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Shaving a beard

Are there any tricks and tips for shaving a longer beard off?

I generally just hack at it for 30-40 minutes, and eventually it's close enough to a decent shave that I stop. It's not a great shave, or even a good shave, and the irritation reminded my of my cartridge days. The (DE) razor was constantly clogging. :cursing::death: (that's a gruesome little emoji, but I think it gets the point across)

Anyway, besides just never growing a beard, how do I avoid the miserable shave experience when it has been a couple weeks since I last shaved?
 
When I cut my beard of 12 years I had my barber do it.

He did not do shaves but he got it pretty close so that I could shave when I got home.u

If you don't want to go to your barber you can use clippers (if you have them)
 
I've never had a real beard (I'm picturing Duck Dynasty...), so I can't advise from experience. But I'm thinking if one took clippers (I'm thinking the kind my dad used on me to give me my summer "butch" haircut...about 1/4 inch or so IIRC) and took it down to essentially long stubble (like not shaving for a week), then wait a day to hit it with the lather and blade. My hypothesis is that the facial skin needs to rest a bit and get some air and sunshine before it's shaven all the way. I think the trauma of a wet-shave after hacking would just be asking for irritation.

I will, of course, defer to those who have actually done this. My advice above is purely theoretical.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
Speaking from personal experience as someone who is lazy and would routinely skip several days to several weeks between shaves....

You'll want to use beard trimmers like these to get as close to the skin as you can before you take a razor to it. I can't imagine taking off 2 weeks worth of growth with just a razor.

These are the pair I've got, they are about 40 bucks on Amazon. Made my Wahl.

$image.jpeg
 

captp

Pretty Pink Fairy Princess.
Jason got it right. I use the same brand, different model. Good for buzzing my scalp, and face when I leave it unshaven for too long.
 
I can speak from experience , yeah you want to trim it down as close as you can with Beard Trimmers , or Clippers before shaving what's left off . I've got Wahl Hair Clippers for the buzz , and Wahl Beard Trimmers . If it's big I'd get the Hair Clippers and you can use them anytime , if nothing else just trimming your neck . But it's no big deal once the bush is cut back hard to go right ahead and shave it , just get a hot shower first , or put hot towels on it for a few minutes after washing it really well to soften it up . But I had a beard way more than two weeks , I'd had that bear for years .
 
I've gone after a week plus of growth with a straight without using clippers to get it shorter first. 3 passes, BBS all said and done, no issues or irritation. I'd be willing to bet I could even let it go a few weeks more than that and still just mow it with the straight.
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
I am one that grows a beard for a few months, then shaves it off for a couple of weeks or more, then grows it again. I do this in a continuous cycle.

I typically use clippers as mentioned above to do the job. Then hit it with a DE once it's down to stubble. But that's not much fun.

so I grabbed a NEW with open comb and tried whacking a beard off that way. It worked okay!

Last time I used a Feather Artist Club to take my beard off, and it was wonderful.

For that quick and safe method, use the clippers. For a good time, grab your Feather AC!
 
Ive shaved off a 6-7 week beard a couple of times with a Kai Captain, similar to the Feather AC, same blades. Using one of those is like shearing a sheep!
 
In the 80's I grew a beard every year from Labor to Memorial day. I used to take off the bulk with scissors and the sideburn trimmer on an electric razor. The sideburn trimmer was the only thing an electric razor was good for.
 
When I shave off a full beard I normally take it down to stubble first with a beard trimmer and then shave with a DE. Now that I'm comfortable with a straight razor, I may try and just shave it off with my straight.
 
Speaking from personal experience as someone who is lazy and would routinely skip several days to several weeks between shaves....

You'll want to use beard trimmers like these to get as close to the skin as you can before you take a razor to it. I can't imagine taking off 2 weeks worth of growth with just a razor.

These are the pair I've got, they are about 40 bucks on Amazon. Made my Wahl.

View attachment 643087

This. Anything else is torture
 
Are there any tricks and tips for shaving a longer beard off?

I generally just hack at it for 30-40 minutes, and eventually it's close enough to a decent shave that I stop. It's not a great shave, or even a good shave, and the irritation reminded my of my cartridge days. The (DE) razor was constantly clogging. :cursing::death: (that's a gruesome little emoji, but I think it gets the point across)

Anyway, besides just never growing a beard, how do I avoid the miserable shave experience when it has been a couple weeks since I last shaved?


I use scissors first , then a hot towel soak, Noxzema rubbed in good then lather over top and shave it on off with a fresh new blade.
 
Straight razor will take off a beard of any length as easy as peeling a banana.


Assuming you know how to use a straight in the first place...
 
Last night I shaved off my beard, quite a long beard I've had for quite a while, with my Kobar High-Class straight razor. I've been using this razor to touch up the edges of my beard but never to shave it all off, I have to say that I'm impressed at how clean and easy it was to shave it off. I was throwing the chunks of hair in the trash can to avoid clogging the drain and I worked with only Taylor of Old Bond Street Rose Shaving Cream after a shower. I did run into the usual difficulties under my lower lip, the hardest part for me to shave, but otherwise it was a great experience. I recommend this only after you've built up some comfort shaving with a straight razor. This shave left me with a new-found respect for my straight razor.

I left behind a mustache that's making me resemble Wyatt Earp right now, but will probably trim that up and work on the sideburns next.
 
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