How many days of growth for the most comfortable shave?

[Black-Tie]

Hello gentlemen!

*sensitive skin

No matter what I do, I can’t manage to get a comfortable shave after one or two days of growth. Everything goes wrong... razor burns, microscopic nicks, redness, bla bla, the full menu...
On the contrary, the 3rd day is the total opposite; I always get an amazing shave. The 4th day -> PERFECTION!
I’m lucky enough to own a Wolfman WR2 1.15 OC, probably one of the most amazing razors out there. Which I absolutely love! I’m using great soaps, top notch brushes and the pre-shave routine is always the same.
I tried using a milder razor (Feather AS-D2), the results are worse.
What is your experience? Does it make any difference to you if you shave the next day or 3 days later?

Cheers!



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[twhite]

For me if I shave everyday. I find my injectors are perfect. My SE’s and DE’s I prefer 2-3 days for my best results. Although I am doing FFFMM and will be trying to shave everyday with a R-41. I will see how that goes. I might change my tune.

 

[santamariasteve]

IME how many days between shaves is irrelevant. What is largely relevant as to comfort is how new or how old the blade is.

There are other factors affecting comfort, of course, such as prep, pressure, angle, the razor itself, technique, and so forth.

 

[LewisW]

To many variables to really say. I shave every other day but I’ve been a wet shaver since I was 12 so my skin can handle it.

 

[rreynoso]

For me it's more than two days... when I wanna know how smooth is a Safety Razor or a blade I shave after a 24 hr. period ...

Cheers

 

[Billy T.]

I get a perfect shave on 3 days of growth. Feather blade, Rockwell 6S #3. Always BBS, I have tried doing it sooner but the shave will be sub-par.

 

[Jnatcat]

For me it’s 2-3 days, I quit shaving everyday unless it’s just a WTG one pass

 

[comis]

I will have slight irritation if I wet shave every or every other day, but 3rd day seems to be ok.

I have shaved with my new AS-D2 a handful of times. Every bit of it being mild is true, and it does demand me to pay closer attention to the angle and a sharp blade for an efficient shave. A fresh Feather blade works exceptionally well for that(as expected) but I do find Astra SP more consistent and less tugging on 2nd shave and onwards.

 

[comis]

Btw, would anyone here characterize your skin type as soft or sensitive? I find it fascinating in the survey yesterday, an overwhelming 85% voted(IIRC) they shaved more than 3 times a week, so I am wondering maybe my skin type is more on a sensitive side?

 

[BarryR]

My Monday shaves (which means 3 days growth) are often excellent. Midweek shaves can be terrific as well but it seems to happen most often on Mondays.

I think even 2 days growth tends to be excellent as well.

 

[JoWolf]

Hello gentlemen!

*sensitive skin

No matter what I do, I can’t manage to get a comfortable shave after one or two days of growth. Everything goes wrong... razor burns, microscopic nicks, redness, bla bla, the full menu...
On the contrary, the 3rd day is the total opposite; I always get an amazing shave. The 4th day -> PERFECTION!
I’m lucky enough to own a Wolfman WR2 1.15 OC, probably one of the most amazing razors out there. Which I absolutely love! I’m using great soaps, top notch brushes and the pre-shave routine is always the same.
I tried using a milder razor (Feather AS-D2), the results are worse.
What is your experience? Does it make any difference to you if you shave the next day or 3 days later?

Cheers!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I cold water shave face and head every three days. I have always had sensitive skin irregardless of shave method. I could shave daily with an electric razor which for me just plain sucks. Cart razors I would need four to five days. De shaving allows me to shave every three days and always accomplish minimum DFS, but BBS most often. Time between shaves is required to grow back the skin I removed with shaving. Pre and post shave routines are the most important part of the shave for me. If my skin is not totally irritation free and very comfortable, there is no chance of me achieving a close, smooth, comfortable shave. The three days between shaves is skin recovery time.

 

[Timeclo]

It's 2-3 days of growth for me. 1 day is too often and I get irritation and over 4 days, it's harder to take of the growth because I prefer mild razors.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

The more days the better for me. 48 hours in-between as the bare minimum. Haven’t gone more than 96 hours since shaving with a DE, brush, and soaps. In the old days, once a week was the norm since I hated the cartridges so much.

You are comparing two very different razors. Onextremely mild and the other is extremely aggressive. Do you have a dense/coarse beard?

Sometimes super mild razors make you have to push harder. One of the worst shaves I ever had was with a really mild TTO and super sharp Rapira SS blade.

You may just need a medium aggressive razor and matching blade. It’s mainly stubble based and then dialing in how much sharpness you need and what your skin can handle.

 

[Legacoid]

Interesting. I've always hated being in anything other than a clean-shaven state so I probably shave more frequently than many other people here.

When I first switched from cartridge to DE I felt that I got a better result if I stretched the time between shaves - sometimes this would happen if I'd done over-nighter on a hill walk for example. More recently I've made changes to my shaving pattern and technique and now the less I have to mow down, the better the experience and post-shave comfort. I think right now the optimal balance for me is every 24 hrs, but some days I'll do an extra top-up shave if I feel I need it.

 

[eaglesgift]

Interesting. I've always hated being in anything other than a clean-shaven state so I probably shave more frequently than many other people here.

When I first switched from cartridge to DE I felt that I got a better result if I stretched the time between shaves - sometimes this would happen if I'd done over-nighter on a hill walk for example. More recently I've made changes to my shaving pattern and technique and now the less I have to mow down, the better the experience and post-shave comfort. I think right now the optimal balance for me is every 24 hrs, but some days I'll do an extra top-up shave if I feel I need it.

Would you mind sharing the changes you've made? I'd love to shave more frequently than I do.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I tend to get a better shave after a few days too, but I think there's a reason for it...

After just 24 hours, there's only a small amount of hair protruding. That's not a lot of surface are to soak up moisture from the prep. What moisture it does soak up, is dispersed to some extent through the rest of the hair below the surface. Nett result - prep doesn't work so well

After 72 hours, more hair, more surface area, more water absorbed. Nett result - better prep for the same effort.

So if you normally shave every few days, and have to shave sooner than normal for a special event or something, do more prep! However, there can be a bit of a downside too. Skin absorbs water too. Skin plumps up, you shave, skin drops to normal hydration levels a few hours later, and the shave suddenly isn't as close as you thought it was.

That's my findings anyway

 

[Demolition]

I shave everyday, so I have to say one day's growth.

But, I will say that the most satisfying shave that I may have ever had was when I shaved off 26 days growth that had accumulated after I suffered an injury that prevented me from lifting my arms above chest-high.

Getting all that hair off of my face was heavenly!

 

[samhain666]

For me is 2-3 days, but I can get by easily with 4 or even 5 too, just have to remember to do 2 WTG passes insted of pushing the razor down.

I can't get away with everyday shaving BUT haven't tried in years so maybe things are different now.

Skin plumps up, you shave, skin drops to normal hydration levels a few hours later, and the shave suddenly isn't as close as you thought it was.

I believe after few hours you have growth not "less plump" skin

 

[comis]

I tend to get a better shave after a few days too, but I think there's a reason for it...

After just 24 hours, there's only a small amount of hair protruding. That's not a lot of surface are to soak up moisture from the prep. What moisture it does soak up, is dispersed to some extent through the rest of the hair below the surface. Nett result - prep doesn't work so well

After 72 hours, more hair, more surface area, more water absorbed. Nett result - better prep for the same effort.

So if you normally shave every few days, and have to shave sooner than normal for a special event or something, do more prep! However, there can be a bit of a downside too. Skin absorbs water too. Skin plumps up, you shave, skin drops to normal hydration levels a few hours later, and the shave suddenly isn't as close as you thought it was.

That's my findings anyway

That's an interesting theory, I do not know enough about facial hair to comment, but would you think how much water facial hair absorb is a 'linear' relationship to its length?(so longer hair will only increase absorption 'proportionally' to it length, but not more)

I am also curious how soon to shave again is more related to skin type(sensitive vs tough) or hair length...what do you all think?

 

[AshleyQ]

Sensitive skin and I don’t mind stubble.

4 to 6 days


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