Wet Shaving With a DE Razor: It’s About Passes
Using a double-edge (DE) razor when wet shaving is a different ballgame from using a Mach 3 or Fusion.
It takes a certain amount of skill and a light touch with the razor to get a smooth, comfortable result. Let’s take a look at how to successfully shave with a DE razor.
It’s about passes. We aren’t going to knock every whisker down to skin level the first time across the face. Ever vacuumed a carpet? You go over each area a couple of times to get it really clean, right? Same idea here. Wet shavers call shaving in multiple passes ‘beard reduction’.
Hopefully you’re familiar with good prep technique. If not, I humbly direct you to that post *grin*
Beard well-prepped, lather the face using circular strokes with your brush.
The first pass will be with the grain of the beard. The ‘grain’ refers to the direction your whiskers tend to lie. Rub your face with your hand, or better yet a cotton ball. Your beard will feel smoother one direction than the other. A cotton ball will leave fibers on your face when going against the grain. This is a good technique for getting an idea of how your beard grows in different areas of your face. Usually on the cheeks, this will mean ‘north to south’. Under the chin and jaw is where most of us run into complications.
Don’t worry too much about which direction you shave on the first pass under the jaw. Just go with the grain. For me, this means west to east as I see it in the mirror.
OK, the first pass has reduced the whiskers somewhat. Rinse, take your brush, and lather again.
The second pass will be across the grain. For this pass, imagine a dividing line splitting your face in half right through your nose. Make your strokes a slight diagonal from the ears toward the center line, stopping at the edge of your mouth. The mustache and chin areas should be done the same way, shaving in toward the center line (by the way, I lift my nose up to get at the area directly underneath; your mileage may vary on this). Across the grain under the jaw is again dependent on the lie of your beard. I do a south to north upward stroke here.
At this point, you have a decision. You can either feel around your face for areas that could use a touch up, or go for another full pass. There are as many opinions as shavers on this. Whichever way you go, ALWAYS have some water and lather there to cushion the blade and protect the skin. One of the hardest habits to break when transitioning from the plastic cartridge razor is touching up an area without lather. This is a real no-no with a DE.
I do a third pass against the grain, in all areas except the mustache. No matter how sharp the blade or light the touch, I get irritation trying to shave upward there. No big deal, slight stubble isn’t as noticeable as red razor burn.
Beard reduction, multiple passes, plenty of lather. Damn fine shave!
