Very thin face.....

so i have a dovo that my girl bought me as a gift. didnt come w/ much info. also have a narrow, short dovo strop. no paste yet. my problem very well could be my face. very thin. angular. both sides of my adams apple are very curved. my blade is too long to get in there. i contort my face every which way to no avail. my facial hair grows at pretty random angles aswell not to mention a good sized scar on my chin that i cut w/ out fail. shaving down is cake. no problems. not very smooth tho. when i shave up i see extra skin i never knew i had being as thin as i am. i try to pull my face from beneath the razor but my skin is slick from the lather. pull from the top and its not effective. bought the lyn abrams video.... nothing to say about that. also, i am right handed and use my right hand for my left neck and right side of face. after a few weeks i am ok at shaving my left face w/ my left hand. actually i am better at shaving up w/ my less dominate hand on the left side of my face than i am w/ my dominate hand on my reight side of face. dont really know what i am asking but if any gaunt faced people out there have any suggestions i would appreciate it!

Welcome to SRP. I have an angular face/neck as well. It took me a few weeks to begin to feel comfortable manipulating the razor. I shave with my right hand and I have learned to stretch the skin to overcome the nooks and crannies. I keep a towel hanging near enough to reach to dry the fingers of my left hand if necessary when stretching.

I usually do one pass down followed by rinse, re-lather and another pass up. If you are having difficulty with the down pass I suspect you need a sharper razor. You might consider buying another shave ready razor for a backup and then send your Dovo out to one of the forum's honemiester. Best of luck with it.

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Originally Posted by oftenfacetious

gaunt

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Good word man! I totally forgot about that one...

Anyway, have you tried reaching some of these areas with only one small section of your razor? You mentioned the razor was too long, but maybe just try the toe. I find this approach works best for some of those tough spots. I also agree with Jimmy. If a with the grain pass isn't too smooth it may either be your technique or the razor's sharpness. I usually just do one WTG pass and can get BBS from that alone. Maybe more practice will just yield better results for you? Without seeing your shaves in person it's hard to say. I'm sure you will get some other opinions here too so just see what approaches are suggested!

thanks for the replies guys. appreciate it. my g/f bought the razor from classic shave and it came shave ready. i searched the net after posting my original text and i found out one thing i am doing wrong. i am stopping before AND after shaving! guess thats bad. dont want to hone again so i will strop it profusely. according to the 10 passes on canvas and up to 60 on the leather i just read on the web i fall far from it in the past. i have been doing 20 on canvas and 10 on leather. i bought a 3 sided sharpening stone but it doesnt even say the grit so i am sure it isnt enough. i only use the ceramic side on it. might do that one more time and then strop it lots. i will take all the advice into action. might buy another razor too and a good stone. once again thanx!

I've found that a shorter blade makes for easier maneuvering around my jaw and neck

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Originally Posted by oftenfacetious

i am stopping before AND after shaving!

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Stropping? If that's what you mean, I don't think that's a problem. In fact some people prefer to strop before and after instead of just before. At least that's the way I understand it.

re stropping: i wasnt stropping enough and then i read on the internet that i should not strop for a minimum of 24 hours past shaving. read that the fin is "growing" after shaving and if i strop it it will deteriorate and possibly chip the edge..... dont know enough about anything yet. i tried shaving 3 times in a row to achieve a closer shave and my face really hurt!! think i will stick w/ twice. need a wider longer strop.

I shave daily and do two passes. If I do three passes I get irritation. Shaving three times in a row would be painful for me.

I put minimal pressure on the blade and hold it loosely enough so that if I run into an area that would pull the blade moves rather then nicking me. I never force a blade if it pulls so I very seldom get a nick. If it pulls it goes back to the hone.

I strop about 10 round trips following the shave. I think it helps get any skin or whatever out of the striations in the edge and helps prevent corrosion.

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Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

I strop about 10 round trips following the shave.

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Me too. Maybe it's silly, but I think it helps dry the very edge of the blade

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Originally Posted by oftenfacetious

re stropping: i wasnt stropping enough and then i read on the internet that i should not strop for a minimum of 24 hours past shaving. read that the fin is "growing" after shaving and if i strop it it will deteriorate and possibly chip the edge..... dont know enough about anything yet. i tried shaving 3 times in a row to achieve a closer shave and my face really hurt!! think i will stick w/ twice. need a wider longer strop.

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I've read that too and since I don't believe everything I read on the internet I sort of figured this was some sort of urban myth. I would like to see some images shot under a microscope that supports this theory.

In the old days I doubt most men were rich enough for the multiple hones/strops/razors we indulge ourselves in today.

My grandpa got by pretty well with one razor, one strop, and the hardest barber hone I've ever seen. He shaved every day with that one razor and years later when I first started using straights I used the same razor every day before I finally got a second one.

I strop after shaving (20 laps) because I feel it helps dry the blade and gets the fin aligned so when I go thru my preshave stropping the next day I don't have to go thru extra laps to fully straighten out the edge.

Where did you buy the stone? I would hesitate to even touch it to my razor if I didn't know what grit it was. It could ruin the edge you already have.

thanks again for all the responses. i bought my honing stone at a rod and gun store. i live in the middle of nowhere and not much is available. could go online and get one. i am under the impression that i am only supposed to hone like 3 x a year max? it removes stock off the blade? i have honed mine 3x in 2 1/2 months. dunno. its a smith tri- hone arkansas stone. after i already honed my straight like 3 times i read that i should lap the stone first! live and learn i guess. it doesnt say what grit it is so i use the fine side only. i look at my edge w/ a 10x magnifying loop and i can the the striations. it looks ok. but then i dont really know. hmmm. maybe i should get paypal and get one off this site. im in southern n.h. and there isnt anything for over an hour drive.

I have 3 translucent arkansas stones, and although they are very fine stones, I wouldn't use them as a final stone on a razor. I had a look at the tri hone and it says there is a synthetic coarse grit stone, a medium and fine grit arkansas.
I would say that you probably need a better hone, but I am open to correction as I have only tried translucents.
Would anybody else use them as a final finish?
It would be well worth your while trying any of the recommended stones here or getting your razor honed again, as if your stone is not fine enough you may need to get it touched up.