Thread: 7 shaves in and......NOW I'm torn to shreds?

Hi guys,

Well, two days ago I had the best shave of my life with my cheapy shavette and a new persona blade.

This morning was my second shave with that blade, and I attempted to do a second AGT pass.

I absolutely tore me up!!! No blood loss, but major major razer burn, and my face is still hurting!

The past shaves have been a little tender afterwards, but not like this. I'm wondering if the harshess of the Shavette is just catching up.

I've ordered a parker shavette, which I may end up giving to Dad as a fathers day gift to see if he'd be interested in straight shaving.

I also picked up a DE which I may start to use until things cool down.

PLEASE tell me that a true straight is easier on the skin. I'm already thinking Id like to head that route if its going to make a difference.

Thanks,

Ryan

Ryan,
A straight is very easy on the skin, but only in experienced hands... you have learned, the painful way, why we don't recommend ATG much at all, and certainly not for beginners! Over time you will develop th light touch, lather, and angles that allow you to have an irritation-free WTG shave. When you and your skin reach that point, you can start to think about adding passes with the straight.

Stick with it, it gets better!

Ryan2022,

Even when my razors have a scalpingly sharp freshly finished edge, the ATG pass still irritates part of my neck.

It also irritates with the best of the safety razors I own (Gem Micromatic Open Comb & Ever-Ready 1912 SEs); so this is a fact of life for me and it is something I have to put up with

However, the rest of my chops thank me daily for shaving with a straight !

As Benjamin and others have said, ATG is something that is not for all people - some are fine, others are not

You can get an excellent shave with WTG & XTG passes, so I would stick to those for now.

If it will help you, alternate between using the shavette and a DE (or SE) safety razor.

I do not think using a safety razor is a 'cop out'; it is a sensible and pragmatic choice to suit the needs of your chops !

If you do use a DE safety razor, please get a blade sampler pack e.g. http://www.westcoastshaving.com/DE-B...oice_p_20.html, http://connaughtshaving.com/samplepack.html) as one persons super DE blade is anothers crap DE blade !!

In the meantime get yourself some good quality cream to calm the burn down - strangely, the best stuff to use is nappy rash cream !!

e.g. Sudocrem, Bepanthen etc.

Germolene & Savlon also work too

Good luck and good shaving

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

At the risk of sounding dumb.....What do all the 3-letter acronyms mean?

Originally Posted by Gigmaster

At the risk of sounding dumb.....What do all the 3-letter acronyms mean?

WTG- With the grain
ATG - Against the grain
XTG - Across the grain

Thanks a lot for the replies guys, well I'll go back to my single pass as it was working quite well for me.

I'll give it a couple days to recover! It is afterall the long weekend!

I ended up picking up a couple stones, an 8K and a 12K I'm going to take the plunge, as the idea of a wastless shave is really appealing to me. Even the razors start to add up after a while.

When you shave go light on the skin. Let the blade glide over the skin cutting the whiskers. If you dig into the skin, trying to use the skin as a fulcrum to cut the whiskers, you will get irritation. If you have to do that to cut the whiskers either your blade is not sharp enough and/or you need to work on stretching, blade angle and direction of attack. Just IME and IMHO.

I have a Feather disposable blade straight razor and the 1st shave is always the harshest. The 2nd and 3rd are generally pretty nice and by the 5th, I'm ready for a new blade. As already stated, you really need a light touch with these things so there is a a little learning curve. Hang in there. I do find the real straight razors much more forgiving and comfortable for me.

Have fun,

Lynn

Originally Posted by PhatMan

Even when my razors have a scalpingly sharp freshly finished edge, the ATG pass still irritates part of my neck.

It also irritates with the best of the safety razors I own (Gem Micromatic Open Comb & Ever-Ready 1912 SEs); so this is a fact of life for me and it is something I have to put up with

Russ, you and I must be long lost twins, because you just described me to a "T"! I have the same issue with the whiskers at the bottom of my neck, and though the shave may not be as close there, I doubt that anyone other than myself can tell.

To the OP (original poster): Yes, a real straight is more forgiving, as long as you do your part, which means low angle and even lower pressure. And you're also doing the wise thing by giving your face a rest before shaving again.

Thanks guys,

Im not sure what happened to my post.

anyway, I'll go easier next time, as Ive been getting some great shaves. I'm going to make the jump to True straights, I've got one lined up. I'm just slowly building up my tools.

I enjoy the Shavette though. If true straights dont end up floating my boat, I'll happily return to a single pass shavette shave!!

I looked like I had been necking with a cheese grater yesterday.