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Critique my 2 pass shave (pictures)

Is this good enough to be presentable at the Office?

  • Yes

    Votes: 11 52.4%
  • No

    Votes: 10 47.6%

  • Total voters
    21
Hey guys,

I have been shaving with DE for about a month and this is the closest I can get without getting knicks and irritation. Is this good enough to be presentable in a corporate office environment?

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I’d say, in general for most professional office work, that is quite acceptable. If the newer generation can get away with that constant 12 o’clock shadow thing they do, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be! :a1:
 
Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. It's hard to tell because of the lighting, but it looks presentable enough to me.
 
Probably the biggest thing is consistency. Does it look like you missed spots or did a hap hazard shave on the bus late for work? From the pictures it doesn't look like you did so you should be good to go.
 
Thanks guys,

I notice the 3rd pass for me is a point of diminishing returns. It causes so much irritation that it is simply not worth it, I dont even think the ladies even notice the difference on my face from doing 2 passes versus 3. So if the girls dont care than Im not even going to bother.

For same reason I am only going to shave every 48 hours. The shave you see in the photo is with Dorco ST-301 blades. I alternate that blade and also Astra SP. I just ordered Personna Blue and looking forward to those arriving.

This was 1 pass WTG and 2nd pass was XTG. No ATG at all. If I do ATG on my moustache area than I will donate blood (into the sink)
 
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What does your pre-shave routine look like. I posted my pre-shave routine for tonights shave here in the Newbies forum yesterday. Have a read and see if anything i do peaks your interest. Every face is different. It works for me.
 
I may have spoke too soon. Here is how it looks when I got home from work only 9 hours later and I look pretty scruffy. You can see some of the razor bumps from my last bad shave that happened 4 days ago.

4 days ago I went CRAZY and I did 4 passes trying to get BBS. So my strategy now is just to do 2 pass shaves for a week or 2 and hopefully my skin will toughen up and later I can go ATG (proper). I can def do ATG on the checks without getting cut. But I cant pull it off on the moustache area or the adams apple area. Its a shame because my mustache area is the most problematic, I have been cheating in the past by doing 1 pass with a Mach 3 and then using an electric shaver to "clean it up" and to go ATG with the electric.

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What does your pre-shave routine look like. I posted my pre-shave routine for tonights shave here in the Newbies forum yesterday. Have a read and see if anything i do peaks your interest. Every face is different. It works for me.

I use water with 8 ice cubes. Dunk a small rag in it and then press it to my face for about 1 minute. Put a little water inside Proraso Green Puck and load the brush than use a bowl to lather. I lather my face for about 1 minute until I get a thick coating of foam.

Next shave I will try just standard hot water method. But I truly believe in my case that I get better shaves with water full of ice cubes.
 
But I cant pull it off on the moustache area or the adams apple area. Its a shame because my mustache area is the most problematic
Not an unusual problem for some as those tend to be tough areas to deal with. You can do 45 degree off ATG and get good results. Even 2 x XTG may give very good results in the difficult areas.
 
For same reason I am only going to shave every 48 hours.
Instead of a 2 pass shave every couple of days, try a single WTG pass every day.
Much easier on your skin.
You'll also get better overall results, less bumps & acne,
although shave may be not as close.
Nobody looks below your chin to see how good the shave was.
You may be getting razor bumps from over shaving.
You may also want to consider using a high alcohol AS splash,
or an OTC Benzoyl peroxide cream after your shave to reduce pathogens on your skin, which can aggravate the bumps & acne.
Be careful the cream, if you use it, should not go near your eyes.
Once your skin settles down with the daily shaving, you'll be able to ditch the cream. It can cause dry skin.

What shaving cream/can, razor etc do you use?
 
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@Vineeze
IMHO, I suggest you stay with the cold water shave.. easier on the skin than the hot water version..
One minute with the cold towel might be a bit too little.
Are you shaving before or after a shower?
A single WTG each day is a good idea.
Another factor is the darkness of the beard.. mine is a light red to brown and a day skipped is hardly noticable.
As yours appears much darker, that 5 o'Clock shadow will be more noticeable.
As for "if it is good enough for the office".. take a look at the other guys, especially the bosses, to see what they look like. Many workplaces (mine included) have pretty low standards these days except for the US military.. my boss almost always looks scruffy and some co-workers only shave about once every couple of weeks and they still have jobs.
 
I’d say, in general for most professional office work, that is quite acceptable. If the newer generation can get away with that constant 12 o’clock shadow thing they do, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be! :a1:

+2! Definitely good enough!
 
You can do much better than that with just WTG and XTG with more experience. I never do ATG on my upper lip. I also mainly just do north to south and south to north on my neck.

I get just as close with a DE now as I could do with a cartridge. It's just a matter of getting more experience. You shouldn't have to settle for "good enough". You don't have to irritate your skin to get it either.

The best thing you can do is to watch more YouTube videos of people shaving to pick up more techniques and realize that not everyone has the same type of face. Some guys just have flatter and more angular faces that are easier to shave. I'm not so lucky but just do a good job with the directions that you can shave it and don't do any directions that irritate your face.

It's really not about having to do any special preparation. I can't say where Dorco blades are adequate or not. You might need better blades but that's about it.

It you can get two different directions on most parts of your face you won't have those areas that don't look quite good enough for the office.

You should be getting just as close a shave with a DE as your were getting with a cartridge.

By the way, I can't believe that so many people are saying that is an adequate shave. Your neck is close to being unshaven. I'm thinking that the Dorco blades may be a small part of the problem.
 
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I use water with 8 ice cubes. Dunk a small rag in it and then press it to my face for about 1 minute. Put a little water inside Proraso Green Puck and load the brush than use a bowl to lather. I lather my face for about 1 minute until I get a thick coating of foam.

Next shave I will try just standard hot water method. But I truly believe in my case that I get better shaves with water full of ice cubes.

How long are you soaking your brush (hot or cold water) before you start? I recommend 5 minutes in hot water.

You say you lather for 1 minute - try whipping the lather in a bowl instead of directly on your face. You might be overworking your skin especially if you're not soaking the brush or using a synthetic brush.

Do you start shaving right away then or do you let it sit for a minute or two after? I typically let the lather set up for five minutes on my face before I reapply to start shaving (or while I brush my teeth if I'm in a hurry). Lather does three things - relaxes the pores and skin, soften the hairs, and lubricate for the blade to glide over the skin. If you rush you only get the benefit of the lubrication.

Do you shave before or after you shower? Most recommend after but for me I get a better shave before shower.

There is no one right way to shave. We're all different and all have a different shave. It is pre-pre-shave (what you're doing before you start), pre-shave, shave, post-shave, and the finish. You have to experiment to find what works for you. Work on a stage until you find the technique that works best for YOU. Then move to the next and so on.
 
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