trip to the barbers has me ready to dip my toes again but need some advice please

[sadexpunk]

just got into DE shaving and got a free bluebeards revenge shavette with my gear so thought 'what the hell'
2 attempts later and lets just say my face was a mess, even after watching numerous videos, all showing skilful use of the shavette. grrrr......

i then decided to stick with the safety razors and have been trialling different razors/soaps/blades/aggressiveness/balms/preshaves etc. i was happy enough with my shaves, plenty of other stuff to test out too before i settle on my perfect set up but......... a barbers has just opened in my town offering the hot towel/cut-throat shaves. curiosity got the better of me, just how good can a shave be, whats my benchmark shave going to be, so in i went.

im armed with all my info, i know about soaps, creams, different sharpness of blades, ok ive made a mess of my first two shavette attempts, time to see how the expert does it.
whats this, a plastic bowl? not up to my handmade in israel pottery bowl, and what use is that substandard derby soap? looks a cheap brush too. pah.

an hour later im leaving with a snappy new haircut and a face smoother than its ever been since i was 1 day old!! oh, and a desire to dip my toes in again. its leading to a few questions first please.

after watching online videos, and knowing how id tried to follow them, i was surprised at how my shave went. no hot towel to start with, just a bowl of hot water, he dips his fingers in and gently rubs water into my chin. that was it. then lathered up from his soap bowl and again gently wiped the lather on my face. no angry swirling, figure of eights, nothing like that, just gentle swirls. next was the first pass. tiny scratching movements WTG. whereas id been trying to just do longer slower movements, his was faster 'buffing' type moves. he left a lather goatee and said hed need a hot towel now. wrapped the towel round my head for 30 secs or so and removed it. the lather had now gone but he proceeded to do my chin now.
the amazing thing was, there was no re-lathering. he then went over it all again by stretching skin to feel for growth direction, and just kept going scratchy scratchy, ooh dip fingers in water just to wet that little area again, back to it, pull the skin, scratch scratch scratch.
i thought hed finished but he then did another hot towel and started feeling for grain again and just kept going over and over, tiny movements, scratch scratch scratch. finished off with a bit of aftershave and lemon scent spray.

so......i have to ask you, is this normal? i was sure id need lather for each pass, wherever that blade was going but no, just a few drops of water. the shaves great tho, BBS and no irritation.

so before i have another go with the shavette ive been reading up on here again getting more info. any of you shave like that? or would it have been even better with more lather?
also, im pleased to have read one of the main problems with newbies is arm position, and not being able to see properly, also how to hold it when you do different passes WTG, ATG etc. are there any decent videos that deal with this as the videos ive watched nobody seems to struggle.

thanks a lot, im hoping to eventually get so good at this that i shave this way all the time, but i just need more practice and advice.

 

[SpikedLemon]

The short "scratchy-scratchy" strokes is normal for a shavette. The lack of lather & prep is not - but he has significantly more experience than I would ever have. I have only one beard to shave while he will have many every day to shave.

I face lather my soap: if he had already a "lather" then he wouldn't need to scrub it in.
I do (and did this morning) a "water only" pass. But it's not for my first pass but, rather, my last. After my 2nd (or 3rd) pass: I'll splash my face with water and have a light pass WTG. You need to have a very light touch as you have little-to-no cushion but, remember, water will act as a lubricant for shaving.


I think, back to the basics of using a shavette, a light touch is absolutely key. If you half-*** all other advice: this one is important. It took me a month straight (no cheating) to be both presentable at work and to stop cutting myself with a shavette.

 

[sadexpunk]

thanks. can i just ask why, after 2 or 3 passes, you do an extra WTG pass? surely theres nothing to take off on that pass? and why would you use water (even tho it may lubricate slightly) if you can just stick a blob of lather on to make it even better? curious

thanks a lot

 

[SpikedLemon]

The best explanation is that shaving with a straight is about beard reduction. Each pass will get you closer. Your first WTG pass' objective is not to bring it right down.

But an extra WTG pass gets missed hairs or spots that aren't as close as you thought they were. Water is a very thin shave lubricant, while it has near-no cushion, I find I can get a closer pass. I'm sure results will vary by tool & individual: I never bother with a water pass when using a DE (though I'm sure it would work). I have also a thick, coarse and quick growing beard which is good for getting shaving practice in but I've got a 5 o'clock shadow at noon.