After more than 4 years here at B&B, and over 5 wet shaving, I would like to think that I'm pretty well settled on my shave technique, equipment and most things associated with wet shaving. Notice I said I'd like to think I was set. Since I only shave every 4 days or so my shave routine has been pretty well set. My technique with straights results in DFS and sometimes BBS, and the way I would do my shave consisted of doing the first pass with my DE, and the second with my straight. I did my shave that way because it just gave my a very nice shave, and I avoided the pulling on the straight due to my beard being longer. This was my shave routine for the past couple of years. A couple of shaves ago I decided to do a complete shave using only my straight. My straight rotation consists of only disposable blade straights and starts with Parker straights, and goes up to the top of the line Feather's and Kai's. I did my usual prep, lathered up and went at it. The only difference was that I used such a light touch with my Feather AC that I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through the longer whiskers shaving like that. After doing the first pass with my DE the second with the straight was no trouble at all.
Well as we all know its never too late to learn something new, and I've found that by really going light, and with short strokes, I've found that doing both passes and any cleanup with my straight yields an even better shave than I was getting by doing the combo of DE and straight razor shaves. So it looks like my shave technique has again changed, but I'm really pleased with these new results. I have even less irritation now, and my whole outlook on just using the straight and not the DE for the first pass has made my shave style even more enjoyable. It just goes to show that you should never accept things only one way, and don't be afraid to try different things when it comes to shaving. I just completed a shave a couple of hours ago, and everything feels great, better than when I was doing my old routine. I'll not abandon my DE razors however as I do still enjoy a DE shave, but as I said don't think that there is only one way to shave, and by all means don't be afraid to try something new and different.
Well as we all know its never too late to learn something new, and I've found that by really going light, and with short strokes, I've found that doing both passes and any cleanup with my straight yields an even better shave than I was getting by doing the combo of DE and straight razor shaves. So it looks like my shave technique has again changed, but I'm really pleased with these new results. I have even less irritation now, and my whole outlook on just using the straight and not the DE for the first pass has made my shave style even more enjoyable. It just goes to show that you should never accept things only one way, and don't be afraid to try different things when it comes to shaving. I just completed a shave a couple of hours ago, and everything feels great, better than when I was doing my old routine. I'll not abandon my DE razors however as I do still enjoy a DE shave, but as I said don't think that there is only one way to shave, and by all means don't be afraid to try something new and different.
Last edited:
