Blunt razor or very skilled shaver? I feel like my GOTTA would be taking lumps out of my face if I was putting that much pressure on. I'm brand new to straights and not very good yet.
He definitely goes to town on himself with that thing, so he for sure has a good feel for what he’s doing, or he would have flayed himself open like a trout. He also is pretty comfortable rolling the blade over the contours of his face, so I am going with a dude who has done this quite a few times.
If his blade was dull there would have been a lot more blood. I am going with Jared, he has done this before. I have never shaved off 7 months of growth with a straight so I can't comment on the damage. I shaved the beard off 17 years ago, long before I discovered our hobby.
There was some good technique in the video. Did not watch the whole show, just jumped around. WTG, ATG, XTG, skin stretching and muscle manipulation was not bad. IMHO the lad had held a blade before and did a good job on skin that has not seen a bevel in some time
I assumed he must be quite experienced! Can anyone explain how he looks like he's putting on a lot of pressure? Or maybe he's not... ?
I don’t know how to explain this so that it makes sense. It is a cross between muscle memory and a Jedi’s mastery of the force. The same concept holds when a newbie starts with DE, or an experienced DE guy starts with straights. Zero pressure is an absolute must. Until it isn’t. Eventually you get to a point where you are comfortable enough with your tool, and your face, that zero pressure becomes more of a mantra than an absolute. I have a very coarse beard that grows nearly flat. If I don’t stretch the skin, and apply a little pressure ATG, I cannot get to BBS. Doesn’t matter the razor, whether it’s a Tech or a straight. So of course this is different, depending on your beard type. That said, one still needs to know his tools. I can use much more pressure with a 6/8 Full Hollow than a Feather Artist Club. Same as I can use more pressure with a Gillette Super Speed than an R41. The biggest thing that amazed me was the dude’s lathering. On that first pass, there is NO way he got lather worked down through that beard, and onto his face very well. But he no only whipped through it, he went back over the same spots, again and again, before he relathered for a second pass. If that was a comfortable shave, that dude has a serious rhino face.
Pretty cool video, @Dansco , I loved seeing that 7 months beard come off. Make the one hand video, dude. Love to watch.
This. Additionally, you’d be hard pressed to find a more efficient method of facial hair removal (efficiency = fewest number of strokes/passes to achieve desired results).
This is a comfortably honed thin blade, sharp and soft. I would guess a coticule edge. With a thicker, white beard the guy might be needing a thicker, less noisy blade or a sharper edge and the shave would look different,...
I’m NOT going to use this gentleman as a role model when I start training my hand with a straight. It’d look like I flew through a windshield if I approached my face like that!
He definitely knows how to use a straight for sure. I would never go that fast though, I’m too OCD to whip through a shave like that. But he did a pretty good job. His skin is for sure irritated, you can tell. Either that or he has bad skin.
The irritation seemed like a forgone conclusion considering that first pass that resembled a dry shave. I don’t see how he could have gotten good lather protection worked into that mass of heavy beard so quickly.