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Does anybody else find themselves just unable to shave ATG?

I've always found shaving ATG to give just the most absolutely uncomfortable sensation I've ever felt...it feels like I'm ripping something out of my skin, and it's actually painful, not to mention I cut myself a lot that way too... and this is after 3 passes. Anybody else have this problem/know any solutions?
 
same here, just down right unpleasent, i can get a good shave with just WTG and XTG dont see a need to suffer for that extra little bit of closeness
 
I very rarely do it. I feel I gain very little and risk getting a lot of irritation. If DE shaving I stick with one WTG and two XTG and when shaving with a straight just one WTG and one XTG. That is usually good enough for me :001_smile
 
I do a three pass shave every day. WTG, XTG, ATG. The ATG pass leaves the most stubble in the sink and gives the closest shave. If I'm in a hurry, I apply creamo creme and do one pass and then out the door.

I desire the closest shave every time I pick up the razor. You only get so many shaves in a lifetime! :biggrin1:
 
I do XTG in a way that is very very close to ATG, but not completely ATG. The gains of going ATG are marginal and not worth the risk of irritation. Sometimes I do ATG on certain areas, but its very rare.
 
I desire the closest shave every time I pick up the razor. You only get so many shaves in a lifetime! :biggrin1:

I desire the most comfortable shaves possible. I have to live in my face day in and day out. Only so many days, and I wouldn't want to spend any more than I have to with bumps, ingrowns and razor burn. :thumbup1:

I do single pass WTG. It gets me CCS and better than I ever did with a cartridge. It feels good and my face feels great all day. ATG is comfortable enough when I'm actually shaving with a DE (unthinkable with my old cartridges), but it gets me too close--I always break out with nasty ingrown hairs (the kind you have to tweeze to get to heal right). So, I don't bother. And, I find one pass gets me plenty close. This increases blade life and really cuts down on skin wear-and-tear.

Figure out what you need and what you want and do what works best to get you there. There's tons of stuff to optimize on. Closest shave merely being a popular option out of many. (And for the guys that can do ATGs and get BBS shaves every day, I salute you.)
 
Oddly enough, I usually find ATG to be my most comfortable pass. Somehow I find it a lot easier to take all the pressure off of the razor when moving S-N.
 
My skin is way too sensitive for ATG. I do WTG, XTG and then a pass using the Gillette Slide as suggested in one of Mantic's videos...

[YOUTUBE]TQco5PWc2JU[/YOUTUBE]
 
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.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Shaving ATG isn't for everyone. If you can't I would suggest trying a different XTG pass and then ATG (4 passes total) or a sharper blade such as Feathers or Kai.
 
P

Pogo

With unalloyed respect for Mantic’s beard-reduction technique, it doesn’t work for me.

Chasing the elusive baby’s-butt-smooth shave has consistently led to disaster: razor burn, ingrowns, folliculitis, and necessary shaveless days to recover.

As 3eff Jeff and Straight Arrow, I do only one with-the-grain pass, but I don’t do touch-ups. Still, I get a socially-acceptable-shave.

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 see three steps to a good shave: 1) thorough prep, 2) single-pass, with-the-grain shave, and 3) stop. By far, the third step is the most difficult and requires the most discipline.

Found no profit or logic in going for baby’s-butt-smooth. In a few hours the effect would be lost by natural beard growth. Beside, no one but you can discern the difference between a baby’s-butt and a simple good shave.

The baby’s-butt goal seems to me to be a ritual auto-emasculation. A previous poster opined, “BBS=OCD.”

Kindly note, however, that I’m retired and acknowledge that your employment may necessitate a closer shave than I produce (but I doubt it).

Hope this helps.

Pogo
 
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I can't on a regular basis and very rarely do as it causes too much irritation.

Occasionally, if I want a super close shave for a date or something, I will ATG at a 45 degree angle with a Bic sensitive (i.e. 1/2 way between ATG and XTG).

99.9% of the time, I just do WTG and ATG which is more than close enough and more importantly is irritation free.
 
What's interesting in this forum is the wide variety of beards and faces we all have.

I guess I'm lucky. I have a sort of medium to light beard and have always been able to go against the grain.
 
I can shave ATG if I'm shaving with my 34C. but I wouldn't do it with my open comb or super speeds; too sharp and not sharp enough respectively. gotta be the HD with either an Astra SS or Treet Platinum.
 
For me the prep is key. Good prep,1 WTG pass, cold towel. Any ATG pass generally means irritation. Of course everyone is different and if I had a less dense beard I would probably go ATG.For me it doesn't work.:thumbup1:
 
Shaving ATG on my neck can be uncomfortable. I rarely bother going against when I get very close shaves working W & XTG.
 
below my jaw, the closest i can get to ATG is "j-hooking," and even that can be irritating. sideburns are really the only place i can truly go ATG comfortably.
 
I ususally use soaps, but tomorrow im gonna use my T&H cream(this will provide more cushion if I mess up), do a wtg, xtg then try an atg pass.

If I cant do an atg pass with a cream, then theres no way i could do it with my soaps, but im gonna try.
 
So, silly me, I have a date today and decided to shave ATG on my whole face for some added smoothness...and I must say that there's no irritation and it's nearly BBS except on my chin...but my chin feels like it's literally on fire and it's burning :bored:
 
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