Thread: Help with shaving techniques

Hey everyone,

I've been having some issues getting a smooth shave with my new Dovo Best Quality 5/8. I know it is honed correctly since Lynn honed it for me when I bought it, but I'm having a lot of trouble in my neck area. I was using a Fromm "hair shaper" that takes "feathers" and was having the same issues, but not to this extent. This morning I tried out my real str8 for the first time and it did awesome on my face for only doing one WTG pass, but on my neck the hair grows towards the back of my head and is much thicker, so it is very difficult to shave it correctly, especially in the areas right below my jaw line on either side of my adams apple. When I tried to do this area I gave up on trying to position the blade correctly to go WTG and just went NTS. Just like when I used the Fromm, the blade got caught up by the hair in that area on either side of the adams apple, so I went with short light strokes and got through it. Only when I did this I ended up with terrible irritation and one big nasty nick. I'm hoping maybe this is just due to the learning curve that comes with using a str8, but I also know that my facial hair is quite thick (considering I had to start shaving at 10 years old, it's quite well developed to say the least). I did strop it 20 passes before shaving and my stropping technique though slow, is quite solid. I showered and washed my face before shaving and used hot water, kept my face wet and lathered up to let it soak in while I stropped. I then lathered again to make sure it was good and went at it, making sure I was rinsing and wiping my blade as well (the way Lynn does in his DVD). I was using Tabac shave soap with a Simpson badger brush. I believe my angle was right since the upper part of the spot under my jaw line on either side went well, but maybe I'm wrong. I hope I've provided enough info for someone to tell me what I'm doing wrong or give me some tips. Also feel free to give any general tips on technique since I'm sure plenty of us newbies are running into these kinds of problems. I apologize if this is a repeat thread since I'm sure this is a common trouble spot for many of us new guys.

I wish I had better help for you but my hair is not very thick at all, and although I have had issues in this same area, it's not bad enough that it will stop the blade.

What I'm trying to get at is every face and hair is different so (from what I've read in many posts here) in the end all advice you get are only suggestions to help you find your stroke. In time you will figure out the technique best for your face.

I'm sure a few will eventually pop in here and throw you some good techniques to try and help lead you in the right direction by telling you what worked for them.

Now, even though I didn't have a good answer for your specific issue at least I managed to bump your thread up for some more attention.

For those trouble areas the most important thing is to stretch the skin to get the hairs to stand up, and to pull the area you are about to shave away from tricky land marks like your adams apple.

You may find that one way around this is to shave the bit of your neck just below your jaw line on both sides and leave the part under your chin for last. Then pull the skin from side to side to get the bit you need to shave away for your adams apple.

As TheBaron says, everyones face is different, with different hair thickness and direction of growth and its really part of the learning process to find a method that works for you.

There are some techniques and stretches that I use that probably wouldnt work for other people, but I've found that they are what works for me by experimenting and seeing how the shave turned out.

Give the stretching a try and see how that works for you!

Good luck!

I think most people would agree this is a difficult area, and it takes some time to learn to do it properly without having to do 20 passes and getting serious razor burn.
Another thing is, from my experience, it's much easier to get a closer shave with a disposable because they're usually a lot sharper/consistent. Like you, I learnt on a disposable and found it tricky getting the neck done properly when I switched to a normal straight. My advice, which is what I did, is sit on the couch/in front of the mirror and practice with a blunt straight. You want to practice all the different strokes, try and come up with some of your own to suit your face, and practice stretching the skin in all possible directions. And don't forget to read the wiki and other posts about it and you'll find you start integrating all these techniques into your routine and your shave will improve considerably.

Hope this helps a little,

Rob

Yeah, you'll need to find your secret combination of stretching and stroke that will unlock a smooth shave there for you. Note that neck hair can grow in different directions depending on where it is. You need to make sure that you do a WTG pass with the skin stretched the right way, only later try an XTG or ATG.

As an example, here is what works for me:

My neck hair growns down-right on the upper part of my neck, and grows up-right on the lower part of my neck (lucky for me it is more down and up vs. right)

For my first pass, on the upper part of my neck I lift the skin up (using my finger along the jawline and pulling up), then shave N-S, stopping midpoint where the hair changes direction.

For my first pass on the lower neck, I pull the skin down (finger above the collarbone, pulling down), and shave S-N.

Since my hair does grow a tad to the right, I'm actually not doing a pure WTG pass-- there is a bit of XTG in there but not much...

For the second pass, I have a hard time the neck shaving E-W or W-E, so instead I still go S-N or N-S depending on if I'm doing the upper or lower neck, but I kinda do a scything motion which puts a bit of horizontal movement into the stroke. For example, if I'm doing lower neck, second pass, I start at the ear side and work my way to the adams apple, going N-S. As I work my way towards the adam apple, I curve the stroke so that it moves a bit away from the adam apple and towards the ear (sill moving mostly N-S).

This second pass kinda combines an XTG and ATG in one stroke. I don't do a third pass on my neck, but this method gets me pretty darn close to BBS...

Also note, when I'm doing the second pass, I reduce the angle of the blade which also helps with reducing irritation.

Good luck finding your combination... if you have a swirly hair growth pattern it can be hard to figure out.

-Chief

I forgot to mention that you might also need to play around with the direction of the stretch-- for example, when I stretch the lower skin down, I also pull it a little bit away from the adams apple and towards the ear (so if the lower right quadrant, I pull the skin down and to the right a little). For some reason I get much less irritation when I stretch it that way vs. just straight down.

-Chief

As some of the poster above stated, the disposable blade razors have a more consistently sharp edge, so that may help shave in the neck area.

I have thick hairs too, and I've figured out the the only way I'm going to be able to get a good ATG pass at all is with a very sharp blade. Stropping just before the ATG pass seems to help, but skin-stretching was what really made the difference for me.

I tend to lather in 'quadrants' as I have to stretch the skin upwards, so I don't want to have lather in the regions where my fingers will be pulling on my skin. I'll do the neck throat area on the left side first, then the cheek are on the left etc. This way I'm always able to adequately stretch the skin while shaving. It also helps by not allowing the lather to dry on part of your face, as the ATG pass is invariably the slowest for me.

I guess I could lather more completely to start with if I shaved the upper half of my face first during the ATG pass, but, for some reason, I always do the lower part first.

I think this is part of the learning curve as you mentioned.

Finding the best angle of attack when shaving multi-directional neck beard growth takes time and practice. Keep making adjustments and refining what works

For me there's a good combination of blade angle, angle of shaving, skin stretching, light pressure, length of stroke, and probably other things I am forgetting that works great for me. I can't remember each detail because it's something I learned through practice - it's hard to consciously put everything together at once but it'll come in time

Wolfman, I have similar problems with my neck. I find that If I use, rather than NTS, lateral motions, kinda South-West to North-East, that tends to work ok. I don't get much irritation, and, while it's not exactly BBS, it is pretty smooth from all but ATG rubs.

Here's hoping for you.
Keep us posted.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I think this is part of the learning curve as you mentioned.

Finding the best angle of attack when shaving multi-directional neck beard growth takes time and practice. Keep making adjustments and refining what works

For me there's a good combination of blade angle, angle of shaving, skin stretching, light pressure, length of stroke, and probably other things I am forgetting that works great for me. I can't remember each detail because it's something I learned through practice - it's hard to consciously put everything together at once but it'll come in time

Good advice in all the previous posts.

Bumps can be caused by multiple interactions the
most common is shaving against the grain -- so no ATG.
My preference is to shave with the grain one pass
then I use the braille method to find places where a light
cross the grain pass is in order.

I have patches where my whiskers grow almost horizontal
and a too smooth shave will cause them to tunnel. I go for
a clean shave not a BBS shave most days.

When I need a "Close" shave it often give my face a starting dry rub
with my hand as it pulls the whiskers up and out a bit. After a dry
rub or a brisk ATG scrub with a wash cloth I rinse with clear water
then lather.

Lastly experiment with soap. Some just chap my face and
others work wonders. The interesting part is some that what
shave well today irritate my face so tomorrows shave stinks.
A minimum three day window is important when testing soap.

Try some sensitive skin soaps and some of the classic old ones.

High Glycerin soaps are a good start (they melt).
some are clear and look like Neutrogena's transparent
facial soap.

Highly processed soaps where the contents read like
a chemistry exam can be excelent. Some of the old
brands fall into this category. There is a reason they
are "old brands".

Good old hard triple milled shaving soap works well.

Read the ingredients of specialty soaps.
Tallow is good for some not others.
Lanolin is good for some not others.
Olive oil is good for some not others, OK on salads.
Avocado oil is good for some not others.
HoHoba oil for Christmas.

Avoid fragrances -- once you find a fragrance and dye free
version that your skin likes try the fragrance versions.....

Rinse, rinse, rinse. Soap left on the skin gives me
a rash which is why I shower after I shave.

Sanitation, use a CLEAN dry towel each day. The towel that
was tossed damp in the corner will begin to mildew
in hours and will give ya a rash. I like inexpensive
white cotton face towels that I can wash hot with a little
bleach and dry hot. Face/ shaving towels should be first seven
day set that we should all get.