Hi Everyone,
I'm still a total amateur with my DE shaving and seeking a bit of input about my technique. I feel like I have been doing great thus far. I think I am on something like my 10th or 12th shave at this point. Along the way, I really have not had any issues with razor burn, I have VERY seldomly even nicked myself. However, I have run into two concerns that I've recently been trying to work out via some revisions to my technique. Before I start any bad habits, I wanted to post to check with the experts if this is a horrible methodology. Anyway... a bit of a narrative about how I started and what I have recently begun doing.
Equipment:
Gillette Slim set to #2, currently with a Rapira Platium blade (started with 2 Astras, IIRC, for the first 8 or so shaves)
Razorock synthetic brush
Razorock soap (also tried out palmolive but I think I am too dumb to figure out how to load it properly on the brush, I prefer the scent of the RR, and the palmolive didnt really seem any better anyway, trying to keep the soap consistent, and practicing lathering technique)
Original Technique:
I tried to, more or less, follow the approach that Mantic demonstrates in some of his videos for a new DE shaver. Basically, apply lather to full face, do one pass down. Rinse/Re-lather and shave across. Rinse/Re-Lather and shave across in the other direction. Rinse/Re-Lather and do a pass shaving up. So four passes total.
For the most part this worked pretty well for me. Like I said, no irritation. Pretty close shave but not SUPER close. After shaving I could feel some areas with a tiny bit of stubble but the shave was overall closer than I'd get with a cartridge. I was hoping to get an even closer shave but the bigger issue for me was that it was just too time consuming for my morning pre-work routine. Weekends when I could really take some time... sure. But each morning before work, if I was (invariably) running a bit behind schedule I'd have this nagging thought that I should just use a cartridge to save time.
New Technique:
So here is what I tried to do today and yesterday. Seemed to get me both a faster and closer shave and my face seems to be no worse for the wear in terms of irritation (ie. really none).
Lather my whole face. Basically, the idea is rather than doing a single stroke with each lather, I am doing the down and two cross strokes on the first lather. In one small area, I will do a down stroke and then two quick light cross strokes in the same general area without re-lathering. Shorter strokes than I had been doing in my original technique but 3 passes on one lather. This seems to be readily doable on my cheeks and chin. I can do it on my jaw line and mustache if I am particularly careful. At the moment, I dont think I can do it on my neck without causing irritation, so I am still re-lathering for multiple passes on my neck. Anyway, once that is done, I do a full re-lather and do the last upstroke. I haven't timed it yet, but this seems to be a decent amount quicker than my original technique and, interestingly, seems to also give me a closer shave (not sure why, exactly).
So the reason for my post is to ask whether this new technique is a terrible idea? Am I forming bad habits? I have not done a MASSIVE amount of research on the forums but I am not aware of others doing anything quite like what I seem to be doing.
Any input would be much appreciated!
thanks!
I'm still a total amateur with my DE shaving and seeking a bit of input about my technique. I feel like I have been doing great thus far. I think I am on something like my 10th or 12th shave at this point. Along the way, I really have not had any issues with razor burn, I have VERY seldomly even nicked myself. However, I have run into two concerns that I've recently been trying to work out via some revisions to my technique. Before I start any bad habits, I wanted to post to check with the experts if this is a horrible methodology. Anyway... a bit of a narrative about how I started and what I have recently begun doing.
Equipment:
Gillette Slim set to #2, currently with a Rapira Platium blade (started with 2 Astras, IIRC, for the first 8 or so shaves)
Razorock synthetic brush
Razorock soap (also tried out palmolive but I think I am too dumb to figure out how to load it properly on the brush, I prefer the scent of the RR, and the palmolive didnt really seem any better anyway, trying to keep the soap consistent, and practicing lathering technique)
Original Technique:
I tried to, more or less, follow the approach that Mantic demonstrates in some of his videos for a new DE shaver. Basically, apply lather to full face, do one pass down. Rinse/Re-lather and shave across. Rinse/Re-Lather and shave across in the other direction. Rinse/Re-Lather and do a pass shaving up. So four passes total.
For the most part this worked pretty well for me. Like I said, no irritation. Pretty close shave but not SUPER close. After shaving I could feel some areas with a tiny bit of stubble but the shave was overall closer than I'd get with a cartridge. I was hoping to get an even closer shave but the bigger issue for me was that it was just too time consuming for my morning pre-work routine. Weekends when I could really take some time... sure. But each morning before work, if I was (invariably) running a bit behind schedule I'd have this nagging thought that I should just use a cartridge to save time.
New Technique:
So here is what I tried to do today and yesterday. Seemed to get me both a faster and closer shave and my face seems to be no worse for the wear in terms of irritation (ie. really none).
Lather my whole face. Basically, the idea is rather than doing a single stroke with each lather, I am doing the down and two cross strokes on the first lather. In one small area, I will do a down stroke and then two quick light cross strokes in the same general area without re-lathering. Shorter strokes than I had been doing in my original technique but 3 passes on one lather. This seems to be readily doable on my cheeks and chin. I can do it on my jaw line and mustache if I am particularly careful. At the moment, I dont think I can do it on my neck without causing irritation, so I am still re-lathering for multiple passes on my neck. Anyway, once that is done, I do a full re-lather and do the last upstroke. I haven't timed it yet, but this seems to be a decent amount quicker than my original technique and, interestingly, seems to also give me a closer shave (not sure why, exactly).
So the reason for my post is to ask whether this new technique is a terrible idea? Am I forming bad habits? I have not done a MASSIVE amount of research on the forums but I am not aware of others doing anything quite like what I seem to be doing.
Any input would be much appreciated!
thanks!
