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Steep Angle Shavers Alliance

I guess I'm a member of the club, too!

I've been DE shaving for over a decade with a Merkur 34C, using the "factory recommended" 45-degree angle without even experimenting with it. I just followed the angle suggested by the cap and bar together.

However, as I've gotten old, my skin isn't as taut as it used to be, and yet my beard hair is thicker and coarser. I wasn't getting great shaves anymore (and my face won't put up with three-pass shaves), so I decided to splurge on a Muehle R41. All I did was follow the included instructions to use a really steep angle (handle about 30 degrees), and the shaves are great with a mild blade. It's pretty tough sledding with a sharper blade like an Astra SP, to be sure.

I didn't even know people were trying to mow their faces with the bar not even touching the face! The bar is the entire point of a safety razor.

I tried a shallow angle recently after reading up a bit on it, and what I found is that it was tough to tell when the blade was actually shaving my face. It's awkward. The result was a very poor and inconsistent cut. Maybe if I practiced a lot? At that point, though it'd make more sense to just go to a straight razor.

The beauty of a steep angle, even with an aggressive razor like the R41, is that the razor does the work for you, allowing you to get a great shave very quickly. I have about 10-15 minutes most mornings to take care of this, so it just needs to work. If I want shaving as a weekend hobby, I'll get my great-grandfather's straight razor restored and have fun with that. Safety razors are a tool for me.
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
SOTD:
Razor: Blackbird Ti CC
Blade: Perma-Sharp (5)
Pre-Shave: Proraso Green
Soap: De Vergulde Hand Original
Brush: Omega Evo 2.0
Aftershave: Reuzel Wood and Spice
047_01_23 conv.JPG

This was my fifth shave with my Blackbird Ti CC. @Cal Shaved steep with his Blackbird straight off. I experimented. First, I shaved with it using the natural design of the head without skin stretching. Then, I utilized skin stretching and keeping to the natural design. All of these shaves were at an unnatural shallow angle for me, as the committed founder of SASA, Steep Angle Shavers Alliance. For this shave, I went steep with the Blackbird. The Blackland Blackbird is steep-angle shaving approved. That is all.

Cheers
Rave
 
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For me the biggest benefit of shaving with the handle closer to the face is simply that it's easier to maintain the angle when shaving the contoured areas of my face (especially the chin). Conversely any razor that requires the handle to be further away from the face tends to give me a rough shave around the chin and increases the chances of irritation (or worse).
 
Distinguished, accomplished gentlemen, I bow before your refulgent glory.

I have discovered the nirvana of steep angle shaving! Allow me to divulge. I've been DE wet shaving for about 2 years, and had gotten really into it for the past year. Soaps, creams, razors, blades, I had countless examples of them all. Yet, I would usually get some weepers on my face no matter what I did. The Karve Overlander was the closest I could get to a nick-free shave, but even it would bite me from time to time. Then, for whatever reason, I decided to try shaving as steep as I possibly could–I started with the razor parallel to my cheek, handle pointing towards the ground, then angled the handle upwards until I found a bite-point. Once I found it, I kept going about 5 degrees, then went to town. I had the best shave of my life. I tried another razor, the Stainless Steel Apex (which is pretty aggressive), and it also gave me a close, nick-free shave, for the first time. I noticed that the worst that would happen is that the safety bar would prevent the blade from cutting, so I would get the stubble on the next pass, but every shave (I've done this about 4 times!) has been far better than any of my neutral/shallow angled shaves of the past. its the single biggest improvement to my shaves I've ever noticed; bigger than soap, razor, or blade changes.


Please accept me into your illustrious company!
 
Distinguished, accomplished gentlemen, I bow before your refulgent glory.

I have discovered the nirvana of steep angle shaving! Allow me to divulge. I've been DE wet shaving for about 2 years, and had gotten really into it for the past year. Soaps, creams, razors, blades, I had countless examples of them all. Yet, I would usually get some weepers on my face no matter what I did. The Karve Overlander was the closest I could get to a nick-free shave, but even it would bite me from time to time. Then, for whatever reason, I decided to try shaving as steep as I possibly could–I started with the razor parallel to my cheek, handle pointing towards the ground, then angled the handle upwards until I found a bite-point. Once I found it, I kept going about 5 degrees, then went to town. I had the best shave of my life. I tried another razor, the Stainless Steel Apex (which is pretty aggressive), and it also gave me a close, nick-free shave, for the first time. I noticed that the worst that would happen is that the safety bar would prevent the blade from cutting, so I would get the stubble on the next pass, but every shave (I've done this about 4 times!) has been far better than any of my neutral/shallow angled shaves of the past. its the single biggest improvement to my shaves I've ever noticed; bigger than soap, razor, or blade changes.


Please accept me into your illustrious company!

Welcome!
 
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