Thread: Angles Angles, and which blinking way?!

Hello!

Super newby, I've just had my second rather painful experience with my new shaver! :-(

I thought it would be wise to start on a simple straight razor with a replaceable blade, Im lathering up my face as much as possible and doing my very best, but when I shave downwards nothing seems to happen, no hair is removed at all!

When I shave upwards, hair is removed but rather painful and is very hard to glide through.

Im not sure what im doing wrong, ive tried all sorts and angles and directions to no avail, I know it will take some time to get anywhere near right, im not after a lightning fix.

Any guidance would be most appreciated, my poor face is red raw!

Many Many Thanks

:-)
RivercOTTAGE

First, give your face a few days to rest. You should be able to achieve a good shave with the grain. Start with large areas, such as the cheeks, and then proceed to other areas as your skills increase. Make sure you are stretching the skin! With the skin pulled tight, the razor is less likely to cut skin ahead of the cutting edge, and the hair stands more upright. The angle should be about 20 degrees to your face. Make sure you shave after a shower, or utilize several hot towels. The heat softens the whisker, and helps release oils in your face to provide additional lubrication.

After your shave, rinse with hot water to clear the leftover soap. Then rinse with cold water. You may also want to use a moisturizing aftershave. If you have a wife or girlfriend, as her for some moisturizer. She probably has some and will happily share.

The first question is what razor do you have and how do you know it is shave ready? If the answer is its a quality razor and its been honed by a honemeister then you can look at technique. remember shaving takes quite awhile to learn. If you did your first shave with no damage you did good. Don't worry about hair removal now. Just concentrate to holding the razor and that 30 degree angle. The actual shaves will come later.

Thanks for your replies :-) Both attempts came after a bath to try and get the skin ready :-)

None of the attempts were really successful i had to finish off with a regular disposable.

I dont think the shaver is at fault as it comes with disposables shave ready blades, so I just assume my angles are extremely wrong! Ill have another attempt tomorrow and try and get that 20/30 degrees. It just really really seems to struggle working upwards, I can feel the blade catching on each bit owey owwwwwwwwwwww

Try and try again


:-)
RiverCottage

I've just gotta ask, before the ATG (against the grain) pass did you make a wtg (with the grain) pass? the key to a comfortable shave is reducing the hair with several passes, not getting it all in one fell swoop.

Originally Posted by rivercottage

Hello!

Super newby, I've just had my second rather painful experience with my new shaver! :-(

I thought it would be wise to start on a simple straight razor with a replaceable blade, Im lathering up my face as much as possible and doing my very best, but when I shave downwards nothing seems to happen, no hair is removed at all!

When I shave upwards, hair is removed but rather painful and is very hard to glide through.

Im not sure what im doing wrong, ive tried all sorts and angles and directions to no avail, I know it will take some time to get anywhere near right, im not after a lightning fix.

Any guidance would be most appreciated, my poor face is red raw!

Many Many Thanks

:-)
RivercOTTAGE

First lets get the usual suspect out of the way;
Is your razor "shave ready" ?...
Don't even think about shaving with a razor unless its honed and stropped properly first even if brand new from manufacture.
OK so your razor is shave ready...

Now on to the shave;
Lay the razor flat on your face, just at the top of the sideburn, blade down make sure the spine and edge is touching your face at the same time, lets call it the zero (0) angle.
Slowly slide the razor down (WTG) at the same time lift the spine off your face (angle now increasing form 0--5--10-->) soon the blade will start to "pop" the hair... STOP lifting the spine from your face (at this point depending on your razor the angle could be from 10 to 25 degrees) but continue gently moving the razor down the sideburn towards the jaw.

If the angle is too flat the razor will only clip the tops of your hair. too steep and the razor will "dig in" to your skin and may dull the blade. Somewhere in between the razor will pop the hair at the roots while sliding over your skin... you just have to "tweek" the angle to get a shave that comfortable... Once you find that "sweet spot" don't forget it.

Hope this helps.

You shouldn't be having any of these types of problems with a disposable blade holder (I will not call them straights).

You probably are using the wrong angle. With a disposable I'd suggest 40 degrees, not 20-30.

The only thing that is probably happening is that the holder is contacting your face and these holders can be way too thick for a 20-30 degree angle.

The next problem your going to have is irritation. Once you follow my advice and get good contact watch out for potential irritation. You need a GOOD lather with these ruffians.

Many thanks once more for your lovely replies, I will take it all on board and try again! Ill attempt a downward pass first trying to get a nice angle before upwards also

I leave it until the morning, Ive still lots of patchy areas but dont think my face can take anymore tonight!

Many Thankyous! Im sure it will all be worth it once mastered!

:-)
RivercOTTAGE

Originally Posted by rivercottage

Many thanks once more for your lovely replies, I will take it all on board and try again! Ill attempt a downward pass first trying to get a nice angle before upwards also

I leave it until the morning, Ive still lots of patchy areas but dont think my face can take anymore tonight!

Many Thankyous! Im sure it will all be worth it once mastered!

:-)
RivercOTTAGE

wow... looks like i missed that point... thought it was straight... sorry about that.

You might consider skipping the against the grain pass for a week or so. Often folks can get a very nice shave simply with the grain.