How do YOU hold the razor.

Hold the razor any way that feels comfortable. But make sure it's stable in your hand. The wiki has some great examples, but i don't think it's be be all end all. If you find a grip that's comfortable and secure you should use it. Same with shaving technique. If you find a system that works for you feel free to share it. That's what this forum is for. (Hint, Hint)

For example:
Sometimes it's not how you hold the razor. It's what you don't hold that will give you a great shave. Huh?
What are the odds? I have a Naturally Pass system too!! No Trademark (tm) intended or implied. After all it's natural. I hope everyone will please try it. I'll make reference to it often so as you'll not forget me. No mystery here. Just a lot of hot air??


While you're shaving or (doesn't matter) and you get a case of the "vapors" . Just let it Pass Naturally. Don't hold it and tense up. It's golden really. If you do this you'll find a more relaxing shave and a perfect BBS every time. No video forthcoming. Alas there's really nothing to see. The only caveat is YMMV depending on ... user technique, experience, type of beard, sharpness of razor, pre-shave prep, etc... etc... But i have no (tm) so the disclaimer isn't really necessary.

I too would love to see a video on the Natural Pass (tm) Natural Stroke (tm) Natural shaving (tm) systems. Pretty please. We'll all sing soft kitty. No offence intended. I just don't understand the often referenced naturalpass (tm). And no specific information seems to be distributed. It's very frustrating. Kinda like seeing a ghost. You know there must be something there but you can't quite see it!

I used to be a right-hand-only shaver, but now I shave the right side of my face with my right hand and the left side of my face with my left. I've found that I'm actually a BETTER shaver with my left hand; not sure why, but probably because I don't trust my left hand and therefore pay it closer attention.

The same thing happened to me. I used to get more nicks on my left side using my right hand than I did on my right side using my left hand. I think I was being more careful with my non-dominant hand. Pretty equal dexterity at this point though. IMHO two handed is the way to go. Not really natural at first but more options for different angles in the long run. For me that equals a better shave. I find two passes ATG (from ear to adam's apple) are mandatory for a BBS on my neck. There's nothing natural about getting a straight in there for that direction. Yes there's a learning curve and yes you'll probably nick yourself. You'll heal. Nice to know hands are trainable. For me using a fork, a pencil or a hammer wasn't natural either. I had to learn, sometimes the hard way. I recall having stabbed my lip with a fork and hitting my thumb with the hammer.

I'm the same way - my non dominant hand provides smoother shaves for some reason. Not sure if it's the same theory as Skyrider says above. Maybe I should experiment and shave just with my non dominant hand for a week or so and see what happens.

Very cool, guys, nice to hear from other ambis.

I am a right-footed soccer player who learned to use his left foot as well as--or, honestly, a little better than--his right foot; figured I could do a similar thing with shaving.

{Very cool, guys, nice to hear from other ambis.}



I'm not a true ambi. I started using my left as a carpenter many years ago as necessity. Sometimes you just couldn't reach across with the right hand to get to what needed to be done. I actually started to purposely brush my teeth and shave (even when I was using a cartridge razor) with my left hand just to try and develop some more skill in using it. I'm still predominantly right handed. Maybe it's time to build some more neural pathways in my brain and stretch my musculoskeletal system and start to hone and strop left handed. But then again I guess I need to master doing those things right handed first!

Hey, same here, I can use both hands but am far from a master with either.

If you do try stropping or honing with your left hand, Skyrider, I'd love to know how it goes. Been thinking about both myself.

WTG and ATG, I shave the right side with the right and the left side with the left. I don't do XTG for the reason you mentioned and touch-ups I do with the right only.

I started forcing myself to use my nondominant hand when I was using DEs, hoping that the switch to straights would be easier. It was. I agree with skyrider55's theory. I seem to get better results sometimes with the nondominant hand because I concentrate more and am more careful.

Mark

Makes sense to me. This should hold for both DE and Straight shaving. When I did as you suggested and moved my hand against my face it was in the direction(s) that I usually use in a "clean up" pass to get the whiskers that the other passes left. I am going to try those movements as my first pass and see where that gets me. Thanks for the explanation.

fccexpert said:

Maybe some day, but at present I'm still trying to get past my old school disgust for people who have to put their face and personal business out there for all to see. I can, however, give you a brief written tutorial on how to find your NaturalPass(tm).

Basically, it's all about figuring out the preferred position and motion of your musco-skeletal system for the act of shaving, and the mantra is - if it feels right, it's good - if it feels wrong awkward, clumsy or uncomfortable, it's bad.

I quick way to check for natural motion is: right now, with out thinking, reach up and stroke your face or neck (or wherever else you might want to shave) with your hand. If you did this right, without really thinking about it, it should have felt perfectly natural. Now do the same thing going WTG, ATG, XTG, what ever you have been told you should be doing, think about it his time. Remember, you must go in the correct direction relative to beard growth everywhere.

Did that feel as good?

You should strive to match the natural stroke in the first exercise when shaving. Doing this will minimize discomfort, irritation and the chances of nicks and cuts.

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CyiDev said:

OK, so here is my question and I ask this mainly because I notice my dominate side of my face is getting a smoother shave much easier. I hold my razor with my right hand and do both sides only using my left to stretch it. Is there anyone who alternates their hands for the appropriate sides of their face? Does anyone else use just one hand? How does anyone who does a E/W pass on their neck hold their razor? I find my fingers get in the way.

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Go to YouTube

pundi64 said:

Go to YouTube

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Was there a YouTube when this thread started? lol