First One Pass Shave!!!!

Well gentlemen, I finally did it........last night I was able to have a presentable one pass shave. I'm about, oh 15 or 20 shaves into this adventure, but a change in technique and good razor and beard prep made it possible.

The soap: Provence de Sante
The brush: Omega 10049
The razor: generic extra hollow ground PIFed to me by a member on B&B.

I started with a nice hot shower, then lathered and two minutes with hot towel on my face. Then lathered again and started with ATG this time instead of my usual N-S, S-N, out-in routine. Starting with ATG made all the difference in the world, I think. I rarely do a hot towel, and can't really tell the difference in my beard when I do it, but yesterday was stressful and I needed it! I think the difference in technique really made the biggest difference. I also stropped 20 times on balsa with CrOx and 20 times on balsa with FeOx then 50 times on my poor man, which helped bring the razor back a little. The before and after arm hair tests were very telling. Before, it would barely pop arm hair. After, all my arm hair is half it's length. Oh, but it won't pass the HHT test. I think I'm going to order some hones from Larry so I can get it to pass the HHT.

I also included the diagonal stroke across my throat, which resulted in a couple of nicks due to learning a new technique, but a very nice shave as well.

All in all, I was able to get an "out the door" "business meeting quality" shave in one pass. It wasn't a "date night" level shave, but I'm not kissing anyone from the office either! So stick with it any fellow newbies. It can be done!

Well done, I started out taking forever for a shave, never considering that a decent shave could be had w/ a single pass - which is now my norm. When I have time, I do more, but by doing a single pass, it made me focus more and the single pass became a very good shave, indeed. I also noticed that annoying facial bumps disappeared when I went to the single pass.

I also love Provence Sante. 'Best soap I've tried - thanks to Obie's fine tasted in suds.

'Glad you're enjoying. Keep it up.

Btw, just so everyone knows, I threw that reference to the HHT in there for fun. Just seeing if y'all are paying attention! :D

Bravo! Charming read, made me want to go have a shave!

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Originally Posted by medicevans

Btw, just so everyone knows, I threw that reference to the HHT in there for fun. Just seeing if y'all are paying attention! :D

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It caught my eye and I thought, "there we go again, HHT rules the roost." Then I read on and chuckled. You got me. :rofl2:

Hahaha! Gotcha! I put that there to jab some fun at a those who would take themselves too seriously. Life is fun, let's keep it that way.

On a serious note, I really might order the half hone set from Larry. I'm not sure that eventually I might want a full size set though.

Skip the hot towel if you're showering before the shave. First thing in the shower, soap on the beard. If you're not getting the lather/bubbly from the soap you're most likely not removing all of your skin oil. The second soaping should do the trick. Now for the rest of your shower the water will penetrate your hairs and skin, softening them.

One pass shaving can include several angles on the difficult parts, just retouch with the brush if it doesn't feel lubricated enough.

I guess that verifies what I was doing then. I rarely (read never) do the hot towel other than the first couple of times I straight shaved. I just didn't notice that it did anything other than make more laundry. I always soap my face/beard first so it softens as much as possible before I start shaving. Yesterday was just a hard day and I wanted to take a couple minutes to relax. A hot towel is good for that.

Congratulations on a one-pass shave. I just finished my 200th+ shave with a straight and one of my minor frustrations is that more and more I can get at least a DFS and often a BBS shave with two passes. With the right prep, cream, and razor, a good first pass leaves little to be removed by a second pass, My frustration: I love shaving everyday but if I do a BBS shave, I probably only need to shave every two days. I guess it is a nice problem to have. At this point, I am going to maintain my everyday shave, irregardless.:)

I love the calming meditative experience of shaving with a straight every morning and it is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable activities I have ever experienced. I only wish I had discovered it a long time ago.

Congrats on your progress.

I've got an extra-hollow (nearly singing) razor that does in one ATG pass what all my other blades need two to match. And yet, and yet... I don't really like the extra hollow. Like DLB, I'd have to skip a day if I shaved that close. And who wants to do that??

One of your hones should be a Naniwa12k. Eventually, at least.

I've recently altered my shaving style and rarely pursue BBS anymore. I can still get to BBS, but nobody but my face and my minimal OCD issues seems to notice. I've started doing fast one pass shaves with minimal touch-up to see how quickly I could get them in. While there is no need to rush things, one result has been that I no longer need to drop down to the Pro Fusion to get a good shave when I need it. I tried extended preparation for weeks and never saw any positive result from it, so now I lather up and shave, the whole shave taking less than 5 minutes. On weekends, when I have time for it, I'll luxuriate and go for BBS. But when I don't have the time, I can still get in a good straight shave without worrying about BBS.

When I have the time, I like to do a 3 pass shave, WTG, XTG and ATG. Just lately I tried just doing 2 WTG passes, If I'm honest, the visual difference in the result is barely noticeable, for the length of a working day at least.

Easyace, I'd be interested to know your results if you started with against the grain instead of WTG.

Although the question was directed to Easyace, I can answer it. I've tried just ATG a bunch of times, and it works fine for me. I still prefer the whisker reduction WTG pass first because it makes any eventual ATG pass easier. I guess I just don't enjoy an ATG pass as much when it becomes more difficult to do. And I can do a 2 pass (WTG/ATG) shave in under five minutes now so there is no additional need to save time.

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Originally Posted by medicevans

Easyace, I'd be interested to know your results if you started with against the grain instead of WTG.

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My thinking with regards to the first pass is the same as Ace's, that the ATG would be easier after a reduction with the first pass, Ace's WTG and ATG, makes sense. I had just started doing WTG XTG and ATG as the reduction seemed methodical and sort of fell into the WTG, WTG as I had finished the first pass and it felt pretty smooth, so just did the same again.

I will now however try ATG first and see how that is, it may well be enough. I will also try Ace's WTG, ATG, see how that goes.

I thought that ATG on the first pass would increase irritation and tug more, but I was pleasantly surprised. I have been letting my beard grow, so tomorrow evening I will have about 6 days growth to try my technique again. I will, of course, post back here with the results.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by medicevans

Easyace, I'd be interested to know your results if you started with against the grain instead of WTG.

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Well, I tried this, this morning, to my surprise it worked very well, I got a pretty good shave, no nicks and was ready to go out the door in one pass. However I did feel a little cheated as it was all over too soon, so I did a second WTG pass. I ended up with a very, very smooth shave. Tomorrow, I will do things the other (more logical?) way round WTG/ATG, just to see.

I've never had reason to do the XTG pass because my WTG passes and ATG passes, with some alteration in difficult areas, always seemed to work well enough. I also found XTG awkward in some areas and not worth the effort.

I hardley ever do more than one pass, unkless,like you, I need to calm my nagging OCD. When I do do more than one (like this morning), it's ATG only on and just below the jawline.

1 pass isn't enough for me. I want the BBS shave anytime I use my straight razors and it requires more than 1 pass for me. I shave every day during the week and the Tues - Friday days are shorter time shaves with a concentration of XTG, Near ATG and ATG strokes. All the guys at work know I get the best looking shave and eventually some break down and ask me.

The BBS shave is so addictive.

Pabster

I wish my beard grew fast enough to shave daily. Generally I have to shave every 3rd before I can start using my face as legitimate sandpaper. The whiskers around my chin are really thick so they grow rather slow, however when it comes time to shave there's no such thing as one pass in that area. Unless I end up trying to take my chin off, it's at least 3 times round to get it properly. But I'm still new and learning my techniques. Now my neck under my chin, that ATG first time BBS. Go figure.

After reading this thread I gave it a try. I guess I'm still too much of a noob. I had a lot of missed wiskers and irritation. Maybee with more experience I will be able to do a 1 pass ATG shave. But untill then, I'll have to keep improving my technique. Thanks for giving me a challenge.

I shave 3 passes everyday. Trust me, you do not want your beard to grow faster! Twice since I started shaving, the weekend shave was a little late once, and the other shave was the best ever, I ended up doing one pass ATG the next day. Other than that it's 3 passes, wishing I could shave every other day. Once you get older, lookin scraggly with gray beard hairs is NOT attractive...lol

I sometimes envy those who can get away with a one pass shave. I'm one who can't; my beard is too coarse and some areas of my whiskers grow at funny angles to the skin. The times I've tried it I looked like I just had a sub par shave with an electric (yeah, that bad), so I end up doing a second pass regardless. And the couple times I've tried ATG for a first pass my whiskers laughed as my blade seemed stuck in the forest, as it were. That's a definite no-go for me.

On another note, as a resident senior member in this thread I would like to say for the record that a one pass ATG shave is not for everybody, and really shouldn't be recommended as a viable alternative to a multi pass shave. If you can get away with it great, but if it simply isn't working out for you don't keep at it just because a few others can.

^And take all the fun out of it? Pffttt. Heck no. It's one of the few times I can legitimately claim time all to myself. Hell yes I'm doing multi-passes and making it take as long as possible!

Im lucky, I only shave every other day, could go 2 days without, but I finally like shaving. If I let it go for longer I look like retread with how ridiculous my facial hair grows. That being said, since I have started using a straight, I have noticed that I am not growing any hair below my sidburns and along my jaw, until the jaw line.

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Originally Posted by ubet

Im lucky, I only shave every other day, could go 2 days without, but I finally like shaving. If I let it go for longer I look like retread with how ridiculous my facial hair grows. That being said, since I have started using a straight, I have noticed that I am not growing any hair below my sidburns and along my jaw, until the jaw line.

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Don't worry, you'll grow up and become a man one day...

Just joking, I'm 50 (almost) and I don't grow hair just below my sideburns either, I could also go without shaving for a few days without anyone noticing... :-)

This is one area I am still a long way from trying
At about 30 shaves in, I am just getting comfortable with a 3 pass shave
Start with ATG then XTG, XTG (back the other way)

It has been giving me a smooth enough shave
Just a few trouble areas to touch up with my cheapo disposable
And all is well for the day

Keep the faith mate

I really don't like shaving XTG. Typically, if it's been a few days since I have shave I will do a WTG and then ATG. However, if I shaved the day before I will do a ATG and call it good.