[Caleb (OP)]

Several months ago I started shaving differently than before. That is, as a male, I started holding the razor very, very close to the head of the razor.

After washing my face with soap and water and then adding shaving cream, I hold the razor up top towards the head. Then, looking in the mirror i have in the shower, I have been getting a far closer shave than I have ever gotten, along with much fewer nicks. It really seams to me that holding the razor handle further down the handle leads to much greater loss of sensitivity, etc. In this current method, I am much more able to match the counters of my face and not apply either too much or too little pressure and I glide across the skin surface more.

Does anyone else do this"

Yours,

Caleb

[eionmac]

I have used a) electric razor, b) old fashioned cut throat c) plastic handle inseted steel like 'bic' type d) older safety razor like 'gillette' and e) my  army knife, to prove it was sharp! Most pain/cuts were from electric razor. Safety razor depends on grip as questioner noted, similar for 'bic' type. Grip near head gives steadier  movement and no 'bending' 'however so slight' of handle. With army knife I learned to hold by the depth of the blade, a mere 5 mm from skin and it works. Leave the cut throat to the barber!

[Bored chemist]

I wonder if anyone could coherently argue against the idea that "if it works for you, then it's the right way to do it"?
Incidentally, I have a full beard + 'tache so my opinion may be uninformed.

[Caleb (OP)]

Well, just because it works for you doesn't mean it's wrong. Although I agree that purely anecdotal evidence should not persuade. (The plural of anecdote is anecdotes, not data, as they say.)

This morning I was thinking about a good metaphor and it seems to me that one okay metaphor is a surgeon using a scalpel. (Okay -- I am not a surgeon and the main thing I cut, other than weeds, etc., is myself in the morning.) But a surgeon's grip of the scalpel, especially with the forward finger,  I believe, is fairly close to the blade, not many inches back, for example, which I think is the equivalent of holding a razor handle at the far edge.

But I'd advise people to try it themselves and see if it works or doesn't work, and since I started this about 2 or 3 months ago, my shaving has gone very, very well, with close shaves, no nicks, and confidence that I can do it again. (Also, this method allows me to keep my blades longer -- not that shaving blade people would be at all interested in me giving up earlier and buying more blades! NO, no -- couldn't possibly happen!)

Just because there is a correlation doesn't mean there is causation -- in every causative relation there IS a correlation.