Problems late in the game.

[Fletch]

I've been getting more and more straight shaves in recently and have found that in the early stages I'm getting a fair amount of skill. I'm not as timid on my approaches, the angle is feeling more and more natural, and I'm slicing whiskers off like a skilled samurai. This is all in the beginning phases mind you.

Naturally as my skill has been improving I've been getting more brazen and going for closer and closer shaves. Without tooting my own horn too much I've been getting some DFS with more and more spots becoming the poster child for BBS.

However on those "gotta hear no hair cut" passes on my 3rd pass and touch up spots I'm turning spots (primarily chin and lip area) into a virtual minefield of weepers. Am I pushing my limits too far too fast? Should I settle for 2 really nice passes and call it a day? If so at what point do I know when to go for that smooth as glass feel? Or should I just not worry and strive for perfection regardless of how many pints of blood it costs? Also any idea (if this is common) what the culprit is? Like using too much pressure as a for example.

 

[Drybonz]

I had the same exact problem at first. I think maybe I was also trying to "push" my shaves too far... I was using sloppy and unorthodox strokes to try to get those remaining areas touched up.

I am getting better results now by simply improving my stropping and getting more refined strokes in the beginning of my shave. It really does make the touch up a lot easier, and I expect as I practice more there will not be much touch up to do at all.

I'm not far into my straight shave experience, but that is the best advice I can offer you. Good luck!

 

[Gustav]

I think we all go through this at some point or other: you make tremendous progress and expect that it will continue in the same vein and to make sure it does you push yourself to do awkward moves and add more pressure resulting in a lot of unnecessary cuts without anything really being gained. The trick is to relax, take a step back and look at what you have achieved thus far. Then analyse which spots you are still having trouble with and think of one way per future shave you could tackle that problem, try it out and then reanalyse. If you try all your ideas at once you will never be able to remember what was efficient and what was not.

Foremost of all, take it easy, it is not a race. The main thing is that you enjoy your shave and you will not do that with loads of weepers.

 

[LarryAndro]

In all likelihood, you are advancing your passes too fast. Shave WTG and shave WTG again and again - if necessary, to get it perfectly BBS when feeling your face with your hand in the WTG direction.

When you advance, you don't have to advance 90 degrees! After WTG, every subsequent pass should be advanced such that the blade bounces over the whiskers like a rock skipping across water when thrown, nipping off whiskers.

If you advance too far, the blade digs into the whiskers, rides down on the whiskers, then cuts. But, in riding down it cuts off too much protective skin. And, you have weepers!

Being ridiculous to make a point...

Shave WTG, WTG+10 degrees, +20 degrees, etc, until you have shaved ATG. While I am not recommending this literally, it makes the point well I think. Try advancing conservatively and I bet the weepers lessen, and maybe even disappear.

 

[Kees]

Upper lip and chin are notorious. Someone told me that the hairs on the upper lip are the toughest ones on the face.

I have the same trouble with my upper lip. Take it easy. Use A/S balm instead of alcohol based A/S. When I have a cold I apply A/S balm not only in the morning after shaveing but also before I go to bed.

BBS with a lot of irritation is IMHO a worse result than a slightly less smooth but without irritation. If I have an area with a lot of irritation I sometimes skip the ATG pass in that particular area.

 

[volleykinginnc]

if you aren't bleeding you're not shaving close enough.

 

[Munxcub]

if you aren't bleeding you're not shaving close enough.

Is that like saying if you don't puke after your workout you're slacking off?

 

[Brownbear]

I followed Larry's advice this morning and did a simple three pass shave, with increasing angle on my oblique sliding. Larry speaks with great wisdom. Result was a degree less than BBS but very good and very non irritating. I'd been pushing it a bit hard in some trouble spots and the harder I tried the more irritating it was. Backing off was the ticket........

 

[SmallyetDeadly]

Ok I'm getting about 2 months into this caper now myself...

I have been fortunate with not many cuts or weepers to speak of on my journey although I was quite prepared for the first several weeks to put down the straight whan it wasn't "happening" and finish with my cartridge. I have gotten to the stage now where I can get a CCS with just my straight although BBS feels like it's a way off yet.

I have learned a couple of things...

Multiple WTG pass with correct angle and pressure yields a closer shave than XTG/ATG passes with incorrect pressure and angle.

It's very easy to use more pressure than you need without realising it. Especially when you start thinking about "cutting" the whiskers. The right pressure is like a butterfly landing on my face.

The chin and upper lip are the hardest areas to shave. Accepting this has let me get better in this area and less frustrated on the shaves where it doesn't come together.

The learning curve for the straight seems to be like most learning curves to me. A rapid improvement as your general motor skill and technique locks in. I'd say I'm 80% of the way there after 8 weeks or so. The other 20% is going to be a gradual improvement, tweaks to what works, experimenting with some different products, the introduction of a new stroke here and there.

Also consider trying a heavier grind. I have found them more forgiving of noob technique. The full hollow has always felt more likely to bite me (weepers) than a less hollow razor.

HTH

 

[Munxcub]

I can't find the graphic I'm thinking of, it was from a book I read a long time ago. It had a learning curve in it that showed how you make a breakthrough, your improvement shoots up, then you sort of back pedal a little as you settle into your new status... then boom, another breakthrough and you shoot up the progress chart again, and stabilize and back off... and on and on.

 

[Fletch]

Well I'm happy to report (and with the help of advice here) I had, what I consider, a fantastic shave today. I did 2 WTG passes , the proceeded to to a combo XTG/ATG pass on various areas of my face. It's still not BBS although it is going WTG I would say it's comparable to what I got when I first started DE shaving. Probably something like a cart shave, looks fine but can feel areas that aren't BBS. Most importantly NO WEEPERS!! In fact I could've probably done the whole shave without drawing a drop but I got cocky on my upper lip and tried to make a bit of a scything stroke and sliced myself a bit. Nothing major that a styptic couldn't handle.

All in all probably one of my best shaves to date with a straight, and it's definitely given me more incentive to continue with a straight.

 

[Drybonz]

All in all probably one of my best shaves to date with a straight, and it's definitely given me more incentive to continue with a straight.

Awesome... good job man. I find it to be a really satisfying experience when I get a good straight shave.

 

[Munxcub]

Way to go! My first few I only did WTG passes, would do like 4 or 6 because they didn't hurt, caused no irritation and kept taking little bits of stubble. When I didn't hear/feel anything I called it a day. Then started replacing the last ones with XTG and so on...

Don't rush into anything fancier until you max out the beard reduction with what you've got. heh

 

[Fletch]

Thanks for the input I found I'm getting more comfortable in the chin area which is a big plus. I realized I have had a similar fear what I had with DE shaving when I first started. It's basically making that curve around my chin and it requires a certain "rolling" of the blade to keep with the contour of the face. I guess as a self preservation technique I have a hard time rolling sharp objects over rounded parts of my face.

 

[Munxcub]

I sort of roll my chin around the blade, if that makes sense. A combination of blade roll and chin sort of underbiting/jutting out and up... if that makes sense.

May not be right but feels right to me. heh