Thread: are "bad shave days" exisiting? - reason?

Hello "Experts",

I am still a learner with my str8s after 1/3 year and the quality of my shaves has some variation. Therefore I have some questions to our senior-experts.

a.) how long was your "learning curve" to get a (permanently) stable result?
b.) do you get consistently perfect shaves - or are there "bad shave days" with irritation, burn... existing?
c.) if b.) yes - how often ? is the reason obvoious to you?


Thanks +Regards
Hajo

Everyone learns at a different rate. Some struggle for months and some are shaving like pro's in a week or two.

Personally it took a couple weeks to start to get passable shaves however to develop full facility with the razor and get great shaves all over took probably a good 6 months.

it depends what you mean by bad shave days. Once you learn you should never have bad shave days meaning a crummy shave. if you are not focused or rush you may nick yourself. if you include a nick as a bad shave day that is always a possibility with anyone at any time.

Just had one. The bad shave day stories usually start with the same sentence. "Well, I was in a hurry."

I hate having to shave when I am sunburned.........So I hated shaving today. I seem to get more bumps when my skin is already irritated. Other than that its usually all good unless im in a hurry or someone has the balls to scare me when I am shaving, it that happens I leave a little bio in the sink.

My definition of a bad shave has changed over time. Now it means any spot that isn't BBS. But yes, there are days that I get a burned face. I'd say its mostly due to two factors. The first is that my mind is just not in it for whatever reason. On those days I'm not as detailed as I need to be to get it all working at its best. The other factor is potentially my razor. If my blade's edge is not up to task, I may end up over-compensating for it with more pressure or more passes than is advised. And then that bay rum really lights you up. Usually one experience like that will have me put that razor down until I get around to touching it up on something.

Originally Posted by donv

Just had one. The bad shave day stories usually start with the same sentence. "Well, I was in a hurry."

That right there. In a hurry, so rush the prep, don't spend enough time building a good lather, then under those already lousy conditions, rush with the blade. On top of that, like OCDshaver said my idea of a "good shave" has changed a lot. What I now consider "barely adequate" I would have called an awesome shave a couple of years ago.

I'm no expert...got maybe 40 shaves under my belt. I shave at night as a form of relaxation. Takes me about 15 minutes. I don't feel rushed and my mind is only on the shave. The next day, the shave still looks cleaner than the average cartridge shaver that shaved that morn.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Everyone learns at a different rate. Some struggle for months and some are shaving like pro's in a week or two.

Personally it took a couple weeks to start to get passable shaves however to develop full facility with the razor and get great shaves all over took probably a good 6 months.

it depends what you mean by bad shave days. Once you learn you should never have bad shave days meaning a crummy shave. if you are not focused or rush you may nick yourself. if you include a nick as a bad shave day that is always a possibility with anyone at any time.

This is pretty much the same as it was with me.

One other factor that will contribute to a bad shave day for me is this:

I sometimes work in areas filled with insulation dust and high temperatures.
(think uncovered insulation in inner ceilings)
That combo does get my skin very raw after a full days work.
Shaving on such days will leave me with sore and raw-feeling skin, no matter how good the tech, prep and tools are...