Rank the following:

When it comes to a great shave, how do you rank the following:

1. Equipment - brush, razor, cream/soap, etc.
2. Technique - skin stretching, second pass, etc.
3. Environment - shaving after shower, lighting, good visability
4. Other - something other than what is listed here - if so, please post!

Are any of these categories too broad? Maybe split out razor and aftershave from equipment?

I would love to get the communities perspective on this.

Not a ranking, but once your technique is solid it's all about equipment, a bad soap can ruin my shave.

tac006 said:

When it comes to a great shave, how do you rank the following:

4. Other - something other than what is listed here - if so, please post!
2. Technique - skin stretching, second pass, etc.
1. Equipment - brush, razor, cream/soap, etc.
3. Environment - shaving after shower, lighting, good visability

Are any of these categories too broad? Maybe split out razor and aftershave from equipment?

I would love to get the communities perspective on this.

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Preparation is the single most important element, and that includes the software, but not necessarily involving any brush.

Technique / pracrtice are next, but the constantly maintained relationship of the blade to your skin is somethging to concxentrate on first.

Decent shaving instruments are only third, although that's not to say you must spend a lot.

The place you shave in needs to have water. It can be in a basin, from a tap, but shaving without water is the worst way to try.

tac006 said:

When it comes to a great shave, how do you rank the following:

1. Equipment - brush, razor, cream/soap, etc.
2. Technique - skin stretching, second pass, etc.
3. Environment - shaving after shower, lighting, good visability
4. Other - something other than what is listed here - if so, please post!

Are any of these categories too broad? Maybe split out razor and aftershave from equipment?

I would love to get the communities perspective on this.

Click to expand...

In my limited experience DE shaving, I'm going to have to go with technique as being the first and foremost of importance from the list above. One can have the best equipment, finest creams/soaps, exercise a great prep routine, etc. But if their technique sucks, the resulting shave will suck. At least that's been my experience.

Glaze3 said:

Not a ranking, but once your technique is solid it's all about equipment, a bad soap can ruin my shave.

Click to expand...

Do you recall any specific soap that's ruined one of your shaves?

It sounds to me as if the importance of each of the 4 depends on where in the shaving life experience a shaver is...

1. Technique
2. Technique
3. Technique
4. Equipment

Great point about having water... Dry shaving is not fun. Even with great technique and equipment, the lack of water or clean water can ruin a shave. I guess when making my list, I took water for granted!

The Kiwi said:

Preparation is the single most important element, and that includes the software, but not necessarily involving any brush.

Technique / pracrtice are next, but the constantly maintained relationship of the blade to your skin is somethging to concxentrate on first.

Decent shaving instruments are only third, although that's not to say you must spend a lot.

The place you shave in needs to have water. It can be in a basin, from a tap, but shaving without water is the worst way to try.

Click to expand...

I'd have to rank them in the following order

Technique
Prep
Equipment
Environment

To be fair though, if any one of these is dramatically off, it probably won't be a good shave for me.

Some of the 4 can be made up easier than others of the 4. For example, mediocre equipment can be made up by experience or expert technique whereas poor technique can't be made up by equipment. With this in mind, technique seems to be able to make up for almost any of the 4 with the exception of lack of water.

The Kiwi said:

Preparation is the single most important element, and that includes the software, but not necessarily involving any brush.

Technique / pracrtice are next, but the constantly maintained relationship of the blade to your skin is somethging to concxentrate on first.

Decent shaving instruments are only third, although that's not to say you must spend a lot.

The place you shave in needs to have water. It can be in a basin, from a tap, but shaving without water is the worst way to try.

Click to expand...

What he said. If you prep your beard properly and apply good technique, you can get a good shave from the most basic equipment.

More and more, I keep shaking my head at how many of my friends are brainwashed into not believing the importance of prep.

unkajonet said:

More and more, I keep shaking my head at how many of my friends are brainwashed into not believing the importance of prep.

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i tend to agree. If you don't have time for a shower and proper face wash. Maybe a hot towel would work. But prepping the face for the shave is key. Without propper prep, you will not experience a good shave.
Next is technique. Bad technique yields a bad shave no matter how good your lather or a new feather blade, or your $200 razor. I can achieve a mighty fine shave with a pink lady bic and ivory soap if need be, due to good prep and technique.
Next I think is other. That being time. If you don't have enough time to do a propper shave then skip it. Many a times I have to get the styptic out because I am in a rush to get a shave in before going somewhere and this always results in cuts, weepers or just general irritation.
Bad lather or a poor performing soap/cream can be overcome with the above.

I'd have to disagree on prep being more important, especially for a beginner.
Prep is undeniably important but washing and hydrating the beard in the shower is good enough neutral starting point for new folks. Good technique is paramount imho since once you have that down you can gauge how variances in prep, hardware, software and so on affect your shave quality.
Thinking about it I guess a lot of this might come down to whether you count lather building and application as prep or technique (i consider it part of overall shave technique ).

YMMV as always of course.

Technique can compensate for other short comings - but nothing can compensate for technique...

Bad Robot said:

Thinking about it I guess a lot of this might come down to whether you count lather building and application as prep or technique (i consider it part of overall shave technique ).

YMMV as always of course.

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Couldn't it be considered as both? It's kind of all mixed in there. I think many of the early parts of the shaving ritual those things are kind of inextricably entwined together. If I make a great lather, but apply it to a dry, unwashed face, my technique is great, but my prep is terrible.

Technique, preparation and gear matter too much to be ranked.

A bad preparation gives a bad shave no matter how skilled you are at handling your razor.

A bad blade will destroy the shave even if all other things are OK. Some soaps the same.

A bad technique is surely a bad shave.

tac006 said:

Do you recall any specific soap that's ruined one of your shaves?

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I always got bad shaves from Provence Sante. The lather looked and felt great, it smelled terrific, but it resulted in a lot of tugging and burning and my skin felt dried out and irritated when I was done. I tried it about three times, and then gave up and never went back to it again.

But to answer the OP's question, I think all these areas you listed are inter-related. Technique is most important, particularly the preparation part. Lay a good foundation, and anything that follows it will be a success. I can do a good shave by soaking my beard and face-lathering with a brush and good cream, then shaving with a cartridge. But slapping aerosol goop on a dry face and then following it with a good DE? Not so good.

I would say:

Technique
Prep
Equipment
Other

While good prep is key, it will not save a shave from bad technique. Good technique can limit the effects of bad prep, though - at least to a greater degree.