Why is there a wide difference in shaving experiences

[Rook Champ]

So my sixth shave, two passes at went great. But the two before were awful.

The last one resulted in a cut that took a bit of time and several tissues you stem. The time before that I set my face on fire with the aftershave.

The thing is, as far as I can tell I'm doing the exact same thing each time.

So here is my routine from start to finish.

I run the water until it gets hot and then I stop the sink.

I tighten. The razor head until just after it gives resistance. And a soak the razor in the warm water while I lather my face with shave cream (right now it is Every Man Jack). I rinse off my hands and dry them and take out the razor and shake the razor dry.

Keeping the head at as close to a 30° angle as I can without welding a protractor, I guide the razor down letting the weight of the teacher "do the work".

If I do a second pass, I go against the grain.

So today's shave were like the first three. For the first three shaves I used the King C. Gillette blades that came with the razor.

I switched to a Voskhod. Next up is a Darby blade.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

So my sixth shave, two passes at went great. But the two before were awful.

The last one resulted in a cut that took a bit of time and several tissues you stem. The time before that I set my face on fire with the aftershave.

The thing is, as far as I can tell I'm doing the exact same thing each time.

So here is my routine from start to finish.

I run the water until it gets hot and then I stop the sink.

I tighten. The razor head until just after it gives resistance. And a soak the razor in the warm water while I lather my face with shave cream (right now it is Every Man Jack). I rinse off my hands and dry them and take out the razor and shake the razor dry.

Keeping the head at as close to a 30° angle as I can without welding a protractor, I guide the razor down letting the weight of the teacher "do the work".

If I do a second pass, I go against the grain.

So today's shave were like the first three. For the first three shaves I used the King C. Gillette blades that came with the razor.

I switched to a Voskhod. Next up is a Darby blade.

Welcome to B&B.

First, it takes time to consistently reproduce your technique. You think you are doing the same thing every time, but you aren’t. Your routine is not routine until you train your muscles to reproduce the same angle, speed and stroke. The two biggest habits that you have to break are keeping the wrist locked so the blade angle doesn’t change & letting the weight of the razor do the work. You don’t need to add more pressure. The cartridge razor has trained you through thousands of shaves. You now have to unlearn those bad habits. Its not unlike riding a bike. Its second nature to you now, but your first ride was painful and you likely though you would never master it.

Two tools that B&B provides.

The Shave Wiki:

Main Page

...

www.badgerandblade.com

The Journal/Diary

Journals and Diaries

A place to document your shaving progress.

www.badgerandblade.com

I encourage you to use the Wiki and to record your shaves in the Journal.

 

[McBlade]

Don't even think about an ATG (against the grain) pass. Stick to WTG (with the grain), and maybe XTG (across the grain).

An ATG pass can very easily go wrong. The blade can easily get caught and dig in. I hardly ever bother myself but when I do I'll use a shallower angle so the blade is only just biting and no more. Also a very light touch.

Skin-stretching can help to avoid inflicting damage. Straight razor shavers do this a lot.

 

[Atlantic59]

Eric is right. Right now, you are treating shaving like a visual process, keeping the 30 degrees and so on. But, shaving is actually more about the senses of touch and proprioception. It's somewhat like learning to walk, or doing sports, or playing a musical instrument. You train your body and eventually you can do it without thinking consciously about what you are doing.

 

[Geordon]

Yup, what the other guys have said. Even though you think you're doing everything the same, there is a 98% chance that your body isn't doing what you think it is. The multiple blade monstrosities that are on the market these days teach a lot of bad habits. By design, they cover over a lot of mistakes and poor form, while a single blade razor leaves no room for error.

I would also second the recommendation to skip shaving against the grain. Go with the grain and across the grain and maybe across the grain the other way, but definitely relax your arm. Your face isn't a table regardless of how tight you stretch your skin. In fact, the idea of stretching the skin is more to get the hairs to stand up, rather than provide a solid plane to scrape your razor blade over.

The best way to get a reliable shave is to start with one setup and sticking with it. That includes using the same brand of blades for a while until you have that one dialed in, before you switch it up.

Good luck!

 

[ajkel64]

You could start a Journal or Diary in the Journal and Diary Forum. That way you can keep tabs on your progress for as long as you like. It takes time to get it right, but when you do it is a wonderful feeling. You will get there, it just takes time and patience.

 

[aldomarino]

One interesting hobby is disc golfing.

With that, you can read the directions on how to throw a disc, watch the videos hundreds to times, spend hours and hours practicing your strokes, and still not do everything right and get an errant toss.

 

[Ivo4u2]

You already mention varying the blades which can make a big difference.

If you start shaving de keep it to one razor, blade, soap. I would keep it to the Gillette blades since most of them are most likely middle of the road in sharpness.
Start with just wtg maybe xtg skip atg until you feel comfy.

Do a super prep, start with either a shower or a hot towel soak for your beard. For me it pays to use a night cream the night before.

Even building a lather takes some experience. When I started it was with canned gooo, that upgraded too palmolive in a tube and now I like hard soap and bowl lathering. And every adjustment took its time.
A different blade can still f me up by surprise

So be patience

 

[gwsmallwood]

I agree with everyone else.

• Give it a solid 3-4 weeks and things will start to click more.
• Stay away from ATG passes until then, and go carefully with XTG
• Pick up a blade sampler. TryABlade has a Top 10 Sampler that's a great one. Try each blade for 2 shaves, then pick the one that felt the best and buy enough of them for the next 30-60 days.

 

[BigJ]

You are doing great!

’Traditional wet shaving‘ is a skill set that takes time and practice to perfect. You cannot expect perfection right out of the box. Stick with this and you will get the results you want!!

 

[musicman1951]

You know, I swing the golf club the same every time, but I can't seem to convince the ball of that fact.

All the comments are on the money. It's not golf, but it does take some time to perfect your technique. It's almost always razor angle and/or too much pressure at the beginning.

You're doing fine, hang in there.

 

[hairless wonder]

One other thing you might want to consider is the exact same blade might have different degrees of sharpness between two different shaves. (See, Razor Blade Sharpness Summary with Comparison Chart - https://www.refinedshave.com/razor-blade-sharpness-summary/)

That said, more likely than not, if you're new to DE shaving, it's likely that your technique is such that you aren't exactly replicating the same shaves each time. Don't worry, you'll get better with practice. A couple key things to remember is (1) to take your time and (2) let the razor's weight do the work.

 

[JCarr]

I copied this reply from another thread in which I posted:

Two things that I think would give you better results right away would be to map the hair growth and to do some pre-shave prep. Always remember to lather up, even when doing cleanup type passes. The lather is your protection and will help to shield you from weepers, nicks, cuts and irritation.

As far as mapping goes...I've always found that being regimented in my shave yields better results. What I mean by that is this...when you shave, never allow it to be a chaotic "today I will start this way, but yesterday I started that way and tomorrow I'll try it yet another way, etc." Follow a set pattern such as: 1st pass WTG down, 2nd pass, ATG up, 3rd pass XTG in to out, 4th and final pass XTG out to in...then cleanup (for me usually involves some feeling with soapy fingers and some diagonal patterns). Doing this always helps me to achieve better results. This might sound confusing or overly burdensome, but over time, it actually becomes relaxing and second nature. And to reemphasize, every pass involves lathering up again.

Best of luck to you as you continue to search for your groove.

Happy Shaves!

 

[Cracker]

I also would recommend to build a solid feeling and "muscle memory" through WTG passes first, and only then move on.

No shave is the same, there are too many variables. That's why it is said wisely to never chase BBS, BBS will find you.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

1. Run warm water.
2. Fill your shaving cup with warm water and let the brush soak.
3. Wet a washrag with water not quite as hot as you can stand it and hold it on your face for at least a minute.
4. Splash warm water on your face and let it sit while you empty the shaving cup of water and make your lather.
5. Dry your face and apply some pre-shave oil.
6. Lather
7. Shave
8. Wash-up and dry your face.
9. Apply aftershave
10. Clean up

Consistency takes time.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

I agree with everyone else.

• Give it a solid 3-4 weeks and things will start to click more.
• Stay away from ATG passes until then, and go carefully with XTG
• Pick up a blade sampler. TryABlade has a Top 10 Sampler that's a great one. Try each blade for 2 shaves, then pick the one that felt the best and buy enough of them for the next 30-60 days.

Fixed:

• Give it a solid 6-8 weeks and things will start to click more.
• Stay away from ATG and XTG passes for 4 weeks, then go carefully with XTG for 2 more before you try ATG
• Pick up a blade sampler. TryABlade has a Top 10 Sampler that's a great one. Try each blade for 2 shaves, then pick the one that felt the best and buy enough of them for the next 30-60 years.