Thread: What & When to shave different parts of face

Geez... long title.

I’ve noticed that the razor gets duller as the shave goes on. My question is… Wouldn’t it be better to shave the tougher parts of the face first? (Chin & upper lip) conventional thinking makes me think this might be the way to go. At this point, I am shaving the chin last when the razor is at its dullest. (and sometimes it's a little rough) I am going through all the prep but I was wondering if anyone shaves, for example, the chin first?

Thanks, Gabriel

I believe the barber's manual (see the Files section) typically goes cheeks, neck, chin & lip. The thought process is the soap/cream can get additional water into those whiskers to make them easier to cut.

If you're concerned about the razor not being sharp enough, it's perfectly fine to strop during a shave or between passes.

Originally Posted by morningshow

Geez... long title.

I’ve noticed that the razor gets duller as the shave goes on. My question is… Wouldn’t it be better to shave the tougher parts of the face first? (Chin & upper lip) conventional thinking makes me think this might be the way to go. At this point, I am shaving the chin last when the razor is at its dullest. (and sometimes it's a little rough) I am going through all the prep but I was wondering if anyone shaves, for example, the chin first?

Thanks, Gabriel

Actually, it's the other way round. You shave the softest whiskers first, the toughest last. This is done to allow for the harder hairs to soak more water while you shave the reat of your face, and also, since you mentioned it, to not dull the razor right away (on the chin) on the beggining...

Nenad

makes sense...

It's amazing how you can convince yourself there is a better way. Even though everyone on the site says the same thing! Thanks guys.

Happy shaving.

You wouldn't be the first to have a less traditional approach. Besides everyone being right though I think you should examine why your razor is getting so dull, so quickly. You can strop a little more before the shave, make sure you hone well, strop with your hand mid-shave, and even go back to the strop if needed. Although its the chin last, I suggest re-lathering and stropping prior to shaving your chin. The chin area requires a lot of skill and a very sharp razor. Another little trick I'll share is to use the base of the razor to shave the chin. It get less wear during the cheek shaving and has more stability being close to the shank. But its my little secret ok? Don't tell anyone else. Ofcourse stretching the skin is critical. I'm curious too if your letting the lather soak long enough prior to your cheek shaving...seems silly but if your cheeks aren't lathered well and you have a tough beard the razor gets misaligned more easily on your cheeks which then leads to problems on your chin. Oh, yea something else....you can strop initially on linen to get better stropping action if your not already.

Also, are you sure the razor is getting out of alignment and not just that your chin has tougher whiskers? If you shave your cheeks on a second pass is the razor clearly unaligned?

Thanks for the tip Alan - I'll try shaving with the edge for my chin. It's a problem spot for me.

-Rob

Dang...he can't keep a secret can he?

You haven't said aionally tough so I'm wondering why your beard being unusually togh, so I'm wondering why you can't get through a pass without the edge losing sharpness. There are plenty of guys with very tough beards who strop once or more during a shave but I haven't met one who couldn't finish a pass.

I suspect you may be leaving a slight wire edge on your razor, which dsappears quickly and leaves you with a less than sharp edge. You may also be creating an edge that is sharp (not a wire edge) but weak. A heavier blade might help. Or sometimes if you don't sharpen quite as much you retain overall sharpness much longer.

If that's the Henckels, I'm not surprised. It's a curious thing about that razor. It likes the strop after a few passes even for me sometimes and I've got a lighter beard. The best thing is that it will come right back after a few passes and cut great. I also found the edge quite durable or longer lasting between hones. If that's the razor, I hope you'll share more observations about it.

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