Thread: Shaving Conundrum

Hey all, I just got a Dovo 5/8 Tortoise special about a month ago, and have been using it since. I'm still a newbie, but i realize after looking especially closely, I still have a lot of small hairs! I have very fine skin and extremely small hairs, but i notice a safety razor does a "cleaner" job of getting all these small hairs. Is this just because I'm a newbie, or the wrong shaving cream, or not enough stropping or something? Any advice would be appreciated.

1. Was your Dovo shave ready?
2. Are you shaving only WTG?
3. How much and how well are you stropping?

If your Dovo was advertised "shave ready", then you probably have your technique or
stropping prowess to blame. Also, if you are shaving only WTG, you can expect to
leave part of your beard behind.

Hi, firstly welcome to SRP you will find lots of info on here and lots of people willing to help. There is quite a learning curve before your straight shaves will be as close as the safety razor can get but there is nothing wrong with using the safety to finish up. In fact it is recommended until your technique is up to par. Some key pointers:- Study and learn the growth pattern of your face, watch your blade angles and keep the grip/touch SUPER light and practise stretching the skin. It takes a bit of time and lots of practice but it is well worth it in the end. Good luck and enjoy your new journey.

Welcome to SRP.

I agree with the others - what types of passes are you using? Is the razor shave ready? Are you stretching the skin while shaving? These factors, along with proper shave/stropping technique, will drastically affect the final outcome of your shave.

Yep the guys are right. You can get a super shave from a straight no matter the type of skin or beard you have. As long as your razor is proper sharp it's a software problem meaning you. It takes practice and lots of it and being mindful of the usual suspects; angle and stroke and pressure and have good facility with the blade.

Yes my Dovo is shave ready
Yes i only go WTG with straight, i don't want to die just yet haha
I strop about 20 times (b&f) before and after my shave
I try my hardest to stretch my skin, but since your supposed to use the opposite hand to shave (right?) I can't see well past my given hand when i shave as well, so i pull in a less effective manner in which I see.

Originally Posted by nick111

Yes my Dovo is shave ready
Yes i only go WTG with straight, i don't want to die just yet haha
I strop about 20 times (b&f) before and after my shave
I try my hardest to stretch my skin, but since your supposed to use the opposite hand to shave (right?) I can't see well past my given hand when i shave as well, so i pull in a less effective manner in which I see.

If the razor was shave ready when you got it, and you didn't strop it before that first shave, then you've got your best benchmark there. If your shaves got better from there, you're on the right track.

There are just so many variables it's hard to pin everything down. We try and run an iron over everything we can to catch any big wrinkles, but you're the only one who can answer the questions and figure out that sweet spot for your skin/hair.

Regarding stretching: Watch lots of videos. Every guy stretches his skin a little different, and you may be able to pick up a technique that will get you a good stretch and still allow you to see. Don't get hung up on which hand to use either. Use whatever comes natural to you.

I'd suggest stropping more. Watch several videos. You don't need to strop a hundred times per shave, but I've had my best luck with 30 canvas, followed by 45 leather, and that only before each shave. After doing a lot of research and watching a lot of videos I played around with different numbers and this is where I got my best results. Now I'm playing around with a microscope and this still seems to be where things fall into place.

WTG leaves me about a noon shadow. If I stop there I'll have a 5 o'clock shadow in about 5 hours. Across The Grain (XTG) gets me a nice smooth shave that takes about 21hrs to get back to that 5 o'clock shadow. (That's a 3 pass WTG, XTG, XTG shave.) I haven't figured out a good way to do ATG on most of my face/neck yet. There are a few spots ATG comes natural due to hair growth patterns, but I also haven't felt a need for ATG. I'm very happy with my 3pass WXX shave.

Hey, and welcome to SRP!

Peace,

Not much to add, other than restate it is not uncommon to have results you indicated. With time you'll just "get it" and you'll get the expected results. After a while, you won't be able to get less than stellar shave even if you try.

Verify your wtg really is. Hair grows in different directions. When you swipe what is assumed is wtg might be growing different direction. You can probably stay away from atg, but consider trying XTG.

Beyond an excellent shave, we also enjoy the process. Part of that is looking back, reflecting on learning. This includes frustration that I think most seasoned users had at the beginning too.

Between you and your skin getting used to it, it all comes together soon

Typically I've done a few XTG but mostly WTG about 6 times on one location, with smaller passes on each stroke, i haven't really looked into XTG, and usually i strop about half as much as you've suggested, in fact I just nicked my strop a bit 2 days ago
But what I'm really worried about is right on my jawline, i feel like if i try to, I'm going to slice my jaw right down the line like a piece of cutting paper.

Jawline is tough -- the skin curves a lot, in a short distance.

I don't want to suggest heresy, but:

. . . try using a DE razor with a _sharp blade_, taking several strokes from the chin back to the ear. Each stroke shaves a narrow line along the jaw. Start high, work down.

On _my_ face, that's ATG, and it cleans things up nicely.

Charles