Experienced shavers: share your mistakes and mess-ups

[Its just me Ash]

I am new to this forum. The info on the threads is helping me get better with each shave.
Also, and this is meant respectfully, it is really great seeing how other people have issues, get irritation, nicks, can't lather, can't BBS, and all the other problems that can happen with wet shaving.

The reason it is great is it makes me (and probably other newbs) feel better when they have a bright red burning face, droplets of blood all over the floor like a crime scene, AND yet still have a half shaved face with a patchy goatee and a strip of stubble running down the side of one cheek.

What I was wondering is do even experienced shavers have bad days? What qualifies as a bad shave for a shaving legend? And what would you say the reason for the bad day was (i.e. rushing too quickly, dodgy blade, dog knocked your leg and you cut your earlobe off...)?

 

[samhain666]

Joining this forum makes you wanna try all the latest and gratest products and go bankrupt

My biggest mistake was purchasing DE supplies that were available at local stores 7 years ago and trying them ony my face before doing any research on how to actually use them

Usually my mistakes are connected to blades. Either I test longetivity or new blades and even if they are horrible I try to finish the shave. I sometimes frget that my favorite blade is rough on 1st shave, but I still push that extra pass even buffing on my chin. It doesn't make any difference to my appearance it just hurts when I apply aftershave.

Sometimes my lather is too dry, but that I fix after 1st stroke.

 

[BigJ]

Great question!

My most ‘common’ mistake is to become cavalier and careless!

Keys to a great shave (for me):
1. Great prep
2. Proper razor angle
3. NO pressure
(The usual things that many of us stress around here.)

Take your time and enjoy the moment!!

 

[DaveHStone]

My "greatest mistake" was a blessing in disguise, when I think about it in retrospect.

I started wet-shaving years before discovering B&B or any other shaving forum for that matter (not that I was look for one). This is to say, I didn't have much clue about anything back then.

And so, when I ordered my very first wet-shaving kit (Proraso), I purchased a pack of Yellow Feather blades. Well...

So, I learned to wet-shave with Feather blades. Then I tried pretty much all other blade brands and swiftly came back to Feather. Haven't used another brand in years.

So, sometimes it's not as bad as it might seem at first.

 

[Trollky]

Slipping standards probably creep into most people's shaving routine from time to time... The ones I can think of off the top of my head are:

Switching the soap/brush/razor/blade combo too frequently,
Rushing the lather,
Applying a bit too much pressure with the razor,
Over-shaving that one part of your face even though you promised yourself yesterday that you would do it again,
Going for that ATG pass when you know you shouldn't,

Maybe one day we'll master our routines and get 10/10 shaves every time

 

[Kyle89]

I got into wet shaving to save money on buying cartridges.

I have not saved any money. But I gained a great hobby for life.

But in a sense, I did mess up with my goal of "spending less on shaving".

 

[BobbyB]

Does dropping--and thus breaking a good razor--qualify? If so, I have done this twice.

 

[Contact_vs_Feedback]

You'll hear or read the term/ suggestion ' No pressure' a lot of time and maybe someday, you'll get tired of reading it.

In reality, with each good shave I'm learning about even less pressure on my razor strokes, and it works !

With each shave, my mind-set of considering the minimum pressure which is applied to shave is changing, and I'm reducing the pressure on the razor and getting better shaves.

Ps: don't confuse the term no pressure on razor with having weak grip on razor handle.

Secondly, work on lather technique.
A great razor and great blade will only go so far if the lather is pasty, dry, airy or non existent.

I shudder to think of shaving with what I considered as a good lather in the past, so, be open minded in learning more about good lather techniques.
I'm open for suggestions and I'm still improving the lather, but I can feel it's getting better, but consistency is the key.

Finally, talking about consistency - keep the gear consistent in the shaves, change only one variable in the shave setup if you are trying to figure out if a particular gear (razor, blade, brush, prep method etc) works for you or not.

This way, if it doesn't give you good results, you'll know where was the problem.

In short - No pressure on razor, good lather, good pre and post shave habit and keeping the gears consistent will help you actually figure out what works for you.

Does dropping--and thus breaking a good razor--qualify? If so, I have done this twice.

Yes, it works.
It's a lot better than having to deal with a Glasgow smile or gash anywhere on the body.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Long as I've been shaving, I still nick myself. Usually because I'm rushing, or not giving sufficient attention to my technique.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

I have cut my face a couple of times due to carelessness. The scars always remind me.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Slipping standards probably creep into most people's shaving routine from time to time...
. . .
Over-shaving that one part of your face even though you promised yourself yesterday that you would do it again,


Maybe one day we'll master our routines and get 10/10 shaves every time

Yeah. Me with the lower lip. The darn thing curves too much, even stretched, for me to do more than 2 passes, and that with a 48-hour beard. If the beard is only a day old, one pass is called for, or I'll nick one side or the other.

 

[carluchi]

Mine are inline with what others have said:

• Take your time - do not rush it. This is where I get in trouble sometimes. While I have only cut myself once, I do end up with irritation when I try to rush things.
• Get very good at building lather. This will allow you to rotate soaps / creams frequently because you know what the lather is supposed to be like.
• Practice your routine with a razor. Get good at the angle and pressure. One thing to keep in mind if you rotate razors, stick with one razor for a few days so that you can get used to it again. It usually takes me a day or so when switching razors before I get my DFS and BBS shaves back.
• And my number one issue (at least for me) is. CHANGE THE BLADE OFTEN. As soon as I start to get weepers and the slightest irritation from a blade (assuming its not a new brand I'm testing out), I change the blade because I know if I continue to use it, my neck will be on fire!

 

[@ngel]

One mistake that creeps up from time to time on me is as others have said:

Rushing the shave!

Not taking time to build a good lather and flipping the razor around my face like is a formula 1 pit stop. I still get a good shave but with some irritation and later see I missed a few small spots that in reality I am the only one aware of, but still bothersome.

So take your time and enjoy, is not a race, who cares if it takes you 5 minutes or an hour.

 

[lurchbrian]

my biggest mistake in shaving is telling the wife how much cheeper than cartridges it is..... how much of my savings do i see ? that would be about as much as Ray Charles would see. Bless her she might spend it on those wrinkles ... shhuussh dont tell her .

 

[Steinmetzify]

What I was wondering is do even experienced shavers have bad days? What qualifies as a bad shave for a shaving legend? And what would you say the reason for the bad day was

Yeah, I do. Been at this 3 (!) years now so thankfully the bad days are behind me.

I’m not a shaving legend but a bad day for me is anything uncomfortable about the shave. If I did it wrong, the aftershave burns, the nick won’t stop bleeding and I’m irritated about it for half the day.

Usually just forgetfulness. I usually use one of 3 Blacklands razors, and I use blades that are rough on the first shave in all of them. Sabre shave the other day, had been using that PTFE blade for about 9 shaves, decided on a new one. Forgot they’re sort of scrapy in the beginning and cut myself. Irked.

As a new guy, best advice I can give you has already been given but I’ll say it again. Take the advice, I wish I would have in the beginning.

Good prep: wash your face beforehand/shower before etc so your face is nice and soft.

Knowing your skills: STICK to one razor/blade/soap/brush and get GOOD with them before you switch. Know your gear.

Great lather: if all else fails, MARCO METHOD. Seriously. It’s really really hard to mess that up. There’s a lot of talk about water/soap ratio here and it can be really confusing to noobs. That method takes all the guesswork out of it.

Learn your beard. Map that thing and shave accordingly. I do two passes, WTG/ATG because that’s what works best for MY face. It won’t work best for yours, or that guy or THAT guy, but it’s best for me. I can get a BBS on my Blackbird in two passes and feel great, adding another pass to that will ensure I cut myself.

Lot of noobs over shave in the beginning; I did too. Point I’m at now, I’d rather have a tiny bit of stubble left over than an inflamed face that’s irritated for two straight days. Only person that’ll ever know is you, and you’ll get there in time.

Good luck sir, you picked the right place to come for info. These guys know everything and thanks to them, I now do too, and so will you.

 

[member 119848]

typical mistake: getting rid of a razor too early
advice: keep your razors even if you have moved on to the next favourite, or you may regret it
I had "sellers remorse" several times.

 

[Ron R]

I wish when I started traditional shaving 4 years ago that the Razorock SLOC or Yaqi Melon head existed because it would of saved a few nicks and weepers.
To me it is one of the best razors to learn how to shave with and looks cool( I still enjoy it). The razor is such a carefree razor and learning tool and will provide great shaves ever time, if you nick yourself your technique is off (hard to do nick yourself)and you can buff well with it. I think a lot of folks who are learning will over buff until they feel nothing and will get razor burn, the SLOC or Melon head some how is gentle to the skin and gets close enough for 90% of folks.

Another part of shaving is understanding your grain growth direction that took months to clue in on this important advice, once I had my beard map done and used that knowledge the quality of my shave improved greatly.(note credit card method does not work very well, grow 2 or 3 day growth and visually look and record direction for best results, pick ups use fingers for feel grain direction.)

If a person can get his prep or Pre shave dialed in you will enjoy how easy it is to get a close shave, I use a simple method of brush washing my face with CerVe hand bar cleanser and a dollop of Clear Aloe Vera gel on the beard area( about 1 1/2 <minute exercise). Most people wash their face anyways you might as well enjoy it with a relaxing synthetic soft tip brush, I liked to use a hot wet towel but found the warm brush with quality soap just as relaxing & healthier .
A few tools to use with any razor (Cartridge, DE,SE, Shavette & straight razors)

Have some great shaves! Stay & think safe in these times!

 

[Old Hippie]

I am reminded this morning that it is a mistake to get target-locked on bringing home a great shave even when it's not proceeding as one might wish.

This month I've been learning barber razors and pretty quickly found one that meets my immediate need for some confidence while providing a good shave: the Focus Slim Al, if you're curious. Changing razor styles from slants to straights has brought a whole host of new adaptations. Every shave early on required fresh creativity to shave where I need to. I'm still a long way off, but I'm getting there.

This morning things didn't line up right. Didn't feel so hot, lather was strange, fresh blade in the Focus. I keep a slant handy to clean up and get around my ears, but used it for a second ATG pass this morning which left me pretty smooth but more irritated. I was interested to note that the tuck of Astra SP I opened this morning was the older version with the painted numbers. The blade I broke for the Slim was one of the newer laser-etched ones. I thought the older blade a bit rough. I'll keep an eye on it.

Often (for me at least) shaving has much in common with meditation: calm, considered smoothness, intense focus and learning "skillful means." Even a not so great shave has its moments. It's also good practice to let go of a less-than-stellar shave and appreciate what you have accomplished. The next time will probably be better.

O.H.

 

[LoveTheSlant]

A lot of great suggestions dealing with technique. So I’ll just add the following as you progress. Buy Simpson brushes to begin with. They are at a premium to many other brushes out there but you’ll end up there anyway so might as well “skip the skimp” and save in the long run. And make sure to load with soap like you hate it (want to use it up as quickly as possible). This, and a blade that works for you, will work wonders for your shave.

 

[Tomo]

My biggest mistake was waiting so long to get into straight razors. With about 350 SR shaves under my belt there aren’t any bad days anymore. No nicks since I made the switch to natural finishers months and months ago. No irritation either just excellent shaves. A bad day might be not getting a trouble spot quite as close as I usually do. The days of actually missing a spot or leaving any visible stubble behind long gone. Perfect shaves exist it just takes is practice and finding a set up that works for you.