'll try the short passes with the shallow angle to see how it works.



Anyone ever see The African Queen with Bogart? In the middle of the movie he shaves on his boat with a straight at a ridiculous angle over his chin! It's almost a 90 degree angle! Ouch!