Thread: Am I a freak or just doing something wrong?

Sometimes it takes an outside observer to tell you what you might be doing wrong. This is exactly the responses I was hoping for. I will try ALL of these recommendations. They all are great!!!

I don't want to give up on straight razor shaving. So far I love it but it is getting frustrating because my shave time is taking SO LONG because I have to do so many passes!

Shaving with a straight my take you more time than with a more modern razor (mach 3). But take your time. Enjoy your time.

For me, it is all about relaxing and clearning my head before I have to walk out my front door and deal with the world..

Let us know how you make out!

Well I tried a couple different things last night in my shaving routine. First of all I tried taking a warm shower and using a conditioner on my stubble right before I shaved. I also tried using a lighter touch while shaving and experimenting with angles, specifically a little lower of an angle than I usually use. My overall impression of implementing these changes in my routine did very little to cut down on my number of "passes" overall. I did note a couple things though which brought me a little more clarity on the issue. First of all, the very light pressure/touch that I was using helped to cut down on the razor burn. Good thing. Second thing I noticed was that it is not my whole face that necessarily needs more than 3 passes, it's just some very stubborn areas of my face and neck. I seem to have a major problem right down the outer sides of my hair growth on my neck, like if you drew a line from the bottom of my ear to the bottom of my adam's apple. That area I can never seem to hit right with the straight. I have tried every angle I could. Also two patches/area on either side of my chin, directly under the edges of my mouth down to the bottom of my chin. Both these areas a super stubborn and can take 5 or 6 passes to get them BBS. The rest of my face I can usually stretch my skin enough to give myself a BBS shave in 3 passes (ok sometimes 4). Another thing too.... I think it's quite possible that I am just forgeting sometimes how many passes I might have taken over area, if that makes any sense. I think sometimes I might miss a small patch and THINK that I have hit that area already 3 times.

Check out these videos, they helped me a lot with technique and angle. The wiki is so important.
Shaving videos - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Prep is critical.