I had the greatest shave the last time!

Desert

Desert

Messages
351
Maybe, the best shave ever. And I don't owe it to my blade. I tried an Astra Platinum for the first time and I found it a little too harsh compared to a Derby. But, I had a great shave nonetheless. The closest one ever and with only some nicks and a little irritation which lasted for some minutes.

I really thought I'd never make it to this: realising that I make progress. Now, I do and want to share my success with you if you don't mind. o_O

I owe that to a great preparation. I took my time this time.

Massaging my face and neck with warm water for 3 minutes
Holding a wet towel on my face and neck for another 3 minutes
Adding a pre-shave cream and massaging my skin with it and then leaving it on for 10 minutes.
While in the meantime I installed my new blade and made a good lather in my bowl.

It took me 1 hour the most to finish shaving, but it was worth it. I never got a closer shave without irritating my skin only a little. I enjoyed doing it as well.

And now I realise why most people suck at it. They don't enjoy it! :p
 
Yup he is and the best part he is not aware of that:):cool:

Well by that he means "Welcome into Wet Shaving World" You caught the bug and it only gets better from here. We live in Golden age of shaving!

To help you out here is help given to me at start of my journey many moons ago.

Regarding technique -- figuring out blade angle can be a tad difficult at first. Here is what I did based on the many suggestions from others in the know many years ago.

Assuming a downward stroke (we usually refer to is as north to south -- i.e from the top of your face towards the bottom).
1. Start with the top of the razor head flat against your face, holding the razor with your elbow away from you. The razor handle is parallel to the floor, as is your forearm.
2. Thinking of the razor as an extension to your forearm, slowly, ever so slowly, let the razor handle end drop in the direction of the downward stroke while lowering your arm at the shoulder ever so slightly and while keeping your arm and razor in a single strait line.
3. As soon as you hear the little pings of the whiskers being cut, stop dropping your arm and keep that angle as you finish the stroke. If you go too far, you will feel a pull or scraping sensation on your skin.
4. Use your wrist to make micro adjustments to angle to keep the pings consistent.

Now -- use the same technique whenever you change stroke direction by tilting the razor handle in the direction of the stroke and adjusting your arm angle accordingly.

That's how I conquered blade angle.

For pressure it was much simpler for me. If I felt the blade on my face, then there was way too much pressure. Let the weight of the razor do the work of the cutting rather than placing pressure on your face. The thing I try to focus on is sensing the razor head and not the blade. This isn't particularly fool-proof, but it helped me tremendously when I moved from a cartridge to a DE razor.

I suppose what I am saying is that I find that it's all about controlling the razor rather than shaving with it like you see on those commercials advertising cartridge shaving with lightening speed. As so imminently put so many times on this forum -- it's your face not a race (thanks to Oscar for that one -- think it's my favourite tag line on SMF). Courtesy of JWW[/quote]
Click to expand...
 
eduardo wangbanjo thinks everything is ridiculous. An hour is a long time, mind, but good to take the time initially to find your groove.

Not so long back we were discussing a propaganda-style instruction sheet from some Government about how to have a 10 minute shave. I don't recall whether that was to speed things up or take a little time (the former, I think), but there was one little nugget in there which has literally revolutionised how I prepare ...

From memory, it was to wash for your face for a minute or so, taking time to massage the bristles. Apply lather and let it sit for a couple of minutes - this does the softening thing, making the cut more effective and so the post-shave growth better, more uniform and less prone to ingrowers. Refresh the lather. Now shave.

It's that couple of minutes with the lather sitting on your face before refreshing and getting on with the shave that makes the difference for me. I've tried all manner of pre-shave products, tried the hot towel thing, tried oils, tried raindancing, but in the end it's just water, shaving soap and a little time to sit which gets everything set up for a good shave.
 
An hour spent enjoying something is never wasted! I'm glad you enjoyed your shave, Desert :)

Once the angle and motions are commited to "muscle memory", you'll speed up, but what's the rush? None of us are here for a practical, no-fuss shave. I think most here would admit to looking forward to shaving, and enjoying every minute! :cool:

If the choice is between watching an hour of pointless, numbing shite on tele, or lathering up, I know what I'm chosing :p
 
Oh, wait a moment. One hour in total. + the preparation. I took a shower and then I spent half an hour moisturizing my skin well. It was around 20 minutes shaving after all that.

Now I get it. No, I wasn't holding my razor for a whole hour, no. lol I suspected that you would realise that when I emphasized about the preparation.
 
Well I'm on your side, mate. Yes, an hour in the bathroom in total is about par for the course in this house. As you quite rightly observe there's all sorts of paraphernalia, grooming, cleansing and toiletry minutiae and cleaning up afterwards to attend to. The selection of hardware, soaps and products required, pre shave preparation, changing radio stations according to programming schedules, the WC routine, shower, hair (not everyone has need for this step), all manner of sundry bodily requirements, the shave itself, after shave oils, unguents and balms and eau de toilette, wiping excess soap off the ceiling and soapy water from surrounding surfaces, wiping the razor components and blade etc, attending to the neighbour's cat that comes every day and knocks on the window seeking his usual bowl or two of grub, cleaning the bath out, tidying up towels, shamppo etc........there's no end to it.

Others can mock or ridicule all they want (and they do.... sometimes less politely)....no, you stick with it mate - I'm right there with you. :)
 
Desert said:
Oh, wait a moment. One hour in total. + the preparation. I took a shower and then I spent half an hour moisturizing my skin well. It was around 20 minutes shaving after all that.

Now I get it. No, I wasn't holding my razor for a whole hour, no. lol I suspected that you would realise that when I emphasized about the preparation.
Click to expand...
That's as may be, but if you spend an hour on the whole process and you enjoy it, you're lost to normal mankind. Luckily you found TSR. We all understand. Except eduardo, of course. :D
 
When it comes to perfecting your technique, there's no such thing as taking too long :) I had a rather zen like experience a few weeks back. I had a shavette day, put some piano music on quietly, prepared and SLOWLY shaved. It was the best shave I'd had in terms of experience. It was total dedication to the task at hand, and it enabled me to get the technique down and get a great finish :)
 
DevonStan said:
Well I'm on your side, mate. Yes, an hour in the bathroom in total is about par for the course in this house. As you quite rightly observe there's all sorts of paraphernalia, grooming, cleansing and toiletry minutiae and cleaning up afterwards to attend to. The selection of hardware, soaps and products required, pre shave preparation, changing radio stations according to programming schedules, the WC routine, shower, hair (not everyone has need for this step), all manner of sundry bodily requirements, the shave itself, after shave oils, unguents and balms and eau de toilette, wiping excess soap off the ceiling and soapy water from surrounding surfaces, wiping the razor components and blade etc, attending to the neighbour's cat that comes every day and knocks on the window seeking his usual bowl or two of grub, cleaning the bath out, tidying up towels, shamppo etc........there's no end to it.

Others can mock or ridicule all they want (and they do.... sometimes less politely)....no, you stick with it mate - I'm right there with you. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks! That means a lot to me.. :)
 
Desert, I couldn't help but smile as I read through your posts in this thread. Being fairly new to this, I went through exactly the same "epiphany" only a few weeks ago. Great, isn't it? :)

nick_s said:
When it comes to perfecting your technique, there's no such thing as taking too long :) I had a rather zen like experience a few weeks back. I had a shavette day, put some piano music on quietly, prepared and SLOWLY shaved. It was the best shave I'd had in terms of experience. It was total dedication to the task at hand, and it enabled me to get the technique down and get a great finish :)
Click to expand...

This is how I always shave since switching from cartridge to DE razors (minus the piano music :D). Deliberate, methodical and mindful, and always in the evening so there's no rush. It's so relaxing, it's become a kind of meditation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom