New to the game!

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and wet shaving. My first couple endeavors, I've run into a problem of making 3+ plus passes, both with and across the grain, but still having enough left over that an electric razor can clean it up, especially around the chin. I'm guessing it has to do with my blade angle. Any tips or tricks on how to get the right angle and maintain it? Especially around the chin and neck?

My current set up is an EJ Kelvin with Astra SP blades with Proraso cream. Brush came as part of a cheap stand/brush combo off Amazon (didn't want to invest too much before I knew how it would go).

Any help is much appreciated!

Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. All I can recommend is to read the tutorials at the head of the forum, read the articles in the Shave Wiki, and watch some tutorial videos on YouTube--especially those by Mantic59. Beyond that, it's just proper angle, no pressure, and practice, practice, practice.

Welcome to B&B. I have never used the Kelvin razor but I would think you need to adjust your angle of the razor.

Are you having any tugging of the razor resulting in a less close shave? Could possibly be a blade issue if you are, maybe try a blade sampler if you haven't yet. If it's cutting okay it's probably just an angle problem, trust me it gets better with practice. I've never had such perfect shaves until sticking with a DE and straights.


Make sure your lather has plenty of water in it also, helps with the slickness immensely!

Good luck with the new hobby!

Welcome to B&B!

Try doing short strokes around your chin where you are having problems. Then feel for stubble and repeat.

Welcome to the forums. Glad you're here.

Sent via mobile - Chris

xxvaleria said:

Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. All I can recommend is to read the tutorials at the head of the forum, read the articles in the Shave Wiki, and watch some tutorial videos on YouTube--especially those by Mantic59. Beyond that, it's just proper angle, no pressure, and practice, practice, practice.

Click to expand...

This gentleman knows his stuff. +1

Hello and welcome. Great to have you here on B&B. Wander on over to the Hall of Fame and introduce yourself.

Plenty of good advice above.

Welcome to the forum! Goatee guy here so no help with the chin; I will say in general this gets better with practice. Keep at it!

I see with the grain and across the grain, try against the grain. this is usually the pass that cleans it up.

there's always a plan B.

I don't shave my chin very often because I typically have a goatee, but there are some great videos on youtube you can learn a ton from. Nick shaves is one that comes to mind for the chin area. Watch some of his videos and pay attention to how he follows the angle around his chin.

Hi, welcome to B&B

Welcome to the wonderful world of wetshaving. Many of us started to save money and now spend more than we ever thought we would on shaving gear. Enjoy and welcome!

Welcome to B&B!

When it comes to your chin area, you need to take short strokes since its shape requires you to almost constantly adjust the angle.

It's all about practice. Keep the strokes short and light, and you'll get it. The first few shaves I had with my DE89 were not the closest or the most comfortable, but with more and more experience, it just got better and better.

Welcome to Badger and Blade, Rick.

xxvaleria said:

Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. All I can recommend is to read the tutorials at the head of the forum, read the articles in the Shave Wiki, and watch some tutorial videos on YouTube--especially those by Mantic59. Beyond that, it's just proper angle, no pressure, and practice, practice, practice.

Click to expand...

This^

Welcome to B&B. I think it's a matter of practice. Play with the angles till you find your sweet spot, which you will find. Enjoy the process!

Welcome to B&B!

It sounds like your blade angle is a little too shallow in those areas, and you're more gliding over the hairs. It's funny how little differences add up. Listen and feel for feedback, and keep playing a little.

I agree that short strokes work well on the chin, since it's just one, big, severe, changing curve. I tricky spot, no doubt. I also go side to side on my chin (after a n>s pass) to help catch it. Again, it's a tricky spot, so experiment a bit around there and see what works for you.

Cheers!

Lots of great advice here already, so I will just welcome to B&B!

Welcome to B&B. As a relatively new convert myself, I can tell you that there are some keys to this that are non-negotiable to get success:

1) Read the sage advice of the long term members here. The Q&As, the wikis, the tutorials etc.
2) Experiment with their advice
3) Don't give up
4) Use high quality gear and product
5) Perfect your technique
6) Re-read the technique suggestions periodically because you may forget some of them as you go along.

With the above pointers, I have gotten to the point where I can shave every day and get a BBS shave daily. It took several months before I got there and lots of trial and error. And even then, I was recently reminded of shallow blade angle and zero pressure and my results improved yet again.

Best of Luck!