no-ATG

My point was, that evening shaves are inferior to morning shaves, as you sleep through the window of time, when there is the least amount of stubble.

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My point was, that evening shaves are inferior to morning shaves, as you sleep through the window of time, when there is the least amount of stubble.

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In terms of closeness through the day I agree with you. I prefer to shower in the evening though so it makes sense to shave after, plus I'm so pushed for time in the mornings.
 
In terms of closeness through the day I agree with you. I prefer to shower in the evening though so it makes sense to shave after, plus I'm so pushed for time in the mornings.
Yes, me to. Have to prep to tiny people (1.5 and 3 y) for kindergarten :D

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I've mentioned my own musings on going ATG recently in the shaving help sub-forum, my last ATG attempt entailed dragging a blade (with decent prep and lather) into hairs that were growing almost flat against my cheeks. It was unpleasant, it hurt, my face was sore after, I could feel the irritation and bumps and of course it all grows back soon after anyway, so it simply wasn't worth it.

Sometimes if I read a nugget of purest gold about shaving, I write it down as for me taking notes about what does and doesn't work really helps my progress. Here are a few quotes (some are from TSR) that make me not stress too much about being BBS, and convince me not to worry about going ATG if I don't want to:

"You can be super smooth for 24 hours and try and live with the consequences or less smooth and have far better skin."

"Accept that the learning curve is long and gradual. Focus on consistency and smoothness over closeness. Try to make a small improvement in every shave. Remember that 2 XTG passes in opposite directions is 95% as good as ATG with 5% the risk of irritation."

(to a chap who was saying he never got a close enough shave) "It could be that the hairs are cut and what remains is just flush with the skin and if they're particularly dark they're going to show. Going at them hard though is a surefire way of creating ingrowns. I think that one of the peculiarities of being a wet-shave enthusiast is that we end up paying a lot more attention to the finished shave then we would have before taking up this hobby. The downside of this is that any remaining hair, no matter how little, is much more of an "imperfection" in our eyes. The reality is that being able to see the roots of the hair is perfectly normal and not something that is really noticeable unless you're looking for it. Looking at your pictures I'm seeing a perfectly good shave. It's not BBS but that's because it's a grown mans neck and not an infants arse."

So, however good your shave is, the reality is that hairs will start growing out of your face again, I have to remind myself sometimes to shave today's stubble, not tomorrow's. Do what suits your skin and have a comfortable shave. I get some irritation after shaving, the level of it differs depending on how my technique & prep were, what blade I used, etc, the key for me is minimising the irritation. My skin feels good after 2 shaves without ATG passes. I'm not saying I will never shave ATG again, but I have learned that I pay the price for doing so.

Interestingly, I noticed on the box of my T&H Ultimate Comfort cream, that the instructions said "Shave with or across the grain, never against it." I'm sure they know a thing or two about shaving. I think I've seen similar advice with other products too.

On times of day for shaving, I work shifts and so alternate morning and afternoon/evening shaves. With late night shaves, I get that you lose that first few hours of smoothness, but also its nice to retire to bed feeling relaxed after a good shave. I try whenever possible to shave when I have the house to myself or when everyone else is asleep. Nothing worse than someone needing the toilet desperately when you're shaving.
 
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At some point you might have to accept that it isn't for you. As you say you have quite a few shaves under your belt so your no longer a newbie.

I shave ATG daily on my head, but I know it's impossible to shave ATG on my face. I accept it.
 
At some point you might have to accept that it isn't for you. As you say you have quite a few shaves under your belt so your no longer a newbie.

I shave ATG daily on my head, but I know it's impossible to shave ATG on my face. I accept it.

At some point you might have to accept that it isn't for you. As you say you have quite a few shaves under your belt so your no longer a newbie.

I shave ATG daily on my head, but I know it's impossible to shave ATG on my face. I accept it.

Yes, sure.
Really, the point of the OP was not to try to figure out, what is my problem. I already know it. And there is no way around it as far as I'm concerned. And I'm happy with the way things are. :)
What I wanted to find out, is what reasons do other shavers have to avoid ATG.

A s someone pointed out, 2 XTG passes are almost as good as ATG. And for daily shaving that is more than acceptable. And we should always strive for comfort before closeness, since this is a hobby, not a competition.

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I only ever do two passes, mainly because I'm lazy ;), I first shave WTG on a slight angle, so I suppose it's covering XTG too and then follow up ATG. It works for me and gets me smooth as silk.

I shave every day (or rarely miss a day, at least). I think it's a throw back from when I used to be in the Air Force and had no option to shave every day.
 
Yes, sure.
Really, the point of the OP was not to try to figure out, what is my problem. I already know it. And there is no way around it as far as I'm concerned. And I'm happy with the way things are. :)
What I wanted to find out, is what reasons do other shavers have to avoid ATG.

A s someone pointed out, 2 XTG passes are almost as good as ATG. And for daily shaving that is more than acceptable. And we should always strive for comfort before closeness, since this is a hobby, not a competition.

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Happy days; being able to get 6 comfortable shaves done each week is a great position in our hobby.

Enjoy your shaves.
 
I have never mastered ATG! Seems awkward and think my face would be cut to bits! Wtg and xtg gives a nice smooth face. Brian from Executive Shaving, now recons atg first followed by wtg. Maybe seek out his video clip on this via the website.
 
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