How to get rid of beard?

Hoping this is the correct forum to post a question like this...

So, I've been away from the forum for a bit and will be for a little longer, until the end of the month. I've started to grow a bit of a beard, all part of a wider thing called Movember over here. It's all with the aim of growing a mo (moustache) in order to raise money for Prostate Cancer Research.

Trouble is, at the end of the month I'll have about 3 weeks' growth to get rid of, so I'm not sure if my straight razor will go through my (very) thick whiskers. Should I trim first with scissors or something electric or get it done with the straight immediately? Feel free to answer by voting in the poll!

I should mention that my facial hair is thicker than nylon wire and I currently have a short beard even after 10 days' of growth. It's as itchy as anything as my hairs are curly! I call it the "itchy and scratchy show" though :)

straight only woo

I'd try to get the lather in there pretty well tho and onto the skin and not just in your beard ;p

Your straight razor is not afraid of your beard - it is the other way around

Vanquish your foe on December 1 with confidence and a sharp straight razor :) (you might find short strokes help)

Thanks for the confidence boost. I'm thinking 6/8 Le Grelot 1/4 grind?

I recall seeing a video on YouTube a couple of weeks ago with someone just mowing down their full beard with a straight. It seemed effortless to him. I saw another video of the Willie Byrde Hotel Barber Shop using electric clippers to knock a full beard down to stubble before the shave.

The way I see it is how well of a pre-shave prep can you get through your beard to make the straight shave comfortable.

Good prep, with a hot shower will soften the beard. Other than that, your straight will not discriminate between a stubble and a full beard(as long as it is sharp). I only have experience with about a weeks growth, but I didn't had any problems with only the straight.

Use short strokes, because the blade will get some more goo on it than usual.

Cheers and :gl:!

I shave my gotee off every couple months just to be sure my lip and chin are still there. My straight goes though it with no problem. I just use short strokes for the first pass. It usually take my 4 passes. Wack it off, WTG, XTG, and ATG.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KingsRam

I recall seeing a video on YouTube a couple of weeks ago with someone just mowing down their full beard with a straight. It seemed effortless to him. I saw another video of the Willie Byrde Hotel Barber Shop using electric clippers to knock a full beard down to stubble before the shave.

The way I see it is how well of a pre-shave prep can you get through your beard to make the straight shave comfortable.

---

Feel free to post the video if you can find the link - appreciate that!

Just stick with the straight. Loads of beard prep, a good hot shower first and a really sharp blade plus short strokes.

Boy will that be a great shave! :)

Personally, I have always found it easier to use my str8 when I have about a week's worth of growth. The long my whiskers, the better. I get a closer, more thorough shave when I "let it go" for a few days. I also find it more satisfying. But as others have said, make sure that your blade is sharp enough to handle the job.

Movember is a popular thing here, too - but doesn't compute well with corporate robots like me.

This is my favorite shaving video of all time, this dude has proper technique and a great sense of humor. He mows his beard down fairly easily with a straight.

Embedding isn't working, so click the link below...

YouTube - Straight Razor Shave Demonstration - A Quick and Easy "Watch and Then Try it at Home!" Tutorial

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stubear

Just stick with the straight. Loads of beard prep, a good hot shower first and a really sharp blade plus short strokes.

Boy will that be a great shave! :)

---

Stu, you have no idea how patiently I'm waiting for that day! :beer2:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rum

Feel free to post the video if you can find the link - appreciate that!

---

straight razor shaving

Pretty sure this is the one. Hard to tell since Uncle Sam restricts certain things from government computers. If I linked it incorrectly, I'll try to fix it later.

Straight razor all the way.

To me, there is nothing more satisfying than whacking off tons of hair with a few long strokes.

YouTube - Man Forced To Eat His Beard

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

YouTube - Man Forced To Eat His Beard

---

This happened about 20 minutes form here. Damn Kentuckians

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rum

Feel free to post the video if you can find the link - appreciate that!

---

I took some quick clips as I was shaving about 3 weeks' worth of growth for Halloween in '09 as I needed a mustache for my Village People costume.

Mitchell's Wool Fat and my Joseph Rodgers hollow. Tore through it like a champ.

YouTube - Shaving for Halloween '09

i took off 2 months worth of growth with my artist club.. i had to work the lather in by hand.. but i took care of things in 2 passes..

if i were to do it again.. i'd probably buzz it down with clippers and then shave as usual..

Superb videos guys. I bet that felt very satisfying and refreshing afterwards!

Perhaps I'm kind of naive here, but what the hell does the length of the whiskers have to do with shaving them off!? The razor is cutting them off at skin level. I can understand having a full load of lather on the beard to make sure that all of the beard is loaded so the razor can do it's job.

I know that the razor will 'Load up' with more lather and whiskers and will be needed to be cleaned more often. I just don't see the problem!

I personally, get a better shave when I have a few days growth of beard!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Perhaps I'm kind of naive here, but what the hell does the length of the whiskers have to do with shaving them off!?

---

I'd like to know that as well. In practice I have not been able to convince myself whether there is a correlation or not. I guess that, for me so far, it hasn't mattered

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Perhaps I'm kind of naive here, but what the hell does the length of the whiskers have to do with shaving them off!? The razor is cutting them off at skin level. I can understand having a full load of lather on the beard to make sure that all of the beard is loaded so the razor can do it's job.

---

I'm not sure why, but my experience is that it is simply easier to shave with the whiskers a little on the long side.

I think the correlation is that your skin has had extra time to recover, so the shave seems better.

Just make sure you lather a few times and massage that lather in well and you should have no problems cutting it all away at once.

Well the beard came off yesterday using the straight. It went through it like a blow torch through soft margarine. You guys were right - that was one of the best shaves of my life!

Martin de Candre soaked into the beard thoroughly and a Le Grelot 1/4 grind were the perfect match!

congrats.. i'm wondering.. where can i purchase some martin de candre?

Glad that worked out for you, no doubt really :p

When I first shaved off about a two week growth I was newer to straights and could only remember my experiences with a cartrige, shave an inch spend a minute cleaning it out, shave an inch... Than I took the straight to it and it never felt like a change, doesn't seem to matter how much is there off it comes :)