Thread: Beginner ATG shaving

Hey guys.

I've shaved about 20 times or so with a straight now, and the experience has generally been better every time. When i shave with the grain, i have hardly any problems and i think i'm starting to get the hang of it.

However, when i try to shave against the grain, it's a different story. I find ATG shaving on my neck and upper lip very uncomfortable and slightly painful. I get lots of red blotches and irritation. This is only on my neck and lip, when i shave ATG on my cheeks and sideburns it's completely fine.

What am I doing wrong ? I'm pretty sure my razor is sharp enough, and i use a very shallow angle when shaving ATG ( nearly pinning back or blade on skin) and using light pressure. I also stretch the skin, and this doesn't seem to help.

Some say it takes time for your skin to adjust to shaving ATG. Personally I have done it a few times and end up with razor burn most of the time and the razor skipping up my neck sometimes. It is not an easy technique to get right the first few times. Keep with it and just be cautious, if it pulls any or starts to hurt just STOP.

Personally I just don't do it and am working on my stretching and XTG shaving. I may try it again later when I feel my stretching is good enough to try.

I never had irritation but it was less comfortable than wtg passes the first couple times tried atg.

It takes your skin some time to get used to a straight,(not to mention you getting used to using it) during which time going ATG can be very uncomfortable.

I waited about a month before going ATG. I found that skin stretching was more vital there than before, and restropping helped a lot as well.

I noticed(with the above) that the angle of the blade on ATG is really important. The wiki explains this nicely.

+1 on the angle. I also like to use light buffing strokes on tough areas like my upper lip.

Buffing
This is a technique, mainly to be used during the ATG pass. The blade is moved back and forth in short strokes over the skin, without lifting it. Pressure needs to be extremely low. The first part of the stroke cuts the hairs and the second, withdrawing part of the stroke smears an amount of lather back on the skin, preparing for the next stroke that will cut the hair even closer. This is only useful on dense parts of the beard where thick whiskers require more than one stroke to be gradually cut till the "zero"-level. The sound produced by the razor (if it’s a hollow ground one) will guide you through the process, steadily moving ahead while making short overlapping strokes. It is best reserved as a last resort, to achieve ultimate smoothness on renitent spots.

I ATG every day - but not my upper lip. I can do it, but it's not necessary. I do a WTS and an XTG East to West and West to East. At the end I have a great shave there.

The key to ATG really is the blade angle. I drop the blade almost flat against my skin and lift slightly into the stroke. If the blade angle is too steep, you will hook onto the whisker and it will pull the blade straight into the base of the follicle, which results in your razor burn.

And remember - NO PRESSURE.

In addition to all of the above advice, I would just say that skin stretching is also a huge factor here. I didn't get comfortable ATG passes, especially on my lip, until I got proficient at the stretch.

Thanks for the info on buffing and angle guys.
Alembic, when you say lift into the stroke, do you mean i should lift the razor away from my skin towards the end of the stroke ?

Originally Posted by CreativeBass

Thanks for the info on buffing and angle guys.
Alembic, when you say lift into the stroke, do you mean i should lift the razor away from my skin towards the end of the stroke ?

Take a look at that 5 degree angle shown for ATG. So what I do is lay the blade flat - 0 degrees and lift the spine slightly up towards that 5 degree angle as I BEGIN the stroke, making slight adjustments to in on the fly. If I feel it hook onto whiskers I lower the angle, If I feel it skipping over whiskers I raise the angle. It should feel smoothas you make the pass. If you feel it dig, your angle is too steep.

Hope that helps.