Bad Times

Good to see the site back up.

Anyway, just thought I'd post up on my experiences so far.

Started off with Derby blades, which were okay but I got lots of nicks and cuts, not to mention razor burn. Then tried Astra blads which were better but still had problems. This week I used Gillette 7 o'clock sharp edge blades.

First time I used them was two days ago and absolutely no razor burn with only one nick (down to technique). Loved it. Today, eager to have another bash, I had another shave.

Lather technique has massively improved so I'm now using "proper" lather. I shaved as usual but managed to nick myself again. It's the same place - left cheek and occurs when I flip the razor around - the side edge of the blade catches.

Over the neck area, I got a very good shave. But I wanted that BBS feeling. My last shave was more of a CCS so I pressed on, despite lots of bleeding on the neck. I went WTGx2, XTGx2, ATGx2 and then blade buffed the difficult area in the middle of the neck.

The result? Huge amounts of razor burn, lots of blood. The alum block was agony and the stypic pencil had to work overtime!

Lesson learnt:don't rush into chasing a BBS. It's only been a month so definitely more practice to go!

You can sure overdo your efforts

Six, seven passes I see from your post?


But seriously, that is a lot of passes!
Hope your angle is spot on and your pressure is almost zero.

Your shaves will improve, and practice makes perfect!

Are you saying that you nick yourself when you turn the razor to use the other side? And cut your passes in half for a while. Or do more WTG and less everything else. Starting slowly will help, in my experience.

You may not like this but.... Just continue shaving with maximum alertness and the application of the basics of technique. If you have one or two good shaves, don't ***-U-ME that you have technique licked.

I became convinced that there were spots that I would NEVER shave effectively. Like right under my nose. Then, one day, I did it. Then... a few days later, I did it again. After awhile, I was doing it with some challenging razors, like the Slant and the ridiculously big Vision.

Patience!

Slow and steady wins the race.

Yikes! A lesson well learned, I'd say. Let that BBS find you, as you continue to refine your lather and blade handling skills.

LionO said:

left cheek and occurs when I flip the razor around - the side edge of the blade catches.

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perhaps it might be better to flip the razor when it is about a6 inches from your face.. it wouldn't catch at all.

scaevola said:

Are you saying that you nick yourself when you turn the razor to use the other side? And cut your passes in half for a while. Or do more WTG and less everything else. Starting slowly will help, in my experience.

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On my neck, I find if I go ATG, that's when the bleeding/irritation starts, so doing more passes in other directions in theory should help as it reduces the beard. Evidently, I need to stick with four passes - 2xWTG and 2xXTG and leave it at that for now.

wimbouman said:

Hope your angle is spot on and your pressure is almost zero.

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Still perfecting angle but pressure is minimal.

Pbalkan said:

don't ***-U-ME that you have technique licked.

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Didn't think it was perfect but getting there, until today. It was that false reassurance stage where you think you're doing okay and then get overconfident and mess up.

global_dev said:

perhaps it might be better to flip the razor when it is about a6 inches from your face.. it wouldn't catch at all.

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I wear glasses, which I need when shaving. There's a bit that's on my cheek, quite close to the glasses where I have to manouvre the razor rather than go straight down which is how I manage to catch it.

Ummmm, way to many passes bro. Back off the multiple atg passes til u find GOOD LATHER, and technique. IMO just my .02

I've also found that chasing the BBS requires many passes and results in burn for me. CCS is good enough,
especially because i used to only shave twice a week and now 4-5 times a week!
Even if a BBS is achieved, how many hours does it last?

cliffordNC said:

I've also found that chasing the BBS requires many passes and results in burn for me. CCS is good enough,
especially because i used to only shave twice a week and now 4-5 times a week!
Even if a BBS is achieved, how many hours does it last?

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A well executed shave will last me 18 hours, after which I am left with a SAS. You Sasquatches out there will have differing mileages of course. You should be able to get a near BBS in 3 passes plus touch ups when your technique catches up. You are right in not chasing the BBS tho as it will come to you naturally.