Thread: Please help with first shave!

It seems most of the hair on my face points downwards except for my chin. On my neck, it's all over the place. Some hairs point up, some down, randomly.

Originally Posted by jkh0208

It seems most of the hair on my face points downwards except for my chin. On my neck, it's all over the place. Some hairs point up, some down, randomly.

IMHO, If you have really random directionality, especially along the neck, I think it is better to drop the angle to between 5 and 15 degrees and use an additional pass if necessary. The skin on the neck is thin and sensitive. It is really easy to get razor burn on it. So a lower angle with NO pressure and an additional pass works much better for me.

But you will have to experiment here.

You'll continue to learn about your whisker growth each time you shave. However, learning the direction of your whisker growth is not merely the result of visual inspection. For about a month, I thought that the whiskers along my jawline either side of midline grew north to south - looked that way in the mirror to me after a few day's of beard growth. I kept wondering why I never seemed to get good results in those areas even with WTG, XTG, and several ATG's. It wasn't until I started experimenting with the directions of my passes that I realized that I was NOT actually going ATG in those areas. If you put some lather on your finger and run it over a "trouble" spot, it makes it easier to tell which way is ATG.

Good luck. Be patient. It WILL get better!

Originally Posted by jkh0208

It seems most of the hair on my face points downwards except for my chin. On my neck, it's all over the place. Some hairs point up, some down, randomly.

Originally Posted by LinacMan

You'll continue to learn about your whisker growth each time you shave. However, learning the direction of your whisker growth is not merely the result of visual inspection. For about a month, I thought that the whiskers along my jawline either side of midline grew north to south - looked that way in the mirror to me after a few day's of beard growth. I kept wondering why I never seemed to get good results in those areas even with WTG, XTG, and several ATG's. It wasn't until I started experimenting with the directions of my passes that I realized that I was NOT actually going ATG in those areas. If you put some lather on your finger and run it over a "trouble" spot, it makes it easier to tell which way is ATG.

Good luck. Be patient. It WILL get better!

Yeah - that is true. I can remember driving to work in the morning after a shave and runnning my fingers all over my stin to fine which direction the whiskers grew in, what would have shaven that area better, and then formulating a plan of attach for the next day.

My knowledge of whisker growth evolved over several months.

I was practicing stropping, and was extremely careful to make sure I was doing the right motions. Not once did I ever flip it on its edge or move it the wrong direction and it was smooth motion when flipping on the spine, yet now there are several nicks in the edges of the strop! I've been practicing and haven't nicked it once until now. It seems I'm getting worse and worse! What could I be doing wrong?