I use my off hand for stretching when I feel the need, other than that, it mostly just hangs there(the hand that is)..
Nope ... wake up, shave, shower, coffee ... how do you expect me to know anything before my morning coffee?
I need to pull the skin around my Adam's Apple. I can't stand running the razor over it so I pull the skin to one side or the other using my left hand. But I also continuously run the left hand over the skin to see if I missed any spots.
I shave with both hands. I do a couple of different things with my offhand. 1. Use a fidget spinner. 2. Do light skin stretching. 3. Place hand on face/head to hold steady. 4. Use hand to lean on mirror when I'm getting close to mirror.
I'm late to the party but, I thought I'd add my 2cents. I shave in the shower, right handed. I keep my left hand slightly lathered so that I can pass it over shaved areas to see if I need to make a second pass. The extra lather re-lubricated my face for the second lap (if needed). In most cases, the shave cream has softened my whiskers enough that even a quick swipe with regular soap is enough to identify missed spots and lubricate for the final touch-ups. I hope you can use some of this.
They're mischievous little buggers. Mines always up to no good. Got to have eyes in the back of your head Which causes more problems for head shavers...
I do your #3, but in addition I find I sometimes need to steady my brush. Or I switch to the offhand with the brush, so that my original onhand is now an offhand. Back and forth.
I use my off-hand to gently stretch the skin no matter what tool I use to shave. It has significantly improved the comfort and closeness of my shaves.
I don't do much skin stretching with a safety razor and don't include my other hand. When using a straight razor, I shave the left side of my face with my left hand and the right side with the right hand.
Ha, this made me laugh as I was thinking about it... will probably check myself in the morning but I think when I'm not using my off hand for light skin stretching its usually on/holding my waist. Now I'm going to be self-conscious about what I'm doing
I'm usually leaning on my left hand...then I have to pull off the stuck towel when I go to re lather.
I read your question just before shower & shave, so I took attention while shaving: my offhand hand just rests on the sink. Lazy bum.