This morning I did a quick DE travel shave away from home. It was a terrifying experience. Handling the flimsy little double-sided feather blade, not seeing the edge while shaving, trying to guess at the blade angle, not being able to stretch the skin properly, and the constant ever present fear of irritation. The result was pretty good but not quite as comfortable as I’m used to. Today I learned that I’m far more comfortable with a straight razor.
What Did You Learn From Your SR Shave Today?
- Thread starter rbscebu
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A three pass shave is possible. I did that tonight. Pretty much BBS. After all was said and done, I felt around my face and neck for poorly shaved or missed spots. Cheeks, just as smooth as had I used a safety razor for a BBS shave.
The neck surprised me. For the majority of it, right to left is against the grain. On the left side, I kept trying, but I just couldn't seem to find a way to hold the razor. I ended up holding it diagonally and moving it right to left as best I could, but it was still a downward motion. Turns out it worked! Very smooth. That's usually a rough patch to get smooth.
On my right side there is a patch where ATG goes left to right. That wasn't too difficult as it's just at and under the jawline, and I could stretch the skin up high enough to get that.
Going south to north on the neck is OK, but nerve wracking on the face. Because I did an XTG pass on the whole face, I went ahead and did the fool's pass. Again, as with my first try, it was slow going with very small strokes but not as bad having done the XTG pass this time.
There are two spots that are not BBS. The corners of my mouth need a better south to north ATG pass, and the throat at the Adam's apple and just above needs a better right to left ATG pass. Both are areas that are hard to do a good ATG pass with a SR, especially trying to move right to left across the Adam's apple.
Overall, it's really smooth. It's definitely the smoothest I've done with a SR, but I would hope so with three passes. With those two exceptions mentioned above (and they are very minor), this shave is as smooth as I can get with a DE safety razor. There is a little bit of skin irritation, but not too bad. I tried to remember to handle the razor very lightly since I was doing three passes. I used aftershave gel, and as I type this up, the irritation is disappearing.
I wasn't going along as easily or as quickly as Chimensch in his 30 year SR shaving anniversary video. There were a couple spots where the razor felt a bit "tuggy," and I had stropped it with the chromium oxide. Yes, I know, balsa.... I'm not ready to spend more money, yet. There's one visible pink line where I went in at too steep an angle. That will probably fade away by morning.
I'm pleased with it. No cuts. A little more experience.
The neck surprised me. For the majority of it, right to left is against the grain. On the left side, I kept trying, but I just couldn't seem to find a way to hold the razor. I ended up holding it diagonally and moving it right to left as best I could, but it was still a downward motion. Turns out it worked! Very smooth. That's usually a rough patch to get smooth.
On my right side there is a patch where ATG goes left to right. That wasn't too difficult as it's just at and under the jawline, and I could stretch the skin up high enough to get that.
Going south to north on the neck is OK, but nerve wracking on the face. Because I did an XTG pass on the whole face, I went ahead and did the fool's pass. Again, as with my first try, it was slow going with very small strokes but not as bad having done the XTG pass this time.
There are two spots that are not BBS. The corners of my mouth need a better south to north ATG pass, and the throat at the Adam's apple and just above needs a better right to left ATG pass. Both are areas that are hard to do a good ATG pass with a SR, especially trying to move right to left across the Adam's apple.
Overall, it's really smooth. It's definitely the smoothest I've done with a SR, but I would hope so with three passes. With those two exceptions mentioned above (and they are very minor), this shave is as smooth as I can get with a DE safety razor. There is a little bit of skin irritation, but not too bad. I tried to remember to handle the razor very lightly since I was doing three passes. I used aftershave gel, and as I type this up, the irritation is disappearing.
I wasn't going along as easily or as quickly as Chimensch in his 30 year SR shaving anniversary video. There were a couple spots where the razor felt a bit "tuggy," and I had stropped it with the chromium oxide. Yes, I know, balsa.... I'm not ready to spend more money, yet. There's one visible pink line where I went in at too steep an angle. That will probably fade away by morning.
I'm pleased with it. No cuts. A little more experience.
- Thread starter
- #503
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
Shaving ATG, particularly a fool's pass and south to north at the corners of the mouth, requires an extremely well developed edge. This is where diamond pasted balsa stopping comes into its own.
I know everyone's facial skin is different but I can do multiple passes (so far the maximum for me is six) without any skin irritation. This requires an almost Feather sharp edge and pressure lighter than you ever thought possible.
honing with a couple beers in is completely doable and in fact enjoyable.
could stay in bevel set land with Uber focus.
we talk of zen shaving.............there is a also zen honing me thinks.
beatiful edge on the Thiers-Issard. clipping belly/chest hair with authority!!!!
camo
could stay in bevel set land with Uber focus.
we talk of zen shaving.............there is a also zen honing me thinks.
beatiful edge on the Thiers-Issard. clipping belly/chest hair with authority!!!!
camo
I did ATG only on my chin, soul patch and mustache zones.
I realized that my cheeks can be rather sensitive and prone
to razor burn when going ATG. A bit counter-intuitive but it
worked out well...
I realized that my cheeks can be rather sensitive and prone
to razor burn when going ATG. A bit counter-intuitive but it
worked out well...
The next morning after the 3 pass SR shave. Face was a bit tender. In the shower, I use a washcloth, and a gentle hand was preferable to scrubbing. I need to use an even lighter touch than I did. That's something I still need to practice.
I used it after the shave and today when getting ready.
Using the lef hand to go from the right ear towards the nose is very tough. Just can't get that grip and sense of direction, total loss of orientation. The most challenging move. It's equally challenging with my dominant right hand from left ear towards the nose and down. Have to keep working at it.
It took me a long time to get the muscle memory, angle & pressure just right. But I persisted and one day it just clicked and it is now one of my favourite parts of the shave!
I've got this GD 66. I blunted it's edge worse than a butter knife. In some freer time k take it to my face for practicing some moves. Guess I'll reach there eventually.
I did something very similar with a blunted edge to help build up the muscle memory. Also, when I painted on my lather I used my left hand to brush from ear to nose on the apposing cheek, again this reinforced the action. As I said it wasn't until after about 50 shaves that I felt comfortable with this pass. Slowly, slowly...
I have learned that whenever I am using Feather AC DX with Feather Super Pro blade, the lather has to be top class. When I tried to shave with lather made from a shaving cream ( given to me by a friend for testing), the results were very bad on the first WTG pass. There was very less glide and cushion. I just discarded that whole lather and made a new lather with my Tabac soap and the next XTG and ATG passes posed no problems and I still had a wonderful shave. DFS everywhere and BBS on cheeks. Otherwise, I get BBS on my full face including my neck.
So no more testing of any new shaving cream or soap when I am using Feather DX
So no more testing of any new shaving cream or soap when I am using Feather DX
It‘s nice to come back to a SR after a few days with a DE to dip my toe in Shark Week. The DE shaves were ok. I do it every so often and it’s always a pleasure returning to SR’s.
I'm beginning to realise that the conventional WTG/XTG/ATG three pass shave routine is not as effective as just shaving all the stubble areas of my face that are against the direction of growth. It's less timing consuming, and liberating for SR shaving, and I feel I'm tackling the shaving process head on.
'Rules are meant to be broken. Rules are for the protection of fools, and to give guidance to the wise' -Lord Kitchener
'Rules are meant to be broken. Rules are for the protection of fools, and to give guidance to the wise' -Lord Kitchener
- Thread starter
- #516
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
I DE shave about probably once a month and have found that SR shaving has noticeably improved my DE shaving technique. DE shaving is not as enjoyable as SR shaving but it is a skill to keep handy.
Agreed.
If you start a stroke and realize that your skin isn’t stretched taut enough, DON‘T stretch the skin further while the razor is still in contact with your face!
Agree. In particular the very hardest stroke for me is the left hand going down the edge of jaw from below the right ear to the chin. I can do it, but I still often have 2-3 false starts where I realize that the blade angle isn’t correct. I find this much harder than doing the opposite side with my dominant hand.
I cleaned up and honed a Wostenholm Pipe 5/8 razor. The third fleabay rescue razor I honed. 4-8-12k progression.
Three days growth, Tabac soap. This was sharper and smoother than my first two hones.
Amazing shave. Either the steel or my honing - something really pushed the shave up a notch or two !
Three days growth, Tabac soap. This was sharper and smoother than my first two hones.
Amazing shave. Either the steel or my honing - something really pushed the shave up a notch or two !
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