Thread: My upper lip

OK i give in, i have to be doing something wrong as shaving my upper lip is starting to get frustrating. My blades take the hair off my face like it aint even there, leaving me smoother than smooth all over apart from my upper lip. The hairs there resist all known forms of attack. Even worse is the against the grain shave, which has often left my bloody.
Please Superman, help me.

My upper lip is a work in progress, but here's what's working right now: On the first pass, I pull up on the end of my nose as if I were imitating a pig, or trying to look up my nostrils in the mirror. I shave with downward strokes, rolling the blade from about 90 degrees to maybe 10 degrees as I stroke. There is in the stroke a bit of motion also from the center of my face outward, so as to go completely with the grain.

On the second pass, after I shave the cheeks, I use a washcloth to get some traction on my cheekbone and pull the skin outward toward my ears. I shave the upper lip stroking inward toward the center of my face, but again also with some downward motion, this time to avoid going entirely against the grain.

Someday I hope to get a whole upward-stroke against-the-grain pass going, but for now the above has me almost entirely smooth on the upper lip.

Originally Posted by deepweeds

My upper lip is a work in progress, but here's what's working right now: On the first pass, I pull up on the end of my nose as if I were imitating a pig, or trying to look up my nostrils in the mirror. I shave with downward strokes, rolling the blade from about 90 degrees to maybe 10 degrees as I stroke. There is in the stroke a bit of motion also from the center of my face outward, so as to go completely with the grain.

On the second pass, after I shave the cheeks, I use a washcloth to get some traction on my cheekbone and pull the skin outward toward my ears. I shave the upper lip stroking inward toward the center of my face, but again also with some downward motion, this time to avoid going entirely against the grain.

Someday I hope to get a whole upward-stroke against-the-grain pass going, but for now the above has me almost entirely smooth on the upper lip.

I just about get that far at the moment. The keywords are: "Caution" and "Patience" simply put there's going to be no way that you'll get a perfect shave the first few times around.

But with time you won't trade your razor in for the world.

Thanks for the tips, worked much better...AND i got an against the grain shave in. As well as adjusting my shaving technique i restored a 4/8 ive got and used that. Perfect for the job, it aint gonna replace my meatchopper puma and its pals for the rest of my face but that little devil is ideal for getting a good angle under the nose. Its small, light and very controllable.

I hold my upper lip tight with my lower lip and do my second pass against the grain. Makes for a super smooth upper lip.

First, a really crazy sharp razor is required for an against the grain pass on the upper lip. Shave it last, giving the lather lots of time to make the whiskers a little softer from the water they soak up. Get the skin tight -- a combination of stretching & facial yoga. I like to pull the upper lip down under my front teeth, then stretch the skin from the side. You might also experiment with varying your angle of attack to a more shallow angle when going for the upper lip.

Very similar technique. I perform the first pass as described, with the grain. I then make my second pass an East-West pass while stretching the skin taut.

What I do differently is to make my against-the-grain pass from the corner of my mouth to the nose, with the blade in a tip leading angle. I shave up to the nostril, then after both sides are shaved, I make an upward pass for the middle of the lip. Sometimes (depending on which razor I'm using), I'll make these passes with the heel leading. Depends on width of the blade, and tip shape.

It DID take me a while to figure it out!

Interesting that some like to shave against the grain. I only do two passes both with the grain and get great results.
I do have a goatee though so I don't worry about the tricky bits.

Gary

The answer to you delema is to grow a full mustache then the problem will be solved!

Actually I have a 2/8s razor which is perfect for the job even though I do have a full mustache. But, if I had to shave that area I think I would start at the tip of my nose with a kind of rotating movement with the razor while holding the lip as tightly stretched as possible.

Originally Posted by KurtTank

OK i give in, i have to be doing something wrong as shaving my upper lip is starting to get frustrating. My blades take the hair off my face like it aint even there, leaving me smoother than smooth all over apart from my upper lip. The hairs there resist all known forms of attack. Even worse is the against the grain shave, which has often left my bloody.
Please Superman, help me.

Superman says he's busy with Lois Lane right now, but asked if I could cover for him. Read this.

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