10-26-2021, 03:01 AM
(10-26-2021, 02:22 AM)GAW9576 Wrote:(10-25-2021, 08:35 PM)Old Sarge Wrote: I did complete three passes with a few weepers. I agree with the flat to skin methodology; however, curvy areas (my chinny chin chin) are more of a challenge. I have some really poor skin (bumpy) in the crease above my chin and below my lower lip area. It can be like walking through a minefield shaving this area.
The one shortfall of a heavily mentholated soap is that it can mask some of the irritation earned from poor technique. Don't ask me how I know this!
I keep a beard and have for years. However I shave the front and back of my neck and touch up the upper beard line on my cheeks. I get a few blemishes on my neck here and there and they can be challenging to shave around. My neck hair also comes out flat to the skin making a close shave more difficult. Ad to that not having very tough skin on my neck and I can end up with irritated skin pretty quickly. I actually find some razors that are considered aggressive to be efficient enough to not need to over work things to get a pretty close shave. To mild of a razor for me means more passes trying to get the stubborn and sti visible hairs. It can be an interesting conundrum. It seems like for me Open comb razors with a very light touch get the smoothest results with the least work. BTW a wise man ( @twelvfret ) once said. " the success of today's shave is greatly dependent on the success of yesterday's shave" or at least something extremely similar. So if you have a good shave today you can build on that for a great shave tomorrow. If you tear up your hface today be extra careful tomorrow.
Twelvefret is a wise man!
GAW9576, your comments really summarize much of what I've learned while shaving over the last 3-4 weeks. I also have neck hair on one side only that grows flat to my skin from south to north and I'm always surprised when shaving ATG that I don't have more irritation as the razor is in no way smoothly cutting the hair!
Prior to this 3-4 week time period, I would shave on average every third day which allowed my face recovery time so that I could then chase after another close shave. After watching Dave in KY's videos and his SotD posts and seeing that he is well over 1000 days of consecutive shaves and counting...I decided to change my approach. I started by trying to back off my expectations of a close shave and went back to two passes (WTG, XTG) and then put the razor down. After about a week of every day shaving, I then added in a pickup pass that included ATG on my cheeks/neck. After about another week I added a complete third pass that included delicately ATG on my chinny chin chin and mustache. I'm nowhere near perfect, but getting better. I still find myself chasing a better shave than I should try to get. For example, three passes today with the MMOC was asking a lot of my face and I will definitely back off to a two pass shave tomorrow. This is were Twelvefret's wisdom should have been heeded by me! I know that I will improve my technique over time and just need to have better patience until I get to that point. While nowhere in the same league as Dave in KY, today was my 37th consecutive day shaving!
Bryan, FNG-SE