Great post and I'm not sure if it was mentioned somewhere else in this thread..... if it was I missed it..... I think the method is great and on my next shave I am going to do this routine and feel I can do it with no problems as ironically I was already doing something similar and learned the hard way in the beginning about the follow the check line to the ear danger part but I have that down perfect now. NOW here is my million dollar question what about the neck area ? I see no mention of shaving the neck at all in your method or am I missing something big time ? or is it because the neck tends to have multi directional growth more than the face it's a more individual method ? please let me know as I am very curious thanks !!!
By Popular Demand-The Four Pass shave
- Thread starter guenron
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Aschecte, the references to Q3 and Q4 are below the jawline - i.e. neck.
I pretty much follow Ron's method, though I usually skip one of the XTG passes. On the neck - make it work however it can work for you.
I do one pass sliding along with the growth and two passes sliding across the growth. If I'm feeling real good I'll buff ATG but sometimes I don't need it.
I pretty much follow Ron's method, though I usually skip one of the XTG passes. On the neck - make it work however it can work for you.
I do one pass sliding along with the growth and two passes sliding across the growth. If I'm feeling real good I'll buff ATG but sometimes I don't need it.
Darn I feel like a idiot I just re read it after reading your post and yeah that's what he meant ... I got lost in the quadrant horizontal to the jawline running ........etc the wording at least to me was a bit tricky. thanks for the clear up. now to re read make sure I understand and I'll give it a shot on Thursday.
I tried this method today even though I am a total newb. Bottom line is I ended up with a really close shave. I did struggle with some spots in the chin area and my aftershave application told me that I was a bit rough but I really had no long term irritation after applying which hazel and aftershave so overall I am pretty pleased. I should also add that I was on shave number 3 of a supermarket brand blade (american made). I can't wait to try again with a new blade from the sample pack I just received. Out of the following are there any suggestions on which blade I should try next:
Astra, Bluebird, Super-Max, Gillette Goal, Gillette 7 O'clock, Gillette Nacet, Treet, BIC, Trig
Astra, Bluebird, Super-Max, Gillette Goal, Gillette 7 O'clock, Gillette Nacet, Treet, BIC, Trig
This is a good post to re-read from time to time, I seem to pick up something I missed everytime.
I've been DE shaving for a while now but just stumbled across this thread. I typically have a very similar routine except for going horizontal instead of diagonal on the second and third passes. I tried the diagonal today and it worked pretty well. I don't always go ATG due to irritation though.
Great post and a must-read for new shavers!
Great post and a must-read for new shavers!
+1 I subscribe to this thread just so that I am periodically reminded to read it when someone else comments. As I get more experience, I better understand the method and his comments about technique.
I had actually forgotten the that I modified the pass pattern to suit my beard growth pattern. I started out doing the V passes (my pass 1 and 2) with the razor handle pointing in direction of motion, but with time I noticed that I had slid into the Gillette Slide with the handle pointed more NS but the head traveling at an angle. My pass 3 is horizontal from ear to nose and pass 4 varies by quadrant depending on how well I tolerate ATG in each area.
As someone else commented much earlier, I found following a fairly strict pass pattern freed me from either trying too hard or trying to judge the early passes. It definitely builds consistency too. Touch ups pretty much went away. And if I want to to rest the skin by "shaving less" or I have to "shave quick" because of time constraint, I follow the pattern but only do one or two passes. Recently I have been shaving with a slant and I was trying to adjust the pass pattern and see about fewer passes, but when I returned to my good old pattern, I returned to more comfortable shaves that were very close.
Kudos to OP. If you are still listening, what is your beard growth pattern in Q1 and Q2?
Thanks,
Alan
ailevin said:
After about a month of DE shaving I've been leaving trouble spots with stubble just under the jawline in Q4 that touch ups just didn't seem to fix. A little more discipline may be just the thing for me.
Great thread, gents, thanks.
I'm a little upset with myself for not reading this earlier as it means I will have to wait to try it tomorrow. I generally due a traditional 3 pass shave with multiple clean up passes. Despite this I have yet to achieve BBS, in fact DFS is not always achieved. I have been wet shaving with a DE for six months. I think my technique is okay, just that my hair particularly on my neck grows in jacked. I go north/south, east/west, and diagnoly as it is, but, maybe this method will help me.
It's been a while, but this was an important thread for me. My last post to this thread was six months into wet shaving. The main lesson I learned from the four pass shave was to stay with the grain or go at a slight angle to the grain as you reduce the beard in the first couple passes.
Looking back, I still had much to learn about the grain patterns on my face and the shape of my face even after six months. A very big portion of "technique" is getting and maintaining the right blade angle to your face, and until you have shaved for quite a while, you just don't have that automatic sense of the razor angle and adjustment on different parts of your face. With time you develop not only your own pass pattern, but a sort of muscle memory that helps you get the right angle and keep it adjusted on each part of your face.
Different people may learn at different rates, but my sense is that nothing but time and paying attention will help to improve technique.
Alan
Looking back, I still had much to learn about the grain patterns on my face and the shape of my face even after six months. A very big portion of "technique" is getting and maintaining the right blade angle to your face, and until you have shaved for quite a while, you just don't have that automatic sense of the razor angle and adjustment on different parts of your face. With time you develop not only your own pass pattern, but a sort of muscle memory that helps you get the right angle and keep it adjusted on each part of your face.
Different people may learn at different rates, but my sense is that nothing but time and paying attention will help to improve technique.
Alan
I'm going to have to give this a try in the morning.
Absolutely beautifully-written article.
Ron!
Not to be a buzzkill but I don’t think there is one method that fits everyone’s skin and type and thickness of hair. Wet shaving is a lifestyle and if you want to use it you have to adapt and experiment to get that bbs feeling. 4 passes on this Irish onion skin equals the equivalent of microdermabrasion. BBS but visual blotches of missing of the epidermis. Experiment and realize what works for you and what doesn’t. Haven’t been wet shaving for eons but understand the basics. Have those hairs really softened up with heat. Either by using towels or water. Use a non alcohol shave cream or soap. And the most understated piece of equipment is an alum block. Absolutely life changing piece of equipment that will definitely keep you shaving like your grandpa did.
Hi fellow shavers,
I just joined B&B. I have read numerous threads already prior to joining but this particular post on The Four Pass Shave (I think it deserves capitals) is the main reason for actually joining so I am able to bump this post. This is an amazing technique giving me a DFS+++/BBS- or BBS depending on how much time I take.
After a hyatus with electric shaving for over two decades I started DE wet shaving (I have a King C Gillette with KGC blades (price point in the Netherlands is similar to Feather's) with all Proraso Green shaving products and an Omega badger brush I had from my cartridge days) in December last year and after a week or so had sufficient technique to get a decent shave without too much nicks and cuts. But BBS and particularly the neck area was challenging. I stumbled on the oblique stroke or Gillette Slide which is a very cool technique indeed and it really works for me and my growth pattern. The Four Pass Shave is the icing on the shave cake. Smooth, easy and a smashing result without the irritations or nicks and cuts.
I use WTG as described, than Gillette Slide (parallel to the floor) twice and ATG last. I also use the Gillette Slide (I do alter the application a little bit based on another ad by Gillette - I tilt my razor, but do downstrokes. I think similar to what a slant razor would achieve) on my neck as this works better for my growth (neck to ear is WTG and ear to neck is ATG. N-S appears to be more or less WTG/XTG).
But other than that - thanks a million @guenron.9 for putting together this technique. It makes one happy camper here in the Netherlands.
I just joined B&B. I have read numerous threads already prior to joining but this particular post on The Four Pass Shave (I think it deserves capitals) is the main reason for actually joining so I am able to bump this post. This is an amazing technique giving me a DFS+++/BBS- or BBS depending on how much time I take.
After a hyatus with electric shaving for over two decades I started DE wet shaving (I have a King C Gillette with KGC blades (price point in the Netherlands is similar to Feather's) with all Proraso Green shaving products and an Omega badger brush I had from my cartridge days) in December last year and after a week or so had sufficient technique to get a decent shave without too much nicks and cuts. But BBS and particularly the neck area was challenging. I stumbled on the oblique stroke or Gillette Slide which is a very cool technique indeed and it really works for me and my growth pattern. The Four Pass Shave is the icing on the shave cake. Smooth, easy and a smashing result without the irritations or nicks and cuts.
I use WTG as described, than Gillette Slide (parallel to the floor) twice and ATG last. I also use the Gillette Slide (I do alter the application a little bit based on another ad by Gillette - I tilt my razor, but do downstrokes. I think similar to what a slant razor would achieve) on my neck as this works better for my growth (neck to ear is WTG and ear to neck is ATG. N-S appears to be more or less WTG/XTG).
But other than that - thanks a million @guenron.9 for putting together this technique. It makes one happy camper here in the Netherlands.
