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A moment of enlightenment

Today's shave started out like any other. Normal prep and products. I was a little sore from yesterday's 423 pass attempt at the ultimate BBS, so I was going to stick to two passes. As I traveled down my neck, I got to the section that has been my razors mortal enemy since highschool. The hair there grows almost parallel to my skin, so with the grain passes (and even accross the grain passes) don't really do much. I've experimented with all sorts of blade angles, shave direction, oil, creams and soaps, hair conditioner, etc. but I always finish raw after the final against the grain pass. Today, I just kept going on the first pass, directly against the grain. And what did I find? BBS in one pass and absolutely no irritation. Really. I'm in shock.

So I've learned, after 15 years if shaving, that the irritation on that part of my neck has always been from the mulitple passes, not the against the grain pass. Wel, at least it was today.
 
How much do you want to bet you'll try it again tomorrow and end up with the dreaded razor burn?:tongue: Murphy's law strikes again!
 
I had a moment like that recently too when I decided that instead of doing multiple passes and blade buffing on the neck on a low setting, I cranked up the exposure and did 1 pass. Worked like a charm. What more can a guy ask for? Oh yeah...a six demon bag!

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woodbane said:
How much do you want to bet you'll try it again tomorrow and end up with the dreaded razor burn?:tongue: Murphy's law strikes again!

You just HAD to say that, didn't you? It was there in the back of my mind the whole time. I just figured if I could ignore it, it wouldn't come true. Now you went and messed the whole thing up. :glare:
 
Not quite. I think I avoided the dreadful Woodbane Jinx. It wasn't a perfect as yesterday, but still very good. It probably didn't help that I was rushing with a new blade. But I'm planning to keep this in my normal routine as it's a big improvement.
 
Good for you dude, it's always great to discover some little trick that gets you one step closer to shaving nirvana!:biggrin:
 
Yes. It was one of the momments when your eyes popped open in disbelief.

I'm thinking today's shave wasn't quite as good because there really wasn't much of a beard there at all. Yesterday's shave was so close, I almost didn't even shave there today. I've noticed that if my beard is too short when I start, things don't go as well.
 
letterk said:
Yes. It was one of the momments when your eyes popped open in disbelief.

I'm thinking today's shave wasn't quite as good because there really wasn't much of a beard there at all. Yesterday's shave was so close, I almost didn't even shave there today. I've noticed that if my beard is too short when I start, things don't go as well.

Hey, I find the same thing as well. I actually skipped my shave yesterday because Wednesdays shave was so close, there was hardly any stubble on Thursday to attack.

Having said that I had my first shave with a Futur this morning using a Swedish Gillette blade in it, got a little neck irritation but nothing too severe. Used on about a 1.5 setting for first pass, 3 for second, 1.5 for third. Probably should have stopped after second but I was so excited about using my new toy for the first time!
 
woodbane said:
Hey, I find the same thing as well. I actually skipped my shave yesterday because Wednesdays shave was so close, there was hardly any stubble on Thursday to attack.

Having said that I had my first shave with a Futur this morning using a Swedish Gillette blade in it, got a little neck irritation but nothing too severe. Used on about a 1.5 setting for first pass, 3 for second, 1.5 for third. Probably should have stopped after second but I was so excited about using my new toy for the first time!
Hey Andy,
Despite the common wisdom (lore) of starting at 1 or 1.5 (Futur) or "N" or "O" (Vision), I find that starting off with enough steel to take clean swaths of whiskers off on the N-S typically avoids irritation for me.
 
Hey Ron,

Funny you should say that as I was thinking about that after my shave. My logic was as follows:

"Why don't I do the first pass with this sucker wide open on 6 to take off as much stubble as possible and then dial it back down for my cross grain passes to get as little irritation as possible? Hmmmmmmmmmm"

Does that concur with your line of thinking?:biggrin:
 
P

PortsmouthDavid

Along the same lines, you could also consider keeping 2 separate razors: one more aggressive for the initial pass(es), and one at the milder end for the last clean up work. It's more trouble than I think I'd go to on a daily basis, but it might make some sense.

-- David
 
PortsmouthDavid said:
Along the same lines, you could also consider keeping 2 separate razors: one more aggressive for the initial pass(es), and one at the milder end for the last clean up work. It's more trouble than I think I'd go to on a daily basis, but it might make some sense.

-- David

David (welcome to the board by the way!), given the propensity of my fellow board members to acquire VAST numbers of all things shaving related (we even have terms for these illnesses - RAD, SCAD, BAD etc.), I'm guessing the probability of people having more than one razor and more than likely USING more than one razor when they shave is actually very high.:w00t:

By the way, do you find you get many nicks using that chainsaw for your shave?:lol:
 
woodbane said:
Hey Ron,

Funny you should say that as I was thinking about that after my shave. My logic was as follows:

"Why don't I do the first pass with this sucker wide open on 6 to take off as much stubble as possible and then dial it back down for my cross grain passes to get as little irritation as possible? Hmmmmmmmmmm"

Does that concur with your line of thinking?:biggrin:
Hi Andy,
I shave with mine at a 6 very slowly and carefully. I only do it with Feather blades as most others pull and scrape. (Not a good thing with the setting at 6). I'll throttle it down to 4.5 for my S-N, sometimes 4. It does reduce the shrub so that successive, more tenuous scythings go much better.
Do I recommend this technique? If you are patient, have the time and are unharried, because concentration is really the issue.
 
PortsmouthDavid said:
Along the same lines, you could also consider keeping 2 separate razors: one more aggressive for the initial pass(es), and one at the milder end for the last clean up work. It's more trouble than I think I'd go to on a daily basis, but it might make some sense.

-- David

David,
There are a few guys who use multiple razors for a single shave. There are also those who will use different blades for different parts of the shave (specific blade for reduction, another for blade buffing, etc.). To me, there is a lot of satisfaction in mastering the "tools of the trade". For some, mastery may mean finding the right combo of razors to be used in a single shave. For me, however, mastery is being able to fully command the razor and blade that I have chosen for that particular shave and achieve excellent results
 
P

PortsmouthDavid

woodbane said:
By the way, do you find you get many nicks using that chainsaw for your shave?:lol:


The chainsaw is something like the Futur . . . some men (aka wimps) find it to be an aggressive shave, and you need to respect its power. I find that using a lower setting and really working up a great lather gives me a BBS smooth shave every time. Is decapitation a risk? Sure! But - hey - you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette!

-- David
 
PortsmouthDavid said:
The chainsaw is something like the Futur . . . some men (aka wimps) find it to be an aggressive shave, and you need to respect its power. I find that using a lower setting and really working up a great lather gives me a BBS smooth shave every time. Is decapitation a risk? Sure! But - hey - you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette!

-- David

I can see you're gonna fit right in here at B&B!:biggrin: :lol: :biggrin:
 
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