Leisureguy has written extensively about the importance of establishing proper shaving technique, in both his daily blog and in his wonderful book on gourmet shaving, called…..Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving, available here. I’ve been working on my technique for the last year, practicing with a host of razors and blades, and all I can say is, man, I think I could get a great shave from a backhoe! Some weeks ago I wrote about how I had given up on the Gillette TTO razors because they just didn’t “fit” the contours of my face. Well, today I decided to give my mint-condition vintage Fat Boy another try, this time with my ongoing test of the Sputnik blade from Mother Russia. What a difference a month’s hiatus makes! I got an excellent shave, right up there with my Merkur HD and Slant-bar. Smooth as silk…I could barely feel the blade cutting the beard…but gone it was as subsequent faceturbation revealed. Prep was with my “luxury” combo of Cristalo shave stick, superlathered with T&H 1805 and my new technique of building up the soap lather on my face with the brush (vintage Simpson #10) before charging the brush with cream. Works really well because it gives the beard just a few extra seconds of soaking in the soap lather before adding the cream. The alum block told the tale: no zing, no sting!
I once played golf, and every ball I hit went straight for about 10 years, then abruptly turned a corner in the air and went sideways. The guy who was showing me how to play, a really good golfer (and shaver—straight-razor guy, ex-barber) told me that part of it was the angle of the club face, but mostly it was the swing. He said if the swing was good, the club face angle became less important. I have no idea whether that’s true, but he could swing well and hit the ball straight. Maybe the same thing happens in shaving—heck, in working with any instrument or tool: good technique can pull the best results from whatever device you have in your hands.
By: LeisureGuy on August 31, 2007
at 12:22 pm
oops: “years” s/b “yards”
By: LeisureGuy on August 31, 2007
at 12:22 pm
There is a mystery in how the brain and body put the whole thing together in learning a new skill. And of course there is the issue of how our abilities evolve through the four stages of 1. Conscious-incompetent, 2. Conscious-competent, 3. Unconscious-competent, and finally 4. Unconscious-incompetent. The key is to stay somewhere between 2 and 3 without entering 4! I notice in your posts that you seem to get a great shave regardless of how bad that particular day’s equipment happens to be. I am beginning to experience the same thing, which I can only attribute to the brain/body connection finally “getting it”.
By: scourmanop on August 31, 2007
at 2:42 pm