Thread: TIME

30 minutes is a quick shave forme

Maybe I just like taking the time, but if I go for an especially luxurious shave it can take me an hour or more but that's an evening thing.

However I agree with the good gentlemen here, in order to shorten the time, either remove parts of your routine or practice, dont rush rushings bad m'kay.

Geek

Originally Posted by chay2K

Hey fellas, I've been using a straight since June, and realized this week that I'm finally comfortable with my technique. Up until this point, I've been shaving about every other day-- taking my time, and striving for that BBS shave every time. These have usually taken me anywhere from 30-45 mins, and have been very satisfying. I've decided that I want to try to develop a daily 10-15 min weekday shave routine, and focus more on those luxurious shaves on the weekends and special occasions. I've already decided to forgo the XTG pass to save some time. So, do any of you guys have any time saving tricks?

Actually when pressed for time, I forego the ATG pass. WTG and XTG leave me looking fine, only when I stroke my face can I feel the lack of the ATG pass.

Another time-saver for me is actually shaving twice in the day. A single WTG pass in the AM, then another WTG single-pass shave over lunch. I keep a little basic shaving kit at the office and can do a single-pass once-over very quickly.

+1 on save time by being prepared. I choose my razor the night before, strop it, set out what soap or cream I'm going to use, what after shave I'm going to use and have it all lined up for the morning. I fill an electric kettle with water and set it aside the night before as well. My clothes for the day are selected and ironed so they are ready and I place fresh undergarments in the bathroom so I don't have to make an extra trip. All of the night before prep really shaves time off of in the morning (pun intended). When I wake up, I turn on the electric kettle, turn on the shower, fill scuttle with hot water to soak brush while in shower. I shower, and when I get out the kettle is boiling hot. I pour out the scuttle and shake the brush, fill the scuttle with boiling hot water and make a nice uberlather (as mentioned you can use a tube cream and save some time here if you choose). I use 2 passes on most days 1 WTG, 1 XTG. I guess my main point is you can save time in so many other areas that you will have time for your shave, organization is the key IMHO. I get up @ 5am, shower, shave, get dressed, drink coffee while on SRP and leave for work @ 6am.

Another time-eater for me is a habit of short repeated strokes over the same area. One day I realizes I was shaving down maybe and inch, the "buffing" the area maybe 4-5 more times. Now I do a long, smooth stroke from side-burn to jawline and cover a cheek in about 2-3 overlapping strokes. Serious time-saver!

Remember also that shaving has two aspects. One is the aspect of how we look to others, such as being at work. The other is how our face feels to the touch, which concerns only ourselves and those close enough to us to be stroking our face.

For most typical work-days, even a single WTG pass with the straight leaves you looking fine for work, esp. with a mid-day once-over as I noted above.

I won't use a DE just because I love straight shaving. Nothing against the DE, have about 5 nice DE razors. When the "bada$$" feel of the straight wears off, I might start using the DEs every once in a while.

A few things.

Build your lather on your face instead of in a mug/scuttle.
Fewer, longer strokes are faster (but not as good) than many short strokes.
WTG everywhere, XTG using water only.

Here is my regular, non luxurious routine for a decent (not bbs) shave.

Strop before shower.
Many people strop after they lather to let the lather sit longer, but usually by the end of the shower my beard is about as soft as it's going to get and I just want to get down to shaving.

Don't spend a ton of time on beard prep.
The shower is roughly equivalent to a warm towel soak, so I consider that the bulk of my beard prep. In the shower, I wash my face first thing to get the oil off my hairs. This allows the water to soften the beard better while I wash everything else. I also have my soap mug and brush close by, and fill it with hot water to soften up the soap and soak the brush.

Build the lather on your face.
Instead of taking a few minutes to build lather in a scuttle/mug/whatever, and then another few minutes applying it to your face, just kill two birds with one stone and build the lather directly on your face.

Use fewer, longer strokes.
While many short strokes allow you to adjust your skin stretching hand more frequently (allowing a better shave), longer strokes will take off a lot of hair fast. You can make it a challenge for yourself to see how few strokes you can get away with. I do around 4-5 strokes for each side of my face, 4-5 for my upper lip, 2-3 for each side of my neck, and I still need a whole bunch for my rough chin.

2nd pass don't relather, just use water.
I rinse my face off, then just using that water as a lubricant, I do a quick XTG on my cheeks and neck. Since my face isn't covered in lather, I can easily see any spots that need touching up and take care of that quickly and easily. I can also get great stretching going on because my face isn't covered in slippery soap. The XTG makes the shave look just as nice as a BBS, but without actually being BBS. Since I'm not dancing cheek to cheek at work, this is fine by me.

Don't be afraid of water only either. Some guys don't lather at all and still get great shaves. If you are afraid of not using lather, just remember that you were probably a lot more afraid the first time you used your straight. Once you've done water only a few times, you realize it isn't bad at all, and there are benefits to it.

Whatever you do, don't rush your strokes!!!
What makes this shave fast is not the speed at which I move the razor, but taking advantage of shower as beard prep, building lather on my face instead of in a mug, using fewer, longer strokes, and not re-lathering for my XTG/touch-up.

As an alternative, you can do a luxurious BBS shave the night before. When I do a full ATG BBS shave, I don't get 5 o'clock shadow for 24-36 hours. Instead of shaving in the morning, you could keep your luxury routine but just move it to the night before.