Critique my 2 pass shave (pictures)

[Dogrescuer]

UOTE="carel, post: 9488506, member: 119184"]You can, just concentrate on pressure very well if it is the closed comb, rest is angle. I really enjoy my Parker.[/QUOTE]
Thanks its 96r.
Let never forget the importance of using a QUALITY moisturizer when we have finished our routines.

 

[Dogrescuer]

Couldn't disagree more with this statement. Too much crappy advice and techniques among the youtubers. It's fine to watch the videos I guess, but I would take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt.

+1 "grain of salt"
Find what works for YOU and stick with it.

 

[Vineeze]

Instead of a 2 pass shave every couple of days, try a single WTG pass every day.
What shaving cream/can, razor etc do you use?

Okay, I will do that for a week and see. I use Baili BD 179 or Parker 22R with Proraso Green hard puck and a synthetic brush

+1

@Vineeze
IOne 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.

I shave in the morning and I shower in the evening so they are seperate events. Yes I have a dark black beard.

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.

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.

I also use Astra SP or Dorco ST-301. THose are the only 2 I have at the moment, I ordered some Polsilver but they wont arrive from Bulgaria for another 3 weeks. Maybe I can get some Personna Blues in the meantime

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.

I dont soak the brush at all (synthetic) and I dont soak the brush at all (Badger). I whip the lather in bowl for around 30 seconds and face lather for maybe 45 to 60 seconds. I thought the more I lathered the better off I would be? Since I use ice cubes + water I do not coordinate my shave with a shower. I shower in the evening and shave in the morning.

Thanks all for the good advice< I will put these methods into use this coming week and will make a new thread with photos.

 

[Vineeze]

Here is todays shave with the Parker 22R and Astra SP.

I thought it was a good shave but when I reviewed the photos under proper lighting it basically sucks. Seems that for my face I will have to go ATG to get presentable results. I sure hope that my skin will toughen up and accommodate ATG shaves so I can look like the Youtube celebrity shavers.

Todays shave had no ATG only 1 pass and then I couldnt resist to do a second pass sideways and a clean up on the mustache and chin and adams apple

 

[GearNoir]

Here is todays shave with the Parker 22R and Astra SP.

I thought it was a good shave but when I reviewed the photos under proper lighting it basically sucks. Seems that for my face I will have to go ATG to get presentable results. I sure hope that my skin will toughen up and accommodate ATG shaves so I can look like the Youtube celebrity shavers.

Sometimes how you feel about a shave is more important than the actual results. Take the good feeling, improve next time. It looks like you came out very good this time in regards to having very, very little razor burn/irritation visible.

That said, I also find that I don’t like the way my shaves look when I haven’t done ATG. My just-below-the-surface hair is very dark and noticeable, making it look like I have a 5 o’clock shadow when I really don’t. An ATG pass helps get rid of that issue significantly.

Practice will make perfect, or at least slowly better. ATG requires a very light hand, no pressure, no forcing, and for some a very shallow angle.

 

[Dogrescuer]

Be happy and content and secure about the way you look, which is fine. A real woman wants a fine gentleman. Having a good shave is fine but don't compare yourself to anyone. Just my 2 cents.

 

[carel]

My parker is a three piece, not the butterfly, but when I first got it the first few shaves I shaved with a wrong angle. Noting that the advice on forums was that the parkers are good shavers I experimented with the angle and went from shallow to a bit wider. Getting the angle consistent took care of patches and of cause irritation. My point is that because you are new to the trade, do not get discouraged as all of us had to learn in the start. It took me acquired skill to use my open comb razor way long after I started. It is an aggressive razor with the potential of close shaving, but I shaved with patchy results. Practice because you have patches. Once you build up skill as all of us had to, it will be ok. I was silently dissatisfied with my new razor for a short while, now I only use this razor because the consistency is great, the shave experience is great and the look is satisfied.
I found that the Parker razor amplified the pressure rule, and really becomes efficient when the angle is dialed in.
Pre shave prep is important and the quality of lather determines the results as well- don't forget to concentrate on that as well.
My advice might not be correct for you, but someone else might be for you as we all are different. Hang in there, because it is not as bad as you feel right now. Your A-Hah moment is around one of your next shaves.

 

[carel]

Hope I am allowed, but here is a good vid on the butterfly parker. Not the same model, but correct me if I am wrong, the heads are similar.

 

[Dogrescuer]

Nice. UOTE="carel, post: 9489932, member: 119184"]My parker is a three piece, not the butterfly, but when I first got it the first few shaves I shaved with a wrong angle. Noting that the advice on forums was that the parkers are good shavers I experimented with the angle and went from shallow to a bit wider. Getting the angle consistent took care of patches and of cause irritation. My point is that because you are new to the trade, do not get discouraged as all of us had to learn in the start. It took me acquired skill to use my open comb razor way long after I started. It is an aggressive razor with the potential of close shaving, but I shaved with patchy results. Practice because you have patches. Once you build up skill as all of us had to, it will be ok. I was silently dissatisfied with my new razor for a short while, now I only use this razor because the consistency is great, the shave experience is great and the look is satisfied.
I found that the Parker razor amplified the pressure rule, and really becomes efficient when the angle is dialed in.
Pre shave prep is important and the quality of lather determines the results as well- don't forget to concentrate on that as well.
My advice might not be correct for you, but someone else might be for you as we all are different. Hang in there, because it is not as bad as you feel right now. Your A-Hah moment is around one of your next shaves.[/QUOTE]
Nice.

 

[Josh Gribble]

Like others I want to encourage you. This is fine for now and there is no reason to feel bad. However, I'd suggest working towards a closer shave. Here are a few suggestions:

1. If you are getting a lot of (or any) irritation on a 3rd pass with the grain I'd think that there is a problem with your technique- either too much pressure or a bad angle (or both). Razors should be able to smoothly glide across smooth skin with little to no irritation. I too had a lot of irritation when I started out but by improving my angle & reducing pressure this greatly reduced.
2. I'd suggest you shave every day. Shaving two days growth is much more difficult and leads to much more irritation than shaving a relatively smooth face.
3. For me shaving after a shower helps a ton. I understand the theory of cold shaving, but it may be worth trying the old classic shower then shave.
4. With my mild razor against the grain is pretty necessary for a close shave. With your dark whiskers I wouldn't be surprised if that will be needed for you too. With good lather, good angle, and no pressure I find ATG causes much less irritation than when I was learning to shave and went with the grain with bad lather, angle or pressure.

Keep working at it and I'm sure you'll find what works well for you.

 

[UncleMonkey]

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.

The cold water pre-shave method seems counter intuitive to me. When you're cold you get goose bumps. This is a biological left over from our primitive primate days when we were way more hairier. Basically the skin is tightening to fluff up our fur to help keep us warm. Think of a cat or dog puffing out when they are cold. The pores around the hair follicle also tighten around it so it doesn't blow away. By using the cold water you're stimulating the hairs to stand up straighter (hence the closer feel of the shave) but the skin is also goose bumping creating a rough sub-structure so you're cutting off the high spots of the goose bumps along with the hairs. The pores are also clinging to the hair more. If they are relaxed from warmth they let the hair pull out some what (pet shedding in warm weather) to allow a cut "below" the surface.

Again it is all subjective and everyone is different. Someone might swear by using bat guano. Keep experimenting until you get the shave you're happy with. It might take a couple years and there are those that are still searching. Don't get discouraged because it doesn't happen right away. Think of it as going to the gym - it will take time to get the look you want.

 

[paintflinger]

The cold water pre-shave method seems counter intuitive to me. When you're cold you get goose bumps. This is a biological left over from our primitive primate days when we were way more hairier. Basically the skin is tightening to fluff up our fur to help keep us warm. Think of a cat or dog puffing out when they are cold. The pores around the hair follicle also tighten around it so it doesn't blow away. By using the cold water you're stimulating the hairs to stand up straighter (hence the closer feel of the shave) but the skin is also goose bumping creating a rough sub-structure so you're cutting off the high spots of the goose bumps along with the hairs. The pores are also clinging to the hair more. If they are relaxed from warmth they let the hair pull out some what (pet shedding in warm weather) to allow a cut "below" the surface.

Again it is all subjective and everyone is different. Someone might swear by using bat guano. Keep experimenting until you get the shave you're happy with. It might take a couple years and there are those that are still searching. Don't get discouraged because it doesn't happen right away. Think of it as going to the gym - it will take time to get the look you want.

Give it a try before overthinking it. Your skin will warm up prior to actually shaving. Using cold water has more to do with not heating the skin up and sensitizing it prior to the shave imo.

 

[Vineeze]

Im a little confuse

1. If you are getting a lot of (or any) irritation on a 3rd pass with the grain I'd think that there is a problem with your technique- either too much pressure or a bad angle (or both). Razors should be able to smoothly glide across smooth skin with little to no irritation. I too had a lot of irritation when I started out but by improving my angle & reducing pressure this greatly reduced.
.

Am I reading this correctly that you say a 3 pass shave all WTG? I had been doing 1 pass WTG and then pass 2 Sideways (not shaving the neck area at all on pass 2 (only above the jawline) and then pass 3 sideways in the opposite direction as pass 2 (again not shaving the neck at all). And then feeling with my hand to see where it is still rough and putting some later on those patches and shaving them by "buffing"

I also found that for my sideburns and cheeks that I can actually just skip the WTG and go straight to sideways on the first pass. On my face those areas are very tough and resilient and even tolerate a full ATG on pass 3 if I want to do it. But afterwards it If did do ATG it will burn alot when I splash the Witch Hazel at the end so does that mean I removed the top layer of skin when I feel a deep burn?

I havent used alcohol aftershaveas at all since beginning because I want to go with mildest products first and work my way up,

 

[Vineeze]

Give it a try before overthinking it. Your skin will warm up prior to actually shaving. Using cold water has more to do with not heating the skin up and sensitizing it prior to the shave imo.

Even back in my Mach 3 days I found that an ice water shave works much better for my face than hot water. It feels like the whiskers become more stiff and stand upright and that makes it easier for the blade to shave them at the root. Compared to a hot water shave which makes the whiskers soft and limp like spaghetti. I tried a hot water shave I think 3 or 4 days ago even with using a rag soaked in boiling water (almost boiling) and putting it to my face 2 times until it cooled down to room temperature.

That particular shave resulted in bad razor burn. But to be fair that was also the shave where I took reckless risks and went full ATG on the throat, neck and mustache as if I was FatboyGio. Okay, I will do a hot water shave today conservatively and take some photos.

Stand by please.

 

[ukbfg]

I'm not an expert, but it doesn't look very close to me, though probably fine for work anyway as stubble/beards are all the rage still and pretty common these days as already mentioned

I can get a pretty close and smooth shave with a one pass WTG. I wouldn't worry too much about going ATG for now. I'd aim for a DFS with 1 or 2 passes daily. Have you tried shaving in the shower? That's what I do and I find it much easier going than doing anything else.

 

[ukbfg]

I'd also consider using shaving oil as a pre-shave and then using shaving gel to shave with to make sure your skin is well lubricated and eliminate the variability of the lather making process.

 

[Vineeze]

This synthetic brush today really did me in. It made a **** poor lather with the TOBS and instead of starting over I just pressed forward with the shave. Nicked myself and also got razor burn. No sense in posting the pictures. I will try again tomorrow but I am going to put the synthetic brush on the backburner for now. Tomorrow will go back to the tried and true badger brush + Proraso.

 

[GearNoir]

This synthetic brush today really did me in. It made a **** poor lather with the TOBS and instead of starting over I just pressed forward with the shave. Nicked myself and also got razor burn. No sense in posting the pictures. I will try again tomorrow but I am going to put the synthetic brush on the backburner for now. Tomorrow will go back to the tried and true badger brush + Proraso.

I don’t mean to offend, but it’s rarely to products that cause the problem. Most, even the cheapest, perform decently or better if you invest the time to learn...including being willing to stop or start over.

Each item has its own way. The fact that you pressed on anyway (something we’ve all done) was probably not the best idea if you knew something was off. There’s no shame in stopping and restarting.

 

[Vineeze]

I don’t mean to offend, but it’s rarely to products that cause the problem. Most, even the cheapest, perform decently or better if you invest the time to learn...including being willing to stop or start over.

Each item has its own way. The fact that you pressed on anyway (something we’ve all done) was probably not the best idea if you knew something was off. There’s no shame in stopping and restarting.

You honestly think this is proper lather with Taylor of Old Bond Street (And before you say that its too much water note that I squeezed ALL the water out of the brush before I started the bowl lathering procedure):

 

[GearNoir]

You honestly think this is proper lather with Taylor of Old Bond Street (And before you say that its too much water note that I squeezed ALL the water out of the brush before I started the bowl lathering procedure):

No I don’t think it’s proper lather. I’m saying the brush and the product are not the ones making the lather, you are.

If you really did squeeze out all the water out (which isn’t possible or you’d only have cream in the bowl)...so most of the water out and it came out that runny, you have to add more product. Conversely, if you had squeezed most of the water out and the lather was still sticky and dry, you would have to add more water.

The brush and cream are tools you have acquired, tools you use to find the proper balance that works for you.