Thread: Shave timing stuff

I get my best shaves if I shave every other day, daily shaves cause considerable more skin irritation and are therefore less close.
A growth of more thans say 3-4 days requires an extra pass on neck and cheeks.
My cheeks and neck usually get only one pass, moustache, chin and jaw line get 2.

I subscribe to the addage: "A gentleman shaves close and daily". Sorry, I do not have a clue as to whom this quote should be attributed.

However, I will admit that the half dozen or so times that I have skipped a day shaving since switching over to a straight, the resulting shave took less effort to acheive BBS. At the same time, each time I had two days growth I made a conscious decision to select my best razor from my rotation for the shave. Thus, there is some confounding in the experiment; a statistician would say that the observations are not independent of one another so causality cannot be presumed--is it the razor or the two days growth?

Just another data point,
Ed

You and your data points Ed I'll actually resolve that one. I noticed that my best shaver performed even better after skipping a day. That's why I skip a day before shaving with it 50% of the time. The results have been consistent.

Originally Posted by ForestryProf

I subscribe to the addage: "A gentleman shaves close and daily". Sorry, I do not have a clue as to whom this quote should be attributed.

I'd have to agree - the nature of my 'business' means that I pretty much have to shave every morning. Maybe I can skip a day if I know I'm going to be in the office writing briefs all day.

But when I'm on vacation or whatever and feel too lazy to even shave, then I do have to agree with Rich that seeing the stubble come off is pretty nifty.

Skipping a day always results in a better closer shave. If you have a very fine beard it just may take an extra day or so to produce the extra hair that others produce in less time.

So the question is why? I would guess (and its just that) that there is just more hair to cut and a bigger target for the razor rather than that puny little hair sticking up after one day. Hey its the same with mowing your lawn. If the grass is longer you get a better cut and better overall job than if you mow the lawn with little growth. Right? You bet because the Bigspendur says its so!

I too have to shave daily as my boss would frown on an unshaven face. I don't see that as a problem though as I love shaving. I find if my razor is sharp I get a good shave every day.

Except when I'm not working I can't even consider not shaving every day. THe times I skipped a day or more, it did seem that the shave was better.

I've heard this many times and seen many discussions, but there are only two answers that seem to make any sense. One is that the additional growth allows natural oils to be secreted and absorbed, which soften the hair and make it easier to cut. The other is that you forgot how comfortable your shaves are now, and the the results of shave feel better because you're comparing it to that prickly mess, instead of just your daily stubble.

Shaving does not only remove stubble but also a thin layer of dead (and if you nick yourself live) skin. The longer you haven't shaved the more time your skin has had to recover. The fact that alcohol and adstringents sting when applied immediately after shaving but not when applied one or more days after shaving demonstrates the fact that shaving has uncovered nerve endings that normally are covered by an intact skin. The more recovered the skin the better it can handle a shave. 24 hours may just not be enough time for the skin to recover.