Thread: Almost There...

I was finally able to shave this morning WTG and XTG with no damage to my face. I'm still struggling with my jaw line and left side of my neck. The jaw line is tough for obvious reasons and I've yet to find the right blade angle to shave effectively without seriously nicking my face. The other problem is that the beard on the left left side of my neck grows horizontally away from my adam's apple and I can't figure out a blade angle to shave it effectively. Any suggestions?

BTW, I was ready to give up on the straight razor a few weeks ago but all the encouragement I've received on this site has kept me going. Thanks for all the help.

It sounds like you are making great progress. Congratulations!

I tend to do sort of a hybrid stroke on my neck and lower jawline area. It ends up being more of a "with and across the grain" as opposed to a pure wtg for the first pass followed with an "across and against" pass. To do a pure wtg or atg on my neck would mean going horizontally around my neck, which I don't find very effective. I know this is not the best description, but I'm not sure how to better describe it.

My point is that once you feel that you have good control of your razor I would experiment with different methods for tackling your beard. There is a diagram showing general directions of beard growth and indicating a good approach to shaving each area of the face. It was taken from a Barbers Manual (it's in the Wiki, I think) and would be a great place to start figuring it out, but each face is individual and you have the luxury of working out the best approach over time.

One thing you might try is to firmly pull up on the skin when doing the sides of your face. That way you are actually taking care of that angle just under your jaw line in a vertical manner. Then when you approach your neck your stoke is straight down rather than trying to curve the jaw angle and then continue the stroke down. Your persistance will pay off, just go slowly. Also consider using your double edge on areas that are somewhat challenging on those days when you might not have all the patience that you may on other days. That way you eliminate nicks and maintain your positive mental attitude. This is no contest and there are no negative points during the learning process. Good Luck!

Lewis