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By Popular Demand-The Four Pass

Am I allowed to bump this sucker? I found it helpful and thought it might help some of the other beginners.

I also have a question:

My facial hair doesn't grow north to south. It grows diagonally downwards from the area closest to my nose towards my jawbone. So, the third pass would be the one that would best describe shaving with the grain, for me. And shaving against the grain would be shaving diagonally upwards from my jawbone towards my nose.

So, how could I tailor this four pass routine for me? Any ideas?
 
Ron, et.al.;

Hadn't read this post before; new to the forum. I'm glad it was bumped because it is a great post and has great reminders even for old geezers like me.

BobS
 
Am I allowed to bump this sucker? I found it helpful and thought it might help some of the other beginners.

I also have a question:

My facial hair doesn't grow north to south. It grows diagonally downwards from the area closest to my nose towards my jawbone. So, the third pass would be the one that would best describe shaving with the grain, for me. And shaving against the grain would be shaving diagonally upwards from my jawbone towards my nose.

So, how could I tailor this four pass routine for me? Any ideas?

Hello Salvador,
Well if practice makes perfect, this post should really be great as I have managed to lose it twice. At any rate, to the question of tailoring the 4-pass to your needs. There are two fundamentals behind the 4-pass. The first is gradual beard reduction. It is this technique that provides for comfort with successively closer passes without the nasty pulling and tugging at tough whiskers that usually leads to nicks and weepers. The second fundamental is the cross cutting, i.e., shaving every beard pattern with the rough equivalent of a with and against the grain pass, even those whorl patterns that some have.
If you are experiencing discomfort or a less than satisfacory result, by all means tailor the 4-pass to your needs. From your description, you could very easily start with a pass 3, followed by a pass 1 and (potentially a pass 4 or pass 2 depending upon your growth patterns.) I do not like to say these are with or against the grain in particular, because I am doubtful that there is a beard that grows N-S over the entire visage or any particular direction for that matter. The combination of passes is the key to SMOOTH, the sequence, perhaps, the key to comfort.
Hope that helps.:thumbup1:
 
Ron, et.al.;

Hadn't read this post before; new to the forum. I'm glad it was bumped because it is a great post and has great reminders even for old geezers like me.

BobS

Hi BobS,
You down there in Baja Oklahoma? :wink2:
I am glad that you found it helpful as a reminder if nothing else. I have posted, written, emailed, explained, taught, etc. this particular technique to many over the years as a primer for chasing and achieving the perfect shave. If it is still doing it, GREAT. As Chief Dan George said in Little Big Man, "My heart soars like eagle!"
Perhaps this should become a "STICKY?"
 
Ron;

Baja Oklahoma! Ohh, that hurt. Lubbock actually, so most of the time we are not considered part of the state anyway, at least by the liberals in Austin.

I do think this ought to be a sticky; concise and well-written and answers a lot of questions. And, serves as a good reminder when shaves start going south for some reason and one needs to get back to basics.

Baja Oklahoma indeed!

BobS
 
Thanks for the tutorial. I have been using the approach that Scotto outlined. Maybe, I will give your technique a try.

Steve
 
I tried this 4-pass method this morning, but it wasn't as close as my usual 4-pass routine. Like an idiot, I went for two more passes. Huge mistake. My face feels like it has been sand-blasted. Someday I will learn the lesson that a little bit of stubble that nobody can see is better than a bright red face that burns like it's on fire.
 
guenron,

I shave based on your methodology. Works well. Thanks for the post! I do find that on pass 4, for the moustache area, I cannot do a true S-N pass, unless I am using a brand new feather, otherwise I get knicks or razor burn. I have to do the S-NE, S-NW diagonally.
 
:biggrin: :biggrin: I have shaving creams from the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, India, Colombia and England. I win!!:wink: :wink:

Jeff

What's the Hungarian cream called, and can I purchase it online somewhere?

Takk skal du ha! (what langauge is this written in?)
 
Found this post through a reference in a more recent post. IMHO a very good and clear how to... Can't this be moved to Shave Clinic and become a sticky? For me as a noob this kind of stuff is very useful, but unfortunately very hard to find. Or am I making a faux pas with this request? :ohmy:

BTW was not planning on going for the four pass just yet, haven't even received my Merkur HD yet :wink2: (7 more nerve wrecking days of waiting left), but it is something to keep in mind and perhaps even try and work towards.

Great tutorial Guenron!
 
I agree that this should be a sticky. I provide links to it in the Guide to Gourmet Shaving---from Edition 1.0 on. I think it's an exceptional article.
 
Ich habe eine Frage a propos le "V" that you're talking about in this post. Is it a side of a "V" with the blade parallel to the ground or with it at a 45 degree angle to the ground?
 
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