any other totally blind shavers out there?

I like Euros response. I agree. I turn off the fan so I can hear the stubble being reduced. I use my thumb to feel an area to see how much if any is left. I am not visually impaired but I Certainly do not relie on my site to determine if my shave is good. More on hearing and feeling.

For those with thick facial hair (I shave it all off, no beard or any of that) do you find that going WTG all around and not getting it all the first time is ok? That bothers me, but I'm still getting lots of irritation. My wife helped me figure out the grain of my face which is different than I've ever thought. I'm not quite sure how to shave using a DE from my right nose/lip area across my cheek to my right ear. Unless i'm really not feeling it right, that's the way the grain seems to be going. And my lips, each upper and lower portion goes the opopposite y of the other. Um, is any of this normal? Btw, if Zach is subscribed to this thread, haven't heard from him in awhile.

There is no normal when it comes to beard growth pattern, really. You get what you get. The good news is that WTG doesnt have to mean exactly with the grain. Sometimes you just get as close to it as practical and be satisfied with that.

As a general rule, above the jawline you can get away with just pulling the skin upwards with the free hand, and shaving downwards. If you have an area where the grain goes nearly crossways and you can get the razor going that way, go for it. The closer to WTG the better, on the WTG pass, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

The first pass doesn't have to be perfect. Think beard reduction, not beard elimination. Do a second pass, and don't push yourself too hard toward perfection on that one, either. Chances are, with two WTG passes you will have a socially acceptable shave. And it will only get better.

Another idea. I never used an injector until a couple weeks ago. I snagged two Schick Eversharps on fleabay and that is a very nice shave. I don't know how they would be with a thick beard but with my medium whiskers I get a very nice shave, and it feels like I am not even shaving. My straights don't give a better shave than that, honestly. I understand that some models are more aggressive but these two butterscotch beauties never drew a drop of blood and never irritated me in the least. The head is much smaller. It is fixed and not pivoting, so I get good angle control, and under the nose is really easy. I think these are one of the type E injectors. There is an E1 and an E2 and I don't know the difference. My only concern is that while it is a single blade, clearance under the blade is close, and I could see it clogging up for some shavers though it doesn't for me. Maybe read a few injector threads and soak up some knowledge. If you want to try one I will give you one of mine and I think I even have some blades I can spare. DE is great, classic, standard, blades are cheap, and it just works. But maybe not as good for some as for others. Also with the injector there is less blade handling, though I am sure you got that down pat by now.

Have you tried Nivea after shave balm for the irritation? Very soothing. Lucky Tiger is good for that, too, and has a great citrus scent.

Even with thinner facial hair you never get it all on the first pass. For most it takes 2-3 passes to get a proper shave. Be it socially acceptable shave, dfs or bbs. I think first you should just focus on getting comfortable shaves. Wet shaving can be a challenge even to a sighted person because of all the variables, razor angle/pressure, lather.And I think most people try to do too much at one time.

You dont always have to go wtg it is just the recommendation. You can pick a direction that is close-ish to wtg and what feels best ergonomicaly. Its all about what works for you.

Slash that is very kind of you, but I will see if I can find one because you just bought yours and i'm not going to take away what you just bought, that's like taking someone lunch money because they just got a bigger sum than you did. Ok, maybe that's a bad analogue but you get the idea. I do wonder what a "socially acceptable" shave is. Maybe what I feel isn't what others see? For example, there seems to be this diagonal little bit of hair from just below my nostril to just above my upper lip. I mean small, but it bugs the hell out of me. Ever since I switched to a DE, not only have I had more irritation and stinging than I did with my Fusion Proglide, but I can't get as close as I used to. But I hate the fact that the blades are so expensive, and I like the idea of a "vintage" shave. Have a long handle now with a Maggard head that another BB poster gave to me. He is also sending me some other items. I just switched to a Feather Super Stainless blade from an Astra SP. I have gone back and forth between Klar soap, Castle Forbs cedarwood cream, and Every Man Jack cream which has menthol and dries out my lips. I have done my best to use light pressure and just let the razor do the work. And yet, still getting a lot of stinging, and using an alum block, well, might as well set fire to my face. Ok, that's dramatic, I know.

My grandfather was blind and I inherited his razors that he used. So I know he shaved blind. But when he was in his waning years he just sat in his chair with an electric for about 30 min doing his best to get a close shave and yelling at the electric that it did a **** poor job

For me socially acceptable shave is when you dont look like a complete bum... You can sure feel a lot of stubble still. DFS is when you have irritation free shave and you only feel very small amount of stubble against the grain. BBS nothing to explain = Baby butt smooth... I think you could be trying too much at this point, trying to go for BBS? DE shaving can get you bbs but for most people it takes some time to learn how to get irritation free bbs, also the hardware does affect the out come a lot. Some people get better results with more aggressive razor, i often hear people recommend Open Comb DE razors for people with very thick and coarse beard.

i had a lot of irritation on my neck when i started, and i still can if i try to get it perfect. i have course hair and it grows in weird ways. on my neck it grown from my adams apple out toward my ears. so, to go against the grain i would have to go sideways across my neck from either side.... for me a sure way to get irritation. i have also found that the hair tends to grow differently on the upper half of my neck from the lower half, so i treat them differently. to shave the first pass on the upper half i go from my jaw line about half way down my neck, while on the lower half i go from the collar up half way. on my second pass i do the opposite. i usually stop at that point for my neck, because if i really try to get all i can feel and shave sideways on my neck i will be red all day. (i can feel stubble when i feel form ear toward adams apple, but no one can see it)

the other things are less pressure and the angles may not be right. however; for me it is knowing when to stop and say it is good enough. i also have found that a more aggressive razor is better for me... i don't feel the need to do so many passes because it is more efficient, and i think the extra passes are what causes the most irritation for me.

as far a brushes, i have a couple of boar brushes, and i think they are great once they are broken in. maybe doing a hand lather to help brake it in for a while before going for a face lather. don't be afraid to really smash the brush around when making lather or applying it. when done, most of the later will be in the brush. if it is easier, you might try pinching the brush and squeezing the later out toward the tips of the bristles, then applying it by hand. there is a lot more lather in the brush than you might think.

oh and by the way, on my second pass on the right side i have to go from ear to mouth, and on the left i have to go from mouth to ear. everyone has a different pattern and i think mine is a pain.

dcbahr,

Here's two more cents to what all these guys have said...

In a couple of lines, you mentiioned not getting all the beard off in the first pass.. that's normal... as someone said somewhere on the forum..

Shaving is beard reduction.... it won't all come off the first time.. that's why we do WTG, XTG and even ATG for the brave ones.

My cheek/chin pattern is like tylehman's.. you're not the only one with that weird pattern..

I'm not blind but I can certainly appreciate the added difficulty. In my case the stroke I had a couple of years ago left my right arm nearly worthless for anything above the collarbone, which means I've had to learn how to shave left-handed, and I can't really use my right hand to effectively stretch the skin.