First one under my belt (not literally) and thanks

jojo · Post by **jojo** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:01 am

OK, I did it. A three pass straight shave (if you count going the same direction different passes), no touching up with a DE, no nicks, cuts, blood loss, and not much irritation. Not a bad shave -- and in certain spots, quite good. Under the chin area, though, I look a bit like the guys you work with to whom you need to resist the urge to say, "Man, learn to shave."

My biggest hurdles will be getting close right under my chin and, more generally, getting used to using my left hand -- I found the shaving with my right hand to be fairly intuitive and comfortable. With the left, once I got past the cheek it felt like, well, I was using my left hand; the left neck area, under around and under the jaw, was something of a mystery as to how to get it done. I get the sense that there is a fine line between a light, but confident touch (which I had going pretty well with my right hand) and a light but pathetically weak touch, which I had going with my left, which resulted in the stubble feeling more like a barrier to the movement of the blade than anything being mowed down, difficulty starting the stroke, and the blade skipping, etc. Practice, practice, practice.

Thanks to all for advice -- even if not directly given, received simply by reading all the helpful posts. And particularly thank you to Dr. Moss, for his wonderul guide and contributions.

Mark

mparker762 · Post by **mparker762** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:09 am

Keep at it with the left hand. Soon the left hand will get up to speed, and meanwhile the right hand will get overconfident and you'll find that it'll cause most of your nicks until you work through it. Once I got over my handedness when shaving I find that my left hand does a better job, and my right hand is more likely to give me razor burn.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:54 am

I'm assuming you did all three passes downwards? OK for a start. Next time, when you come to the under the chin area, try to go sideways with the razor slanted as in picture #6 of the second pass in the guide. It is easy to do and might be close enough that you can dispense with an against the grain third pass.

Chris

Occam · Post by **Occam** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:30 pm

In terms of handedness is it OK to use the right hand for the entire shave?

When shaving most parts it seems having the fingers towards the face (as opposed to the thumb facing) is a comfortable stroke. Is there anything inherently wrong with a thumb toward the face stroke?

As in the right hand shaving the left cheek with right thumb towards the left cheek?

sebell · Post by **sebell** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:53 am

I would recommend using both hands when
shaving, especially now that you are developing
your technique. However, if you really feel that
using your right hand only is significantly more
comfortable after a while, by all means do what
works for you.

- Scott

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:21 pm

I've been using only my left hand (my dominant hand) shaving for a year now. No problems whatsoever shaving all parts of my face and neck.

kaptain_zero · Post by **kaptain_zero** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:49 pm

Like Richard I shaved with my right hand only for a couple of months but I worked at using my left hand and was surprised at how quickly I became confident in it's use.. It sure makes things easier. I'm still working at it though... there are a couple of spots where I could really use the full dexterity of my right hand in my left but for now I have to make do with my right hand.

So, give yourself some time... it'll become second nature eventually. Just don't push yourself too far!

Regards

Christian

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:09 pm

I'm going to try using my right hand now; I expect blood.

sebell · Post by **sebell** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:24 pm

Perhaps it's different because I have been doing so
since I started straight razor shaving, but I find that
my right and left hands are absolutely equal in their
shaving ability.

Good luck Richard!

- Scott

kaptain_zero · Post by **kaptain_zero** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:24 pm

rustyblade wrote:I'm going to try using my right hand now; I expect blood.

Hope you mentioned me in your will, in a nice way!

Good luck, and just do the easy stuff to start, as you build your feel you can try the trickier stuff.

Christian

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:37 pm

kaptain_zero wrote:
rustyblade wrote:I'm going to try using my right hand now; I expect blood.
Hope you mentioned me in your will, in a nice way!

Good luck, and just do the easy stuff to start, as you build your feel you can try the trickier stuff.

Christian

Used my right hand a little this evening. I completely forgot on the first pass out of sheer routine. It went pretty well, no nicks or anything just really slow progress. It felt like someone else was shaving my face.

kaptain_zero · Post by **kaptain_zero** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:00 pm

Congrats! Hey, it'll get easier quite quickly if you stick with it... It's just durn weird doing something delicate with the off hand. While I am right handed, my strongest hand is my left, so it gets to do all the crude stuff like twisting off jar lids and the like, which makes it so weird doing something delicate.

Christian