Teach yourself to shave

[GaryTha]

Look before you leap; he who hesitates is lost.
Birds of a feather...; opposites attract.
Add more water; use less water.
Cream is better; soap is better.
Canned foam sucks; canned foam is great.
Bowl lather; face lather.
Use hot water; use cold water.
Williams is best; Arko is best.

It seems that for every opinion on the forum, another shaver has an equally strong opposite opinion.

Recently, I started riding about half of the top cap on my Van der Hagen razor after months of trying to keep the top cap and safety bar on my face. The results were astounding. My shave was closer, and the whiskers in my sink were noticeably longer.

The moral: Don't be afraid to test the opposite of what you think will work. Advice gets the shaver in the ballpark. It is up to them to experiment to discover what's best.

ykmv

 

[THall]

You read a lot of comments from people having issues with razors. Many times I read them and scratch my head because some of those razors are my best. Angle is everything, prep is also very important. Some people coming from carts tend to press instead of using the weight of the razor.

If you have good technique, the mildest razors will give you a great shave just like an aggressive one. The trick is to use a very sharp blade, great for daily shaving.

I used to get bad shaves from my Timeless 95 OC until I went to a neutral angle. A lot of razors are different with regard to angle and that sweet spot.

 

[Chandu]

Skin, water, blade, razor, technique, whiskers... everything plays a part. We all have different skin, whiskers and technique.

To use a soap as an example. Say we all use Arko, that is the only thing that is the same, skin, whiskers, water and technique will vary for sure, even some of us use the same razor and blade. So it's easy to see on one hand it looks like we're just testing a soap. We are except in the grand experiment we're lacking any real controls so we get results all over the place. On top of that some like santa lather, some like runny slick, some like a scent, some don't.

 

[naughtilus]

I had the exact same epiphany during FFFMM 2019 while trying to improve my technique with the Fatip Grande. What used to be a quirky, unpredictable and aggressive razor became a well trained kitten. With neutral towards shallow angle I shave with it like I did with carts - carelessly and with tons of pressure. No nicks, weepers and irritation yet super close shaves DAILY.