Thread: slight blood residue

I've started shaving against the grain recently which is really working for me. i'm getting a nice bbs shave where I am managing to find the angles easy to get at. in time i'll be able to get all of them. what i am noticing however is that although i don't cut or nick myself (the majority of the time) a residue of blood builds up with the hairs along the blade after i've done a stroke. is this normal? is it just dead skin i am scraping off??? thank you.

Nope. If you are seeing blood, then you are removing healthy skin. For me, the keys to success in shaving against the grain are:
1. A very sharp razor. Sometimes I strop again before the ATG passes.
2. Stretching the skin taut, in the right direction depending on the pattern of hair growth.
3. Short, very light strokes.
4. Using a diagonal slicing motion for each stroke.

thanks croaker. yeah i think perhaps i am going a little bit aggressively. no cut or anything visible is there afterwards but there is blood on the blade. will try shorter, lighter strokes while stretching the skin taut and stropping again before i go at it. is a new razor honed to shave ready so should be sharp enough. cheers.

You'll get it! Hey, another clue is how your aftershave feels; is there a lot of burning post shave? Let us know how the next shave goes.

there is not much burn at all. i am using taylors aftershave gel whch is really soothing and iv just started trying trumpers skin food which has absolutly no burn at all... so quick answer is not much burning at all... will keep you updated. thanks!