Different techniques...discuss.

[SHarris]

I recently saw a D.E shaving video (sorry can't post it) in which the demonstrator who was a trained barber did a few things that seemed counter intuitive to me especially when compared to mantic.


Did not generate much lather, a couple of twirls around the bowl with the cream and that was it. The lather looked thick but without much hydration.

Used a painting style technique to apply lather so as not to damage brush.

Long razor strokes instead of short.

Stretched the skin to flatten the surface.

He seemed to have a decent enough shave though I do feel that the above techniques are a hangover from straight shaving techniques that he may have learned. I'm not a straight user but is that a fair assesment?

 

[Bertilak]

I recently saw a D.E shaving video (sorry can't post it) in which the demonstrator who was a trained barber did a few things that seemed counter intuitive to me especially when compared to mantic.


Did not generate much lather, a couple of twirls around the bowl with the cream and that was it. The lather looked thick but without much hydration.

Used a painting style technique to apply lather so as not to damage brush.

Long razor strokes instead of short.

Stretched the skin to flatten the surface.

He seemed to have a decent enough shave though I do feel that the above techniques are a hangover from straight shaving techniques that he may have learned. I'm not a straight user but is that a fair assesment?

Maybe the video was edited to eliminate some of the boring parts (e.g. all that whipping up of lather and scrubbing it into the beard). Scrubbing can be done gently so is not inherently damaging to the brush. I always finish up with "painting" to distribute the lather.

I use both short and long strokes, depending on what part of the face I'm working on. Longer strokes on larger flat surfaces (cheeks) and shorter strokes on tricky curved places.

 

[_JP_]

Long strokes of the razor can work just fine, there's just the increased possibility of cutting yourself that way compared to keeping the strokes short. And stretching the skin is vital to getting the best possible shave. I think that a lot of gents don't do that.

 

[Fido]

If the point of lathering is to lift hair on your face surely it makes sense to lather against the grain in a straight sweep at least at the end of the lathering process?

I don't find the protection of the brush a sound reason for using it in a particular way. I want a decorator to put a perfect finish on my walls not to do a bodge job which protects his brush.

For all that, I get good results using the painting technique.