Thread: Beginner shaving issues

Originally Posted by Norwoodz

Thanks for the responses guys.

As far as stretching the skin, the cheeks aren't much of a problem as the growth is sparse anyway. I just pull upward with my thumb above the area I'm shaving. The neck is trickier. The problems I run into are that my face can be too slippery to grab, or my hand will wipe away some of the soap I still need. I have 2 concave areas on either side of my adam's apple where I always seem to get the most redness. I'm not sure where to grab and which direction to stretch. I can't seem to get those concave areas to flatten out enough to have smooth contact with the blade.

If your face is slippery and you are having trouble stretching, get an alum block and rub your fingers on it. You will be able to grip your skin and stretch it even with some soap/cream residue on there. I actually use my alum for this purpose only.

I have to agree with all the above. They seem right on from my experience.

As for streching the skin under the neck I find pulling the skin taut right above the collar bone and tilting my head slightly back pulls the area pretty taut.

As for were your running into situations were you need to pull the skin taut in an area that you have already lathered and not shaved yet I can only suggest experiment with were you start your shave to find what works best for you to stretch the skin with out that problemed.

Also spend some time in front of the mirror first using just facial movment to stretch your skin, then use your hand to stretch the skin around then a combination of the two you will be suprised how many different ways you will find to stretch different areas.

I started with Conk soap and experienced the same drying out problems you did. It wasn't the Conk soaps fault because no soap is going to maintain itself for a 30 minute pass. When I started it took me an hour to do a single WTG pass. My solution was to lather only half my face at a time until I got comfortable enough to increase my speed.

As for your butt chin...I've got one too...you might be stuck with whatever technique you can work up for yourself. A good straight usually has a sharpened toe that is the perfect shape to get right into that area. All I do is to apply my thumb to one side of my chin and my forefinger of the same hand to the other side and kinda stretch the chin apart and then get that toe into the area and viola...clean butt chin.

Today's shave went better. I just did one pass downward. I watched some Turkish barber videos and tried to imitate their technique. I shave right handed, so I put my left thumb just above the blade and pulled the skin upward.

The tricky part was doing the right side. To use my left hand for stretching I have to reach right across my face and it blocks my vision. I tried shaving left-handed but that felt really awkward. It's no surprise that the left half of my face seems to be more closely shaven and less irritated.

This is getting slightly frustrating. In certain areas I slide the razor over the skin at a 30 degree angle and the hair just doesn't come off. I pulled out my fusion razor for comparison and that one took it right off. My disposable straight blades passed the hair test. They seem pretty sharp, but in the dense growth areas I just can't get the hair off and it looks like I didn't even shave. Should I try a different soap? Just get a regular straight blade?