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Gents,
This is my third str8 razor shave and the first was the best. The other two have been ok but i can still feel hair and see in some cases hair that I didn't get, should I re lather and go for another pass or should the first pass at least get a large part of hair off....I stroped, added my pre shave and followed the steps...
I'm not much further along than you but it sounds to me like your stropping may be dulling your edge, if it is missing whiskers that you are actually hitting with the razor. My first few shaves I always missed a spot or two and some spots were smooth and some had stubble. I dont really have to worry too much about a clean shave but others around here have finished up using their old razors I just waited till my next shave. My face was pretty sensitive to str8 shaving so I felt it was better not to have a clean shave than it was to hit and re-hit spots 2 or more times. After a few shaves those spots got fewer and fewer, I am still not getting BBS shaves but I am making progress every shave. I think if you worry about trying to get your shave too smooth at first your face will be raw and uncomfortable which may get you to second guess your choice to str8 shave. I used one pass WTG and accepted whatever results I got for the first few shaves then I added a XTG pass on my cheeks and a few shaves later I added XTG to my neck, I tried ATG once and my neck and skills arent up to that just yet so I only use the 2 passes for now. I also waited about 3 days in between shaves at first and then 2 days and now I could shave everyday if I needed to. I think you may just need a little time and everything will come together. Good luck and have fun.
Keep working at it. I do three passes to get the BBS shave and the face requires so many different angles to get it done. It took me about 30 shaves to figure out how to get a consistent BBS shave. 50% of the effort was having the right equipment and 50% of the remaining effort was about gaining the skill and understanding. Even at my 60th shave I was learning something new.
1st pass is for beard reduction - WTG and near XTG
2nd pass is XTG and near ATG passes
3rd pass - Near ATG or ATG passes to finish off some patches.
I do ensure my edge is very sharp to begin the shave and lather up between passes. On the third pass, its more of a touch up and sometimes if the work is minor, I can just use warm water, but my brush always has a little more soap to add to the cause.
Cheers!
Pabster
Ya it sounds like you are dulling your blade when stropping perhaps. Something that helped me out was laying the strop on a flat surface, like a paddle strop. This way it was much easier for me to get the feel of stropping with out damaging the edge. Hope this helps
First, welcome to SRP and the dark side of shaving. Since this was your third shave using your straight, I would get too concerned. Take your time. You've still to establish your skills with the razor, and with stropping. First, how is your facial prep?Is your beard softtened by showering and/or hot towel? What is the consitency of your lather? It should be like whipped cream, not like a meringue. Work on your angles and pressures. Second, don't try to set speed records stropping. Technique is more important than speed. How many laps are you doing? I do 20 on the linen and 60 on the leather.
Don't get discouraged. Technique should be more important at this juncture than getting the BBS. It will come in time. If you have followed the advice in the WIKI you should be just about comfortable enough to start adding other areas of your face (provided you started with just the area between your sideburn and jawline and WTG only, as recommended) and/or XG and ATG strokes. :gl: