For users of more aggressive DE's: Do you shave every day? Do you shave ATG?

For the last few months my daily razor has been the ATT H1, and every day it is a 3 pass shave (with, across and against).
Mind you I couldn't have done it a year ago, as my technique just wasn't good enough, and after a 3 pass shave with the H1 I would have to shave the next day with a milder razor. Now however, the only irritation I get now with the H1 is on the ATG pass at the very bottom of my neck, as the razor is aggressive enough to really catch a-hold of these short bits of beard.

These days I prefer the more aggressive razor, as I find the cleanness of the shave with a milder razor just doesn't last as long. Although I'm currently trialling the ATT S1 and S2, to see if I can get the right balance of nicely aggressive, whilst being kinder to the bottom of my neck.

Yes and yes. R41-13 & Astra blade. WTG ATG. XTG. I cheat though. I use a yellow Bic single blade disposable for touch up. Once in awhile I'll use a Cadet OC instead of the R41. Weekends it's a mild CC and Foamy + a cheap gel from the $ store.

i want long lasting shave for work.

every other day for me

Thanks everyone for your responses. In my case, I'm trying to solve a problem that will potentially befall me in the near future. Namely, I may soon have to shave every day for work.

At the moment, I don't have to shave every day. So, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I am able to get a faceturbation-worthy BBS shave with no irritation. On my in-between days, I have quite the 5 o'clock shadow (and then some).

I typically use my de89 loaded with Voskhod's, Ladas, or Gillette 7 o'clock blacks. I shave one pass wtg, then another pass atg, and then touchup (which often turns into another full atg pass), and all is well- no problems.

I've learned that shaving the day after a good shave is problematic for me. For example, I often shave on Saturday and, because I shaved on Friday, Saturdays just aren't comfortable and lead to significant irritation.

So, if I'm forced to be clean shaven every weekday, I'm unsure what my strategy will be. If I refrain from going atg, and instead add a couple of xtg passes to my initial wtg, I can shave daily with no irritation; but, I get merely OK shaves compared to when I go atg.

So right now I'm trying to decide if I should keep doing my atg pass using as mild a razor as possible (Gillette superspeed blue, for example), or instead try what to me is a counterintuitive thing- that is, acquire one of the more aggressive razors to see how I do with that.

I want to have my cake and eat it too. Meaning, I want to have very close shaves every single day, with none of the irritation that I typically experience on a next-day shave.

The odd thing is, back when I used cartridges, I could shave every day atg with no irritation to speak of.

Not sure what I'll try next...

Dave

Yes and yes. Light touch and correct angle (+solid prep) make for an irritation-free BBS/DFS that can be repeated every day.

PS: My regular razors are BBX, ATT H1 and H2, and Fatip.

Yes and partly yes.
Use a ATT H, and Muhle R41-13.
Usually a first pass WTG and a second pass mix of XTG/ATG

I have been in your situation. For what its worth the only suggestions I can give is :-

(1) Agressive razors will not help and mild ones might not too. Being slower and deliberate with a regular razor (read something like Edwin Jagger 89) might do the trick

(2) A good balm (not lotion) is absolutely indispensible

Good luck !

sydbarett said:

I have been in your situation. For what its worth the only suggestions I can give is :-

(1) Agressive razors will not help and mild ones might not too. Being slower and deliberate with a regular razor (read something like Edwin Jagger 89) might do the trick

(2) A good balm (not lotion) is absolutely indispensible

Good luck !

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+1 - Especially the balm part! In my experience, the healing process after a shave greatly helps for daily shaving. Keeping a continuous healthy regimen makes a huge difference.

Yes, and I'm working on it.

The only way I can get my neck smooth is to shave against the grain. Still fine tuning my technique on that. I've got lots of weird grain patterns and contours on my neck, so it's been a challenge for me. I've found that I have less issues shaving against the grain with more aggressive razors than I do with more mild razors.

I want to have my cake and eat it too. Meaning, I want to have very close shaves every single day, with none of the irritation that I typically experience on a next-day shave.

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interesting thread as im just starting out and am nowhere near finding what works for me best yet. i fiddle too much, changing blades regularly, shimming my merkur stainless steel and EJ89L with first one shim, then 2 to be more aggressive. i mistakenly thought 2 shims plus a feather blade would give me the closest shave ever :-D i ended up with a fair bit of blood, and a red, lumpy neck.
its interesting reading the question of whether its better to have a mild razor and blade, and have an acceptable shave every day vs aggressive every other day. i get impatient waiting for my stubble to grow, i want to keep trying different soaps/creams/balms, and every other day just frustrates me :-D
i think ill go back to square one, take out the shims, use a mild blade and see if i can shave every day.

I've got lots of weird grain patterns and contours on my neck, so it's been a challenge for me.

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this again is me. grain goes up, down and in different across directions in different parts of my neck. the most frustrating thing is feeling a little patch of stubble that needs finishing off, but my neck contours are such that if i were to pass the razor over it in the right direction, the width of the blade touches on both edges, but leaves lather in the middle where theres a contour. so i end up stretching skin, gurning my face to try and straighten it out to get a close cut :-/ i usually end up with sore skin from trying to get it too perfect. a touch more lather, have another go, no thats not got it, leave it alone its too sore now......

good thread, an interesting read, thanks

I just go WTG/XTG with the Old Type. I only need to shave every other day using that.

I generally do WTG & XTG followed with a little buffing for the tough to shave areas.

Off topic, is the a club for the R41?

Yogmesh said:

For the last few months my daily razor has been the ATT H1, and every day it is a 3 pass shave (with, across and against).
Mind you I couldn't have done it a year ago, as my technique just wasn't good enough, and after a 3 pass shave with the H1 I would have to shave the next day with a milder razor. Now however, the only irritation I get now with the H1 is on the ATG pass at the very bottom of my neck, as the razor is aggressive enough to really catch a-hold of these short bits of beard.

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Mind if I ask, what would you say you know or do now that makes the H1 work for you, that you wouldn't have known/done a year ago? I'm struggling a bit with an H2 at the moment (after loving the S2), and I'm wondering if it's that my technique just isn't there yet.

Reading that so many folks can shave every day with these aggressive razors is definitely encouraging, though.

I shave daily with an both an aggressive razor (ATT S2 or R1) matched to an aggressive blade (Feather/Polsilver). This combo allows me to get a great shave with a single WTG pass and a little XTG buffing here and there. When my skin gets beaten up I simply switch to less aggressive blade (Voskhod/Treet DuraSharp) for a few days.

onethinline said:

Mind if I ask, what would you say you know or do now that makes the H1 work for you, that you wouldn't have known/done a year ago?

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Purely practice, learning which way my beard grows, and getting the angle and pressure right. In fact most of these things came without me really thinking about it.

I started out about 16 months ago with an EJ-89, and came to the cliche conclusion that my skin was too soft and my beard too tough as I was getting a lot of weepers and irritation. So I went looking for a milder razor, first through the Ikon Shavecraft,, then the Ikon OC (went up a bit in aggression), then down to the ATT R1, and finally the ATT M1. I did try the ATT H1 briefly in between, but at the time I thought it was a devise of the devil, and I would end up looking like Freddy Krugger if I kept using it.

About the time of the ATT M1, the idea of beard mapping finally clicked, and with a bit of refinement to the angles of the passes, the irritation went away. After a while I got a bit braver and tried the R1 again. After a bit more practice and careful note of the angle of the razor handle. After a bit more time of irritation free shaving I picked up the courage to try the H1 again. After a few weeks practice I couldn't remember what all the fuss was about.

A few weeks ago I went back and tried the ATT M1, but now I really don't get on with it. I can certainly shave faster with the M1 now, but if I really want a BBS I have to pay just as much attention to stroke and angle as I do with the H1, or else I end up with rough patches. Even then, the BBS with the M1 doesn't last as long. A BBS wit the H1 can feel fine up to about 12 hours, and whilst the BBS with the M1 feels good to start off with, after about 4 hours I can start to feel the beard again.

I have a Matador Toro Mastiff in the aggressive version.
I like the razor and could use it every day, but I like to change out razors for variety.
What I have found is that I could, with this razor, eliminate ATG
and use WTG only on side of face and XTG on the neck.

Everyday 4 pass shave with last pass ATG. R41-11, Futur ATT and Joris. Good prep, good software and a light touch are the keys for me.

Yogmesh said:

Purely practice, learning which way my beard grows, and getting the angle and pressure right. In fact most of these things came without me really thinking about it.

I started out about 16 months ago with an EJ-89, and came to the cliche conclusion that my skin was too soft and my beard too tough as I was getting a lot of weepers and irritation. So I went looking for a milder razor, first through the Ikon Shavecraft,, then the Ikon OC (went up a bit in aggression), then down to the ATT R1, and finally the ATT M1. I did try the ATT H1 briefly in between, but at the time I thought it was a devise of the devil, and I would end up looking like Freddy Krugger if I kept using it.

About the time of the ATT M1, the idea of beard mapping finally clicked, and with a bit of refinement to the angles of the passes, the irritation went away. After a while I got a bit braver and tried the R1 again. After a bit more practice and careful note of the angle of the razor handle. After a bit more time of irritation free shaving I picked up the courage to try the H1 again. After a few weeks practice I couldn't remember what all the fuss was about.

A few weeks ago I went back and tried the ATT M1, but now I really don't get on with it. I can certainly shave faster with the M1 now, but if I really want a BBS I have to pay just as much attention to stroke and angle as I do with the H1, or else I end up with rough patches. Even then, the BBS with the M1 doesn't last as long. A BBS wit the H1 can feel fine up to about 12 hours, and whilst the BBS with the M1 feels good to start off with, after about 4 hours I can start to feel the beard again.

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Great information, thanks! Three shaves with the H2 now and I can tell I'm getting slightly better each time, but it's still creating irritation and more nicks than I've seen in the past few weeks. I know my DE technique in general has improved a lot since I started in November, but I'm obviously not ready to just jump right in the the H2! Now my decision is whether to hold on to it to try it in a year, like you did, or return it and just enjoy the razors I have and which work for me.

Yes and Yes. Could make do with 2 passes, but do 3 passes because.......I like it. Have shifted mostly to straights now, but same deal.

Cheers, George

GBinOZ said:

Have shifted mostly to straights now, but same deal.

Cheers, George

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So you don't need your DEs anymore, right? I'm asking because I need a backup #16. And I believe you also have some Deluxes and RFBs ...