Does anybody else find themselves just unable to shave ATG?

[mrmoonbeam]

I'm in this boat...

I've been shaving WTG and XTG since the beginnning.
Only recently have I begun attempting ATG regularly as I've also begun using a Slim Adjustable.
With the setting on 6 I go WTG and XTG, then dial back to a 4 for ATG.
Still some irritation, but smoother shave. Perhaps I'll dial it back another notch to 3 and see how it goes.

With other razors any attempts have not been pleasant...

 

[Darth Indiana]

my daily is a Tech, so i don't think over-aggressiveness razor is a factor.

 

[breadstick]

I cannot go ATG without irritation with any razor, cream, or prep I try. I feel it pulling the hair out of my face no matter which angle I try. I have reached a compromise that gives me a BBS, however. I have found making dumb faces and pulling my skin on passes gives me an amazing shave with no irritation. I feel stupid when I look at myself in the mirror, but it's worth it in the end.

 

[DavyRay]

I do not do ATG every day. I do sometimes. By the time I get to the ATG clean-up pass, my beard is very short and is standing at attention. I usually do ATG with just water on my face. I also have gotten fully awake by this time, and have been shaving for a good 10 minutes, so it is easy to have perfect technique. For me, the secret is doing ATG with the razor just hovering above the skin. It almost does not touch.

If I am not in a good mood, or my whiskers have not softened enough, I do not do this. I suggest not attempting ATG until you are getting near-perfect shaves with no discomfort.

 

[Stubblefield]

I do two WTG passes before I make my ATG pass--seems to make the ATG pass go very smoothly. After the ATG pass (neck only) I do make one more WTG pass on the neck. And that's it.

For me there is really no good reason to shave ATG. Most of my whiskers are gray so they are virtually invisible after a careful one pass WTG shave along with a bit of cleanup on the chin.

Now I know how you manage to get extended life out of all your your blades--you only make one or two passes!

 

[Straight Arrow]

The thought occurs to me that if you allow touch-ups or additional passes, you will never learn good single-pass, with-the-grain technique.

I've often had that thought. Your mention of it may just spur me on to work on the pure one-pass.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Now I know how you manage to get extended life out of all your your blades--you only make one or two passes!

Is that cheating??

 

[Arctic]

I have no problem shaving ATG with a straight or a feather, but with anything less sharp it can be painful.

 

[wrl]

I don't often find it necessary, but I will use it on the more leisurely shaves sometimes.

 

[Pogo]

I've often had that thought. Your mention of it may just spur me on to work on the pure one-pass.

Straight Arrow:

I work on the pure, single-pass, with-the-grain shave every day but still haven't perfected it.

Perhaps that's one of the allures of shaving: the intricacies of the endeavor will never be fully
refined. There will always something to improve, to do better. You'll never be bored.

Best regards,

Pogo

 

[tripper]

yeah, i just do two WTG passes most of the time. your hair retracts after you splash some cold water on it and some after shave splash/astringent. which makes it seem closer a few minutes afterwards.

clean healthy skin is much more attractive than smooth irritated skin.

That bbs just isnt worth pursuiting if you are prone to ingrowns. the only way to avoid ingrowns is to avoid cutting the hair too short. you'l still have a neat, trimmed appearance you just wont feel like silk. for the most part i don't want to. the hair just grows back the next day, but ingrowns and ingrown scars can last for years. i still have some minor scars left from the cartridge days and those were 8 months ago.

that tiny darker shade noticble accentuates the jawline. added plus i say. i just shave the chin a little close than the rest because it seems immune to irritation and the lady likes the cleft chin....

 

[Trotters]

Yesterday I did my 1st wtg, xtg, atg pass. I used my cream, that helped provide more cushion. It wasnt perfect, but it wasnt bad, it was a dfs, not quite bbs. It wasnt easy going atg on my chin or the adams apple area, BUT maybe on my leisurely days I may do it again & see if I can improve, with my creams at first, then maybe try with my soaps. If I can master DE shaving wtg & xtg then why cant I learn to go atg???.

 

[damooshki]

I shave fully ATG on my upper face only. and somewhere between ATG and XTG on my neck.

 

[auk1124]

One WTG pass on problem areas, two WTG passes everywhere else. Any more and I have irritation and ingrowns.

Plenty presentable, generally minimal irritation. Sometimes just one WTG pass on my problem spots will flare them up.

 

[stubble trouble]

I'm with Pogo. Maximum quality of the shaving experience is like the holy grail. Its elusiveness and various levels of gratification along the way are the main reasons I have become happily obsessed with this previously mundane chore. I'm no old-timer or guru (goes without saying), but if I had kept adhering to rigid grain sequence and # of pass "rules," I'd still have razor burn on my neck every time I shaved. Furthermore, I'd still be blaming the problem on pre-shave products, blades,soaps, etc - thus adding to my AD. The real question is how did barbers back in the day shave complete strangers without the benefit of a learning curve? Those are the guys who may have hard and fast rules of any value, IMHO.

scott

 

[Trotters]

Scott, what do you mean?

"The real question is how did barbers back in the day shave complete strangers without the benefit of a learning curve?"

Are you saying barbers didnt learn, they just shaved their customers and hoped for the best???

Or, do you mean, they didnt know their customers grain pattern, so shaved each customer in the same general direction?.

 

[Pogo]

Stubble Trouble,

We're in agreement: the process of shaving and the product (the shave) are far
more dependent on technique than on material (hardware and software).

Despite my comments apropos disappointment of fabled products in another
thread, except for the extremes most shaving products are fungible. If they
weren't, we wouldn't be saying YMMV so often; the singular ideal product would
be acclaimed unanimously .

It's the poor workman who blames his tools.

Best regards,

Pogo

 

[talibeard]

I have no problem shaving ATG with a straight or a feather, but with anything less sharp it can be painful.

I agree the blade makes a difference; most of the times I go ATG at least once but a blade has to be sharp and the razor not overly mild. When the razor is too mild I simply cannot make my desired blade angle going ATG. When the blade isn't sharp enough I need either too many passes to get my stubble short enough or it drags and pulls too much for my skin to endure when going ATG.

Besides Feather there are a dozen more which are ok but some blades downright fail like Derby, Dorco st-301, 7AM (not 7O'Clock) and Sharp.

 

[pauls51]

At the moment, I just can't shave ATG under my nose!! I can everywhere else but when I come across my moustache area I cringe!

 

[stubble trouble]

trotters,

I'm sure they (old school barbers) had repeat customers and got to know their grain pattern. However, if I (a complete stranger) were to walk in and they attempt a north to south pass on my neck below a certain line, it would give me a bad burn / weep. I had to learn this over time. How did the barbers of old, notorious for their quality shaves, avoid the necessary mistakes required to "learn a new customer's grain?" Doest that make sense at all?