Thread: Struggling to move forward

Im a newbie when it comes to straight razor shaving and my best guess is i have used a straight for roughly 30 times now.

Some areas go pretty well, and some don't go that well.

Some were expected (chin) but there is 1 part that keeps bothering me. Its the jawline on the right side of my face. And a part *higher part of my neck?*

Here iis a picture to kinda show what area i mean:



To be clear. I am right handed and use my right hand when doing X/W the grain (downward) and my left hand going upward.

This part however is not even close to being smooth most of the time. Of course im a beginner so i don't mind but i was wondering on how to improve here.

Should i just keep on shaving and shaving and will it go better/smoother as i go? Or should i try vary something technique/hand/angle.

One of the reasons it bothers me is because especially the neck part is really easy to stretch. Is that really just because im a beginner and my left hand is so much worse than my right? (Second pass A/Xtg)

Hard to say what the problem is but I guess it depends on your beard growth.

In that area my beard grows sideways, towards my ears. I do a pass upwards and then a pass downwards, which is two XTG passes for me and gets my neck very smooth. Stretching is a great technique for the neck.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Hard to say what the problem is but I guess it depends on your beard growth.

In that area my beard grows sideways, towards my ears. I do a pass upwards and then a pass downwards, which is two XTG passes for me and gets my neck very smooth. Stretching is a great technique for the neck.

It grows downward with an angle (tried to place the arrows in the correct way).

Just like you say. Stretching is easy there that's one of the reasons im not sure why it wont get smooth. Maybe really because its my left instead of my right hand?

Honestly... relax. In the grand scheme of things, you've just started! Keep on shaving and enjoying it vs obsessing. You'll be amazed at how it just comes together all of a sudden!

That's by no means ment to be harsh. The founder of this site always signs off with, "Have fun.". You know what... After all this time, I think it finally hit me how important that really is. When I saw it - everything started working. Weird .

Have fun!! It'll come!

+1 to David's advice above. It's easy to get a bit obsessive about these things, but odds are one day you'll just notice that that ares really isn't an issue any more.

You mentioned stretching, which is obviously good. Other aspects to play around with could include varying both the angle at which you hold the blade, and the direction of your stroke. Have you tried going diagonally either with or against the grain?

But hang in there, keep trying, and by all means enjoy the ride. It will get better!

Originally Posted by Cangooner

+1 to David's advice above. It's easy to get a bit obsessive about these things, but odds are one day you'll just notice that that ares really isn't an issue any more.

You mentioned stretching, which is obviously good. Other aspects to play around with could include varying both the angle at which you hold the blade, and the direction of your stroke. Have you tried going diagonally either with or against the grain?

But hang in there, keep trying, and by all means enjoy the ride. It will get better!

Thanks for the advices. Was not really obsessing but just wondering what the best course of action was. Either try hard to improve or just keep going and see when i will get it smooth.

I will just continue and as u guys say, it will come together some time then


I might indeed try to vary the angle and direction. Will try this out next shave. Thanks again guys.

OP. I struggled with the exact same spot and if for some reason I miss a BBS by a hair (get it?) it is usually in this exact same spot. For the most part I get it smooth every time now. A couple things that have helped me and may help you. First, I come downward (with my right hand) at a slight inward angle toward my Adam's apple or middle of base of neck. Instead of straight down. Not much of an angle. Same thing going up (with my left) I angle just a bit in toward my chin. Not much. Just a bit. The other thing I have found helpful is manipulating my skin to get that "hollow" spot flat so the blade can get it close. The last thing is on my last pass I increase my blade angle (after significant beard reduction) to around 30 degrees. Most of the time with these techniques and if course pulling the skin tight I get it BBS!

Hope this helps.

I have to agree with the relax and enjoy your shave. At the same time it took me a while to get close in those areas. One of the things that I do is a pass from the corner of my jaw to my chin, which winds up being not quite an against the grain pass for me along and under my jaw line. For my neck I do a diagonal pass which again is almost but not quite against, this combined with some skin stretching does it for me most of the time. I don't get perfect on my neck all the time, about 50-60%. I could do it all the time but there is a rash risk for me in that area. I would rather a little bit that can be felt and not seen than a rash.

Thanks guys! I changed the angle of the blade and the angle of which im shaving in slightly and that exact spot is bbs after 2 passes now! Thanks a ton!

Originally Posted by toroo

Thanks guys! I changed the angle of the blade and the angle of which im shaving in slightly and that exact spot is bbs after 2 passes now! Thanks a ton!

That's great news toroo!!

You might find that eventually, two passes on your face will be enough. But you'll still do a third cuz its just fun to shave lol!

Again, congrats on getting there!