The Three-Pass Shave is Unnecessary

The three-pass shave that is so commonly advocated and performed by hobbyist double-edge (DE) shavers -- you know: with grain, across grain, then against grain -- involves wasted time and energy for many, if not most, shavers.

If you follow this advice, you may never again have to do a whole-beard with-grain pass.

For the longest time with DE razors, I have routinely shaved without doing a full-beard with-grain first pass. Most often I do a two-pass-plus-clean-up shave beginning either with across-grain or against-grain strokes. (When using a straight razor, however, I always do a first pass that is primarily with grain.) No matter which DE process I use (skipping a with-grain pass and using an across- or against-grain first pass), my clean-shaven outcome ALWAYS feels baby smooth when stroking with the grain of my beard.

This morning, for example, I took a warm-water shave. I heated a re-purposed Greek-yogurt cup full of water in the microwave for a minute. Then I poured most of that into another yogurt cup to be used for razor rinsing. The remainder of the warm water stayed in the first yogurt cup to be used for brush dipping when making lather.

For shave soap I use Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (PAA) Black Bot shave soap. My razor was the Parker Variant equipped with a third-use Dorco blade.

The first pass was across grain with the Variant set to one. Second pass was against grain (even on my upper lip) with the Variant on two. I made extra clean-up strokes without re-lathering on my chin and below my jaw line.

Post shave, I rinsed with water, then applied a splash of witch hazel. I finished the shave by applying PAA's Black Bot balm.

A great shave to start a great day.

Happy shaving!