goatee area

Hello All,

I'm a newbie and have been slowly starting with my Dovo 5/8 over the last two months. I can get most of my face and neck shaved quite well expect for the goatee area, that is above and below my lips and my chin down from the corners of my mouth. I feel like I have a good understanding of the angle needed for other parts of my face, but something about as soon as I start in that area the blade just stops and catches and starts painfully tugging on the hairs. I have tried reducing/adjusting the angle but I still have the same problem.

I am wondering if anyone has had similar issues and how as it resolved. Is it truly the angle, or maybe I'm not stretching the skin right or attacking from the correct direction? Or perhaps the blade has started to dull?

It is starting to be frustrating as I have slowly been making good progress until this point and I keep having to finish with my old Mach3.

Thanks!

Skin stretching is imperative to getting in close to the edge of your goatee. Helps isolate and raise the hair for better cutting. I'll use the heel area of the razor for jaw line trimming. Also, when I'm going someplace special I'll break out one of my 3/8's for more precise trimming around my goatee & mustache. As far as angle goes I have to work consciously to keep as shallow an angle as I can so I'm not dulling my edge too soon. Hope this helps.

Hi welcome to the site,

If everything else seems to be working fine it's possible it might just be the tip of the razor is not quite sharp enough. It's really easy to miss the tip when starting out with stropping and honing. It might well be if the razor is a couple of months use in that it's time for a hone. Do you hone yourself?

It's also worth looking at the member map to see if there is anyone near you that could mentor

Good luck fixing the issue

I'm new to straight razor shaving, and I'm shaving around a beard. I've found two things that are critical to my shaving success: proper skin stretching, and using my razor's heel.

Actually, there's a couple more things that I've learned: patience, and practice.

Good luck!

I'm a newbie too, but I'll try to give my 2 cents...

I found out that while shaving around my beard, I have less confidence, which takes my shaving down a few levels...
So for that, I found a few solutions:
1. As appose to what's been said here, I don't use the heel. It still scares me. therefore, I simply sacrifice the "with the grain" method and start the shaving (of the area around the beard) with the edge flat on the skin, and from the point where the beard end.
2. It's far from perfect, but I figured the following: I need to temporarily sacrifice the perfect shape of my beard in order to learn to shave right. Therefore, shaving around the beard is done only to make it esthetically acceptable, nothing more. I realized that before learning to shape a beard with the SR, I need to master holding, angling, shaving etc. Once I feel confidant enough, I'll start focusing on the beard thing.
3. In order not to get used to using the SR that way around my beard, I shave the area around my beard with a disposable Gillette razor. I've been using it since I was 14, so I know how to handle it round my precious beard... I hate it, but it's for a good cause, so...

Hope it helps..

thanks! I will try these and see what happens!

Don't have a Goatee but I do have a mustache - now a Handlebar.
Two things I've done that seem to make this much easier:

Square points - I know, when you are starting out they are scary/not recommended - and I have a Red Imp that was my first square point that gave me a clinic on wound treatment...but it gets better very quickly. Properly prepared they allow you to define the edges, just take your time - and

Clear the way - just before I edge my 'Stache I clear most of the lather at the edge with a finger - one area at a time. You need to see exactly were you are going. Again, take your time, work on skin tension and work area by area so that things stay wet.

Good luck and Smooth Shaving