What I really dislike

What I really dislike when it comes to wet shaving guides is when they mention WTG they always go from north to south. This can be very confusing for beginners. Example my hair grows from north-west to south-east, so with an WTG I have to shave in this direction. And on my neck it goes in all directions on some spots.

I have been doing this for months and I get perfect shaves, I think a beginner should let his beard grow a couple days and see in which direction his/her grows and shave from that direction. I think this might be the reason why people get irritation when they shave ATG (I could be wrong too).

Bear mapping is critical. Hopefully, each person can figure out which way their grain is and understand that WTG does not always mean north to south.

yup I'm the same way there are certain parts of my beard grow in different directions so WTG and N-S are not the same thing. You really have to map your beard to figure it out and get better shaves, its one of the things I think gets overlooked pretty often by newbies that make a big difference.

The easiest way to map your beard:
Lather up and use your finger just before your shave stroke; Soon you will know the direction of growth everywhere on your face.

BSAGuy said:

Bear mapping is critical. Hopefully, each person can figure out which way their grain is and understand that WTG does not always mean north to south.

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Pick a docile bear before mapping it

Haggises said:

Pick a docile bear before mapping it

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mswofford said:

The easiest way to map your beard:
Lather up and use your finger just before your shave stroke; Soon you will know the direction of growth everywhere on your face.

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Exactly! Beard-mapping is not necessary.; I do a "general" pass. Then I reload my brush and re-lather. Then I feel with my fingertips where the whiskers still lurk and shave away. Then touch-up. No need to try to remember a beard-map, and each stroke is more in the moment.

Vespasian said:

Exactly! Beard-mapping is not necessary.; I do a "general" pass. Then I reload my brush and re-lather. Then I feel with my fingertips where the whiskers still lurk and shave away. Then touch-up. No need to try to remember a beard-map, and each stroke is more in the moment.

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I'll have to disagree for me - I shave mostly WTG on the first pass. A general pass would get me ATG in some places, XTG in others and, irritation notwithstanding, leave me none the wiser where I'm going wrong.

Haggises said:

Pick a docile bear before mapping it

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View attachment 510210

No innocent typo is safe....

I shoulda been a proof reaeder.

Haggises said:

I'll have to disagree for me - I shave mostly WTG on the first pass. A general pass would get me ATG in some places, XTG in others and, irritation notwithstanding, leave me none the wiser where I'm going wrong.

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How interesting. I really don't give much thought at all to whisker-direction on my first pass. I know that my habitual pattern of strokes will clean 99% of my cheeks, 80% of my chin, 70% of my jaw-line, maybe 50% of my neck. On my second pass is where I use my fingertips to map exactly these trouble-spots and eradicate them. These 2nd passes vary from shave to shave, according to blade, lather, my skill that night, etc. Then a touch-up, usually two or three spots on my neck. I guess I could name my strokes, WTG, XTG, ATG, but I don't bother. I just zen out each stroke. Less thinking = more pleasure, but only in shaving, I hasten to add.

Haggises said:

Pick a docile bear before mapping it

Click to expand...

Vespasian said:

How interesting. I really don't give much thought at all to whisker-direction on my first pass. I know that my habitual pattern of strokes will clean 99% of my cheeks, 80% of my chin, 70% of my jaw-line, maybe 50% of my neck. On my second pass is where I use my fingertips to map exactly these trouble-spots and eradicate them. These 2nd passes vary from shave to shave, according to blade, lather, my skill that night, etc. Then a touch-up, usually two or three spots on my neck. I guess I could name my strokes, WTG, XTG, ATG, but I don't bother. I just zen out each stroke. Less thinking = more pleasure, but only in shaving, I hasten to add.

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It became automatic quickly, I don't think about it, except how to make the final pass better. My WTG is a slide with a bit of XTG depending on where it is. My XTG has some ATG components and the last is ATG on the cheeks and varied on the neck.

A proper shaving guide should include beard mapping. No guide can cover every possible angle of WTG.

euro said:

I think this might be the reason why people get irritation when they shave ATG (I could be wrong too).

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It's one possible reason. There are a number of others as well.

Reminds me of a joke about a priest, a rabbi, and a minister and their "preach to and convert a bear" contest.

mswofford said:

The easiest way to map your beard:
Lather up and use your finger just before your shave stroke; Soon you will know the direction of growth everywhere on your face.

Click to expand...

+1

this Bear is not docile

BSAGuy said:

Bear mapping is critical. Hopefully, each person can figure out which way their grain is and understand that WTG does not always mean north to south.

Click to expand...

+1

I use beard mapping as a guide but I don't follow 100% WTG on my first pass. On my face and chin it is mostly WTG, but on my neck it is WTG and XTG. I never go ATG on my first pass as this is an invitation to irritation. So I mostly follow what feels right and what is comfortable. If I go WTG on my neck then I would be forced to hold my razor at awkward angles which will invariably result in unwanted pressure and bad blade angles. As always, YMMV.

Beard mapping my seem like too much effort and I agree if you are new to WS it may be pain to remember or a bit too much.
Personally, to tell the truth, I never gave an effort to mapping when I was first shaving over 30 years ago. You just do over time…and I do have a “map” although at this point I give very little conscious thought to it…
In my opinion any problem in this area is just men new to WS trying to rush to perfection a bit.
Like any other skill you will change gear, methods and just plain get better at it over time. I can’t say how long I took before I REALLY fell into my routine, maybe 5 years…but then again I was not overly focused on it…and I would not expect even the most determined or fastest learner to find their unique grove for at least a couple years.
My advice,
Don't get bogged down w/ too much detail and make this experience “work”, otherwise you may risk turning it into the drudgery that many say they are fleeing.