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When shaving, which hand do you typically favour?
I'm right-handed, and I'll do the left side of my face entirely with that hand. When it comes time to do the right, I'll do as much of it as I can with the right hand, only using the left here and there. Surprisingly, though, when it comes to my throat, the left hand is much more stable, and I'm comfortable shaving with or against the grain. Not so with the right hand, which stutters and gets caught.
I'm not ambidexterous in most things, but I don't really favor either hand with a str8. My first pass is done N-S with an imaginary line down the center of my face running down the center of my chin and throat. Left hand does left, then right does right. For my crossgrain pass on the cheeks and jaw/chin line, I go from ear to chin using the opposite hands. Left does right, and vice-versa. Never noticed much difference with either hand. I don't go against the grain, but for my final spot touchups, I just use whichever hand seems to be more handy for that spot. I should say, I use whichever hand is in the worse position for pulling the skin tight. That's more the deciding factor in hands for me.
In my life the 5,000 or so disposable shaves were all done with the dominant hand and the left hand always stretched. Consequently my right hand took to the straight very well allowing me to do 3 full passes by my 3rd shave.
In all the 30 or so straight shaves I have done, the first pass down the left side of my face and neck must be the left hand. I just can't reach well enough to feel comfortable with it the other way. I'm still trying to get used to it though. Those are the strokes I pay closest attention to during the shave. I don't care if I do have to use two hands, I still want my great shaves. Musicians' hands should be agile anyhow and I play hockey left handed too.
X
PS Isn't this guy GREAT? :rant:
My biggest problem is when I actually set the blade to my face with my off hand. I feel so uncoordinated and it digs a little. So far, I am using one hand with a series of contoritons, but I have only had aobut 40 or so shaves myself. We'll have to see.
Well, I'll tell you I had to think about this because my shaving has become so instinctive I had to figure it out.
I shave the left side (of my face) with the left hand and the right side with the right hand. With the against the grain stroke I switch hands. For my neck I use the left hand for the right side and right hand for the left side. For against the grain on my neck I use the left hand on the right side and vice versa. being left handed has certain advantages. Most of us southpaws are much more ambidexterous then most right handed people.
With the grain, I use my left hand for the left side of my face & neck, right hand for the right side. Against the grain is typically all with the right hand. My fine motor control skills against the grain aren't quite as good as I'd like, but I keep working at it. I usually reverse the above where possible. For my final "picking off the strays" pass, all right hand all the time. The final pass is mostly the chin.
A lot of you seem to use left hand for left side and right hand for the right side. For the most part, I'm the exact opposite. I have no idea how you could shave one side of your face with that side's arm.
I'm still working this out, but what I have found is that when I use my right hand to shave the left side of my face, which is what I have been doing, my right arm blocks my view of what I am doing in the mirror. That is a very discomforting situation when you have a straight razor in your hand, at least at my level of experience.
Yeah, my vision is blocked only when I'm making my initial downward stroke at the base of the sideburn. I have to adjust it so I can see, but it's mostly done by feel. After this, all is fine.
I am so with you there. I did it once and like Blade Weilder says it was done by feel and no problems occured, but boy oh boy did it feel uncomfortable not seeing anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by ajg
Blade Weilder; try taking the razor in your right hand and put the toe toward your ear and the tang toward your nose. That's edge down and it's how the sideburns and cheek are generally approached.
X
I use my right hand for everything. :)
Rich,
Something about your post and that smiley tells me this thread about what hand we use for what is going to take a different turn. <g>
Tony
Tony,
That might just happen :O
Let's hope not.
I do both sides of my face with both hands, not at the same time.
I do the rear part of the face with the hand on the same side. When I come close to the mouth, I switch hands and turn the razor around. That lets me use the point of the razor near the ears and around the mouth and chin.
As a newbie, when I do use a straight, I use whatever hand feels "natural"!
Get your minds out of the gutter, what I mean is the hand that offers the most control! :nono:
Yeah, I know what you are thinking. Just remember, someone else opened the door for this...I just closed it!
Randy
I use both hands... I pretty much just do what Lynn does on his shaving video. I don't know how guys just use one hand for the whole face.
Drew
I am currently using my left hand for my whole face. There are a few contortions involved, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get a S-N neck pass on the dominant (left for me) side. I have no control with the thumb on the spine. I can do the cross side easily though.Quote:
Originally Posted by str8_razr
I do it with the dominant hand and razor pointing backwards. On the other side I reach across and use my dominant hand. I just don't have enough manual dexterity in my off hand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Korndog
It's amazing that once you get used to using both hands, you find yourself using both hands for more things than just shaving. Pretty cool! Lynn
Don't get it,
I can play pool left handed (am righthanded), and that took practice.
If I need that practice time on my face my posts on this forum would soon be called to an abrupt halt. :-)
So how do you practice this 2 handedness withouth becoming a corpse in the near future?
Hoekie
I would think it's not thar important. It has to be what feels best for you. It kind of reminds me of the old time teachers who used to foce kids to be righthanded.
Like with playing pool, is something I would like to master to somewhat of a degree, just for the "being able to". :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoekmanX
I just had a flashback to when I was eleven ..... never mind, LOL
I am using a homogenous blend of Lynn and Brian Denofrio techniques. First pass with grain I use right hand for right side, left hand for left side and right hand down the middle. Second pass is cross grain. I use right hand for the whole face.
How do you do that without switching hands?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Phong
For the cross grain I do the same thing and use only my right hand. It's pretty easy for me, actually. For the neck it's difficult to go "across" since the blade doesn't really allow for that, so I use both hands for different spots, going up/down/diagonal. Whatever it takes, really. Surprisingly, it's my throat (the most vulnerable area) where I'm the least picky about what hand I'm using. I'm right-handed, but the left can tackle the job just as well, if not better.
I did my first morning straight razor shave today. Pretty good, pretty good.
Assuming the cross pass is from ear to nose, I would have no problem, as a righty, with the left side, but how do you do the right? Do you go in reverse (nose to ear), in which case it's not the same pass?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blade Wielder
If going from the nose to the ear is considered "reverse," I do that for both sides of my face - both with the right hand.
I always start with the left side, and my "cross-grain" is more of a upwards angle, heading briefly over the cheeck and then kind of up the jaw line. At the top of the sideburn I carefully go completely horizontal, getting as many of the hairs as I can, before I flip the blade over and go completely upward (again with the right hand). So for most of that I guess I'm using more of a "push."
For the right side it's the opposite, since instead of pushing forward I stretch the skin (basically by using my facial muscles to pull my lips to the left) and then work "backwards" with the blade just as I do with the other cheek.
As long as the whiskers flow down the basin drain, whatever works is kewl!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blade Wielder
I'm trying to understand this because I have some of those awkward positions. I guess your right hand is coming over and across your head with the razor down? I can't think of another way to do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blade Wielder
No, actually the toe of the blade is pointed upward in both instances.
So if I'm doing the right side, I pull the skin with my left hand on the chin/jaw, and vice versa for the other side.
I hope that's clear.
Ahhhh... For my cross grain pass I start at the left ear, heel of blade stays downward for the whole pass. I go from left ear to all the way across my chin. Then another stroke from slightly above the first stroke acroos my upper cheek to the top lip. Third stroke I start slightly below the ear pulling the skin of my jaw upward, this gets a nice close cut right under the jaw line, I continue the stroke under the angle of the chin finishing just on the right side of my face. Kind of like a chinstrap. I stroke acrros my upper lip then lower lip.
Straight down th cleft under my nose.
For the right side I make pretty much the same pattern as the left only I am starting from the nose and mout area and pulling towards my right ear. It feels a little awkward and you really have to pay attention to the angle of your blade. I just found it easier for some reason than switching hands.
I don't cross cut my neck but do a nice light second pass with the grain.
Wish I was a bit more ambidexterous, but find this way works for me.
I also agree with Uthed. As long as it's whiskers and not chunks of meat going down the drain.
PS- If that is actually a picture of you Blade Weilder, It looks as if you only need to shave once a year with that baby face!
Actually, Dr. Phong, my face demands a shave every day - though it doesn't always get it.
It is a commonly known fact that those mannequin/model pictures are paintbrushed isn't it ..... :-D