Thread: Neck trouble

Hi ya'll,

I've gotten pretty good at shaving the cheeks with my razor. I always leave the goatee part unshaved. However, I can't ever seem to get a good smooth shave on the neck. I'm not old so I don't have loose neck skin. I always shave down, with the grain, rinse, relather, and then up, against the grain. Despite this technique, I still can't get it smooth. Technique issue? Equipment issue? Honing needed?

Any suggestions or advise?

That is a tricky are to master for a variety of reasons. My neck is rarely perfect, but nobody feels it, so nobody else knows. The most important factor for me is comfort. In figuring out what to do and not to do I did have to have a few uncomfortable shaves. Basically I do must first pass up and my second is part of it corner of the jaw in and the part of it down and across and I leave it there. It is close and comfortable. Skin stretching on my neck is an absolute must and does lead to some silly poses. Part of the stretch and positioning is to have the skin tight and the hollows raised up, although they have been getting rounder over the years. A whisker growth map may help you decide which way to attack from to be the most efficient.

Like Rez my neck is rarely completely smooth at the end of the shave but looks fine. Learning how your hair grows will help a lot in figuring out how to attack it . About half my neck grows up instead of down and at about a 20-30 degree angle towards my chin. Makes it interesting. I partially ignore what I probably should do and shave my neck first down, then up and across towards the chin and finally down and across towards the ears.

The neck is a pain and the whiskers don't seem to cooperate with growing in the right direction. If I want my neck totally smooth, I need four passes, which I normally do. Until I really figured out the growth pattern/grain and how to properly stretch, my neck was a mess and I did not think I would ever get it figured out. You will. Give it some time.

Ok, thanks. It's good to know that the neck won't be as perfect as the cheeks are. Most of my neck hair is down but some grows back towards the ears. I tried to figure out a way to shave sideways but the razor took up most of my neck so that little section wasn't going to work except for straight up or down.

Thanks again for ya'lls advise!

If you are able to achieve a close shave there via a DE razor or some other razor, I suggest that you pay close attention to how that blade is coming into contact with your beard vs. how your straight razor is. Up and down might not be the best way for you to do that. I will tell you what I do only to demonstrate that its unconventional. There's no reason to think that what I'm doing will help since my beard may be completely different than yours. But my first two passes on the neck are kind of up and down but more in an X pattern. From right side mid way between the chin and the ear down to the left middle at the base of the neck. Then up from the right middle base of the neck to the upper jaw midway between the chin and the ear. The final pass is directly side to side, right to left. I do this because this is how I was doing things successfully when I was using a DE. Same shave, different razor.

Originally Posted by elterrell

Most of my neck hair is down but some grows back towards the ears. I tried to figure out a way to shave sideways but the razor took up most of my neck so that little section wasn't going to work except for straight up or down.

Hi!

You can shave your neck neatly with practice. Going against the grain is the trick.
At height of my adamsapple (aa) my beard grows away from the aa on both sides upwards towards my ears. I've had the same problems you do until a few months ago. I kept at it and thought of what I could do.
So now I tilt and turn my head back to get my chin out of the way. I pull my skin downward over the collar bone to straighten it as much as possible and even pull it out a bit. I use the razor diagonally downward from my ear towards my aa, cutting only with the tip of the blade. Be careful not to dig in trying this. I don't have room to put down the whole blade either.
My neck is still not as perfect as my cheeks, but nearly.

Think about your shaving when you're away from the mirror and plan what you can improve the next day. Fiddling around and thinking of something new in the hurry of a before-work-shave won't help you much but get you cut up.

I wish you a smooth neck soon,
OldSalt

My neck hair grows mostly side to side, so to get a smooth shave is challenging. I settle for visibly smooth, as no one strokes my neck ATG. I do one pass XTG up, one pass XTG down, and then a second pass XTG down but at a 30 degree angle across my neck. It's not totally ATG, but the results are close enough.

Note, however, that I've only recently been able to incorporate this semi-ATG pass, due to irritation and razor burn. As my technique has improved, I've been able to do this. Until recently, I just repeated the second XTG pass and got adequate results. So if you find it difficult or painful, just keep working on technique and trying it out once in a while.

Originally Posted by Moonshae

My neck hair grows mostly side to side, so to get a smooth shave is challenging. I settle for visibly smooth, as no one strokes my neck ATG. I do one pass XTG up, one pass XTG down, and then a second pass XTG down but at a 30 degree angle across my neck. It's not totally ATG, but the results are close enough.

Note, however, that I've only recently been able to incorporate this semi-ATG pass, due to irritation and razor burn. As my technique has improved, I've been able to do this. Until recently, I just repeated the second XTG pass and got adequate results. So if you find it difficult or painful, just keep working on technique and trying it out once in a while.

Try holding your razor like this.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ml#post1028898

Originally Posted by elterrell

Ok, thanks. It's good to know that the neck won't be as perfect as the cheeks are. Most of my neck hair is down but some grows back towards the ears. I tried to figure out a way to shave sideways but the razor took up most of my neck so that little section wasn't going to work except for straight up or down.

Thanks again for ya'lls advise!

Great advice so far. I have found a couple things to really help get my neck that baby smooth I was after. One...instead of straight up and down I go ever so slightly at an angle. That makes a lot of difference along with 2..... As rezdog said stretching the skin while swallowing to flatten out the hollows. A good sharp razor is a must too.

I don't always go for a BBS but most of the time I do and I nail it 95% of the time. Still faceturbating.