Thread: Chinny Chin Chin

Excellent. I'll keep that in mind.

The chin and adams apple are always in the way

Yes, the chin is hard. I found the key was realizing you have to be really good at adjusting the angle of the razor for each area of the chin. It has to almost be instinctive which is why it's so hard for rookies. It comes with practice. It's one of those things others can give advice but the advice goes only so far. It's the putting it into practice that's the key.

I can relate to this, I have been shaving with a straight now for about eight months and I still miss the odd stragglers on my chin and neck it's that Arrrgh moment when your rinsing off and can feel a bit of stubble. Thebigspendur is so right about it being instinctive you do get a feel for it after a while, I put my errors down to bad lighting, my glasses misting up, the mirror misting up, and / or having the shakes from the pub the night before, not necessarily in that order!

I see what you all mean. I am getting a feel for the razor. Apparently it's not a matter of broad stokes, but finesse!

TYVM

I'm also fairly new to straights, I started with a normal straight where I just really couldn't get under the nose and the chin area very well. But once I moved to a feather, it just seemed easy.

For me, I keep the following things in mind...

1. Soap, soap, soap. This is probably the most critical component as it determines how smoothly and easily you can manuever the razor over your face. This also impacts irritation levels. So make sure you have a good Soap. So far I like the Col. Conk soap the best, but I'm still new and experimenting with various soaps (I have tried MWF and while it has a great lather, it's not as smooth and protective for me).
2. Sharp Blade, for a feather this isn't an issue, they are incredibly sharp assuming a new or relatively new blade.
3. Think of your face as containing "planes" (ie flat surfaces at different angles), and try to visualize these planes as you shave.

I find that I use an upward stroke from my neck to my chin, to shave the bottom. I go from my lip down to my chin for the top. Then from the sides I come from the cheek, to the tip of the chin for each side. This covers most of the chin, but I also find I can ride the chin edge from cheek to the tip of my chin as well (diff angle than the sides, almost underneath the chin).

I did find it significantly easier to do this with the Feather instead of a normal straight due to how sharp the feather blade is. Also don't try to force anything. The feather blade is so sharp that you really can't even feel it cutting the hairs. Simply run it across the area, if you need to do a second pass it's no big deal, far better to run a second pass than to cut yourself trying to force it. I'd also suggest that you do what you can with your Feather, and if you need to, simply use a regular cartridge to finish the job, this will help you get more experience using the Feather without cutting up your face, eventually you will simply get more and more with your feather until you don't need the cartridge anymore, but again no need to punish yourself trying to do it all at once with the feather. Take your time, it will come eventually.

I do still tend to use the same sweeping strokes I used with my normal straight without any problems, so I don't see the need to change to short strokes to use the feather, but do whatever method works best for you, don't feel like you must force yourself into a certain method for it to work, each person shaves differently.

I only feel the need for nano-strokes when negotiating the tip of my chin. A slight cleft doesn't help any! Neck and cheeks survive broader stokes and I am concentrating on just letting the blade do the work without any added pressure. I slip up a bit when I get cocky. There's a lesson there.

Rich