Got the hang of it! Again!

Or a reflection on incremental improvement..

This isn't so much a "i had a really great shave today, I've got the hang of this" post, I just got thinking today, it really does take time.

At the minute I'm shaving everyday three passes and am definitely enjoying the experience, but i had one of those eureka moments and realised that i have a little one everyday.

Doing this you realise that you do get just a little better each day, today i thought I'm good at this now, but i realised i thought that last week and the week before and the week before that.

It's the little steps, shaving without nicking yourself, getting the hang of the direction of hair growth, figuring out which direction is WTG, XTG and ATG for each part of your face, then figuring out how to shave so you have a bare patch of skin to stretch away from the next part you want to shave, then figuring out how to hold the blade so you can get at the various spots in the direction you want.

todays little victory was figuring how to go XTG on my neck without nicking or contorting madly.

So today i mastered the art. and tomorrow i'll realise that today i was talking rubbish and will get to master the art all over again.

It really is very rewarding.

Cheers for all the pointers and tips, all the videos you guys post and all the ideas you give us newbs so we can enjoy this and get a little better every day

Simon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tekbow

Or a reflection on incremental improvement..

This isn't so much a "i had a really great shave today, I've got the hang of this" post, I just got thinking today, it really does take time.

At the minute I'm shaving everyday three passes and am definitely enjoying the experience, but i had one of those eureka moments and realised that i have a little one everyday.

Doing this you realise that you do get just a little better each day, today i thought I'm good at this now, but i realised i thought that last week and the week before and the week before that.

It's the little steps, shaving without nicking yourself, getting the hang of the direction of hair growth, figuring out which direction is WTG, XTG and ATG for each part of your face, then figuring out how to shave so you have a bare patch of skin to stretch away from the next part you want to shave, then figuring out how to hold the blade so you can get at the various spots in the direction you want.

todays little victory was figuring how to go XTG on my neck without nicking or contorting madly.

So today i mastered the art. and tomorrow i'll realise that today i was talking rubbish and will get to master the art all over again.

It really is very rewarding.

Cheers for all the pointers and tips, all the videos you guys post and all the ideas you give us newbs so we can enjoy this and get a little better every day

Simon

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Beautifully put! It isn't one thing, but so many. that we have to learn, practice, and get good at. Incremental is the very term for it, and losing sight of those quantum increments in a quest for BBS can take away the satisfaction of shaving every day. The progress does come slowly, in different areas, and in steps, sometimes little ones that can go un-noticed. It is important to recognize and value those little steps because all of them in concert lead us to improvement in our shaves. Eloquently done, sir!

Be careful. Every time I even think "Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this," I have a crappy shave the next day :) In reality, I probably get over confident because I think I'm getting the hang of it.

N ice story, thanks for sharing. It was well put, and part of what I like so much about straight shaving: always new things to learn, things to improve, things to try out. It is very rewarding as well when it clicks.

in the spirit of sharing, no matter how idiotic it was, i shall share my latest lesson. When breathing on your razor to polish it up, hold it edge away and at a distance from your lip.

Eloquent indeed.. ;)

gotta admit to the dumb things as well as the little victories

I think I mastered the art of cutting my face... then again I may improve even that! :thinking:

How very perceptive! I get that feeling every few shaves myself, of having really "gotten" something new and moved the experience up a little, and yet it's something you don't really notice. I wonder if realising it changes the process at all...

it hasn't so far, although something that seemed to come naturally a couple of dys before can swing back and forth between being easy and struggling a little. The days when you struggle, i suspect, are just "bad shave days". Not necessarily nicking days, just days when it didn't feel right and you didn't get the shave you got a few days before.