Hardly hair removal below jawline and other problems
Hi,
I bought a custom straight razor from a razor maker one week ago. He sharpened it for me. It is a non-folding razor. Before I was using a Merkur safety razor with Merkur Super blades for a couple years. Nowadays I actually really like the results I get from the Merkur and usually only do a single pass (except for those two nasty, tiny areas that I can't get rid of right away).
Four shaves in with the straight razor, I still have no clue what I am doing ;)
With each shave, the number of cuts gets lower and lower (I am now in my single digit range....yippie) but the problem is everything below my jawline. I also get quite some razor burns. something that never ever happens with the merkur.
Upper lip + cheeks are superb, i don't feel the razor and it removes everything with a single pass.
Below the jawline a lot of the hair remains. ATG and WTG, doesn't seem to matter. First pass I do WTG and I try to do a 40 degree angle (not sure if it really is though), ATG I put the razor almost flat on my face. All the cuts occur on the second/third/fourth pass under the jawline.
The funny thing is that both sides are equally crap, although the direction of the grain is different on the two sides. Figured that should make for (slightly) different results but it doesn't.
My routine:
I wash my face with hot water and semi-dry it.
I whoop up foam from my "The art of shaving unscented cream" and apply it evenly with a silver badger. Let it rest for a minute or two.
1st pass: WTG and 40 degrees on my left side (top down). WTG and 40 degrees on my right side (down up). Very short strokes, same I did with my Merkur.
2st pass: ATG and 15 degrees on both sides. stretching the skin about 1 to 2 cm from the blade.
3rd pass: same as the 1st. except now I really have razor burns.
(at this point, it looks like i didn't shave at all below the jawline.)
i now apply a lot of cold water to my face ;)
Over those four shaves I experimented with the angle a bit. going from 20 to (supposedly) 40 degrees. But it doesn't seem to help much below my jawline.
Any help is highly appreciated. I hope I have the lingo right, being my first post and all.
Best,
Bosie