Livin' on the Edge -- Against the Grain

I am currently using one of my favorite blades: the Personna Platinum Chrome blade -- the so-called red-label blade that is made in Israel. It has been a while since I've used this blade, having been more recently focusing on its corporate cousin, the USA-made Personna Super (lab blue), as well as the SuperMax Titanium.

Both of the Personna models work best for me in mild razors, and the Merkur 33C is becoming the leader in the clubhouse for the Personna red label. Today I took this Merkur-33C-red-label combination to a different level. After shaving my neck in the usual manner, which is a regional shave using approximately with-grain then against-grain strokes, I changed my process mid shave.

As I was about to start the last half of my shave, I decided to forego with-grain strokes and instead use against-grain strokes for the equivalent of my first pass. I did this on my chin, lower lip, jaw line, and cheeks.  On my upper lip, which is usually the last region that I shave, I did cross-grain strokes because it's very sensitive and injury prone, and I almost never shave against grain in that region.

Some readers in the past have commented that it's rather brave to begin with against-grain strokes. My comment is "it depends." If you are stroking quickly, it's beyond brave; it's down right foolhardy. However, if one makes slow, oblique, mindful strokes, I would suggest that first-pass against-grain strokes are merely efficient.

My goal with today's experiment was to see if I could get a good shave in a single pass -- pushing the performance envelope of the technology, you might say.

When the smoke cleared, my initial against-grain strokes were not sufficient to get a really close shave, so in each region I did follow-up strokes against grain and a few touch-up strokes cross grain. (On my upper lip I did follow-up strokes across grain in the other direction.) The result was a bit closer than I would normally achieve with this hardware combination -- not quite baby smooth but as near to that as I can usually achieve without significant insult to my skin. Really, today's shave was very close and though I did have three pin-point weepers, they disappeared with rinsing, and required no further attention. I merely used Gillette after-shave gel (in the blue inverted bottle) and then later applied a little non-sticky moisturizer.

The main take-away concept is that slow speed is the key when making against-grain razor strokes. It also helps to use oblique strokes, which increase the effective sharpness of any blade (whether razor, knife, chisel, hand plane, etc).

Tomorrow, my intention is to include my neck in this against-grain-first process. My lower neck is the most fragile and easily wounded region, so it will be interesting to see the outcome. You can be sure that I'll be making slow, careful strokes in this area.

Happy shaving!

Another Myth Busted?

When I discovered double-edge (DE) shaving technology, I fell in love with the close shaves that I could get. At the end of a day that began with a double-edge shave, my face felt as smooth as it was at the beginning of a day that started with a cartridge-razor shave.

That was when I formed the conclusion that a DE shave was superior to that provided by a cartridge razor. I added this to pre-existing reasons for DE shaves which include better economy and a smaller ecological burden.

Yet since I've returned to humble double-bladed cartridge razors for some shaves while traveling by air, I've had reason to question the superiority of a DE shave. It remains less costly than the disposable-cartridge alternatives and is clearly better ecologically. But a closer look at the shave-quality comparison is in order.

First some facts about my previous shaving habits with disposable razors including multi-bladed cartridge designs:

• I always shaved in a single, with-grain pass.
• For many years I had abandoned shaving soaps and shaving creams, and merely used bath soap for my cartridge shaves.
• The entire time preceding my DE use, I paid little to no attention to matters of shaving technique and best practices.

So after DE shaving for reasonable time, I had learned to make multiple passes for a closer shave. I had also learned to shave against the grain with a DE razor, with techniques that included oblique (skewed-razor) strokes as well as slow strokes. Also, in my analysis of shaving instruments, I came to understand more about the hysteresis of the cartridge razor -- both how to use it most effectively, and also how to eliminate it when appropriate.

As a result of that, I found that when I applied my DE-shaving skills and knowledge to the use of my humble disposable, pivoting, twin-bladed plastic razor, I actually consistently achieved shaves of equivalent closeness and yet with less irritation and wounds than when I used my DE instruments.

I achieved these excellent cartridge-razor shaves by doing the following:

• Using a good-quality shave soap and resulting lather
• Making two passes with touch ups after that (first pass with grain, second pass against grain)
• My with-grain strokes were rather quick and made with the razor square to the direction of shaving stroke. (Both these techniques maximize the effect of hysteresis; that is, the effectiveness of the second blade in the cartridge being maximally affected by the cut of the first blade.)
• My against-grain strokes were made slowly and with the razor head skewed off parallel with the direction of the razor stroke. Both these techniques diminish the effect of hysteresis; the slow stroke gives the hair follicle time to retract after the cut of the first blade, and the skewed razor head effectively enlarges the distance between the blades in the cartridge. This lack of hysteresis in against-grain strokes will eliminate the additional risk of in-grown hairs, which is often attributed to cartridge razors.

My experience suggests to me that it is a myth that DE razors shave better than more modern cartridge-style razors. I would say that it is better shaving technique with DE equipment that provides closer shaves.

I would argue that believing otherwise is believing in a myth, now busted.

That said, I must again aver that I remain a committed DE shaver due to ecological and economical reasons. Hope you do too.

Happy shaving!