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my neck portion of my beard grows 90% towards my right ear, directly across my neck on a horizontal line...
with a DE i could go ATG and get a nice smooth shave
with the big ol straight, cant.. just cant find a way to stretch my skin etc to get there..
now i LOVE shaving every day... so i sorta dont mind, but the 5oclock shadow isnt fun when im putting in this much effort LOL
advice?
thanks guys...
While I don't have to worry about a 5 o'clock shadow really (I'm just not that hairy of a dude), the hair that I have on my neck grows in exactly the same manner. Unfortunately, I have the same problem. I actually just purchased a DE a few weeks ago for this very reason. I know this isn't much of a help, but there really is no shame in using your DE.
ah, but then i would be admitting defeat!Quote:
Originally Posted by idkid
LOL
no DE when the straight is out.. and lately, no DE at all... i LOVE straights! ill be selling my DE and SE collection very soon
Todd,
I have a similar problem. My neck hair grows out from my chin, but around the collar area it turns back north toward my ear. I've had to do partial WTG/XTG strokes and still haven't found a truly happy finish in this area. I keep thinking about it though, and how I can try to attack from different angles.
I know this doesn't really help, but you're not the only one trying to figure this out. There has to be an experience guy here who knows a technique that will work for one or the both of us.
Peace,
agreed.. this has to be a universal issue
i actually am thinking about cutting up a razor i have thats chipped up on the end, and making a 1/2 straight razor, LOL
i could get it then!
+1 on the neck problems. I've got the same thing going on. When i make a standard N to S Pass, it's like it's going across the grain and while it gets the whiskers pretty good, it also leaves a painful amount of razor burn. I've tried going S to N for the first pass, but the razor just doesn't feel as smooth and comfortable that way. Some of this is that the razor doesn't feel as comfortable in my hands when making a S to N pass, but that's something i have to work on. But, I can definately tell a difference when i don't prep the beard well. I think that's alot of it, Good preparation can take you a long way, and can make the difference from AHHHH to OWWWW really quick. I've also noticed that when i use a very light touch, really just the weight of the razor against my skin and using the PROPER angle, it makes a world of difference. However, I'm still searching for that smooth comfortable neck shave that comes so easily on my cheeks, moustache and chin. I guess I'll just have to keep on searching...
Everyone's mileage clearly will vary on this - perhaps the one thing we can agree on with the neck.
Prep is a big deal. I have sensitive skin and I need a nice amount of time with a good lather (I have to sometimes wash away what I've done and start over to get the lather right), re-applied while shaving to make sure everything is nice and moisturized, etc. Of course I'm also softening the skin under hot water in the shower, etc.
I do a N-S pass after shaving the chin. It's more of a continuation of the cheek and chin shaves than really trying to get the hair on the neck, which runs every which way. But if I get a few, great. I am very careful about the angles to try and maximize cutting efficiency.
When I do S-N, I use my right hand on both the left AND right side of my neck. It's pretty darn hard to turn your neck to shave the right side of your neck with your right hand, but that itself creates a slightly different cutting angle that seems to do a lot. I do the same with the left hand.
I also do a bit of scything action in certain areas. Again, sometimes with right hand>right side awkwardness to add in some different angles. I don't spend forever on the neck - this is still a fast shave. But the neck might get a total of...4-5 passes. N-S, S-N from each side, then a bit of scything to finish off.
It's pretty close now.
I struggled with the same issues starting out.
On my neck my hair grows towards my ears on each side, outwards and slightly upwards.
I experimented alot, and what I ended up with was a couple of ways to handle this.
First I focused on tilting my head way back, while at the same time leaning my upper body forward. The leaning part was to be able to still see what I was doing :-) At the same time I focused on good stretching sideways to be able to bring the shaved area to a place where the blade would actually reach then and cut comfortably. Holding the razor like a Japanese blade, with the scales straight out back can also help you get there.
The second method, which I now apply to the whole shave is utilizing an advanced stroke called scything.
Now, this stroke requires practice and caution. Don't do this without practising in safe areas and ever so gently.
Check out the Wiki for information about this before trying it, there are videos who shows how to do this as well.
In fact, start with the first method suggested here, Scything requires experience in handling a razor!
I think most of us had similar problems starting out, but with practice and time, I'm sure most everbody will find a way that gets those stubborn whiskers cut.
Thanks Birn for the input. I haven't tried the Kamisori technique yet, but maybe I'll give that a shot tonight.
I've been thinking about this more this afternoon. My whiskers grow in such a way that if I could set the tang of the razor against the corner of my chin, and pivot it there, I could do a WTG pass by swiping down, across and back up toward my ear. Imagine an upside down windshield wiper type pass. That would be truly WTG the whole way. Unfortunately I can't seem to contort my body to swipe the razor that way. I go N-S under my chin, NW-SE from the chin down to about mid collar on the right side, then stroke up (with the left hand) from where the last stroke ended, SW to NE up under the ear lobe until I feel it become ATG. I do the same thing on the left; half the neck with one hand, half the neck with the other...so I essentially divide the neck into four swaths and do angled strokes to try and get it. I can't say I'm there yet BUT, last night as I was trying to figure this out I ended up scything as I stroked. I won't say did it on purpose, but I suddenly caught myself doing it and had read about it enough to be able to say "Hey, that's what scything is." and indeed, in the spots where that happened, my neck looks and feels the best.
That said, I still don't know that I'd "try" to scythe as I'm afraid I'd slit my neck open. But tonight when I shave I'll be working on this more. Maybe I'll have a breakthrough to share...or maybe one of you guys will.
Peace,
I usually do a N to S pass on my neck first with a lot of stretching. I found I could lift the skin (fingers pulling above my cheekbone straight up) and this pulled the skin below my jaw up tight on my jawline. This allowed me to shave much closer with this N to S pass. After I get about 1 inch below the jawline, I switch to stretching with my hand on my neck below the adams apple and pull toward my ear. This gets the hair that grows toward my ear to be pointed a little N and the N to S cut gets real close. After the first pass I make a second pass, this one S to N and on this one I use the Scything motion as well. I usually move the toe of the blade about 1/4 to 1/2 inch while the heal barely moves at all. While I do this, I stretch by pulling the skin downward with my other hand below the adams apple near the bottom of the neck. These two passes usually work just fine.
The Kamisori technique helped some tonight, but I'm not to the point that I can say "I got it!" Will keep at it though.
Same hair growth but no problem. I use scything, slicing, and guillotine strokes and they get most/all of it. It's also possible to do a west - east/east - west stroke (no vertical movement) but needs a lot of practice. Your razor can also influence the results here. I think most of this is in the wiki, but time, patience and perseverance and experimentation will fill in the blanks.
And because I never get tired of watching people shave, here is a couple videos that fellow member Jockey's posted. He does go over in detail some advanced ways to tackle the neck:
YouTube - Straight Shaving Tutorial v3.0 Part 1
YouTube - Straight Shaving Tutorial v3.0 Part 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by touchdowntodd
...consider using a 4/4 str8...or the DE...I have the same problem in nearly the same area and to be honest, most of the time I just live with the bad spots if I can't get them as close as I'd like...the same issue is in place whether I use the srt8 (which is most of the time) or when I use the DE when I'm travelling...my biggest problem area is the sides if the neck between the muscles and the windpipe and the hair grows sort of diagonally from front to back at about a 15 degree angle relative to horizontal...so...if the shave gets the whiskers as close as the rest of the face, great...if not, no problemo. one of my best friends is also the pastor at my church back home and he often uses a phrase "pressing things out of measure" that sort of sums up my attempts at shaving...basically, I take what the blade will give me that day for that shave...if I try to get too much out of it or "press things out of measure" them I'm asking for trouble with nicks or worse...haven't ahd a real nasty or deep cut but I have indeed nicked myself a few times and given myself razor burn when trying to get too much out of the shave...I usually go two passes (WTG and ATG) but I'm still learning the grain...I've read where some folks have actually mapped out their grain so that may help too...sometimes I'll try and hit the trouble spots for a third pass but not often...keep reading these posts and you'll find your stroke...happy shaves...
"ah, but then i would be admitting defeat!"
You don't have to admit to defeat. You can declare yourself victorious by rising above the remaining
bristle on your neck, just shaving it WTG or XTG as best you can and moving on. Those neck hairs may
grow in different and difficult directions, but they tend to be lighter in texture than jaw and chin whiskers
and aren't bothersome by the end of the day.
I used to have this very problem, stubble under the jawline towards the throat. The solution, for me, was alternating stretching patterns. I stretch towards the ear, or more precicely, just under the ear, and also north, over the jawline. It can be hard to get both stretches in one go so I sometimes use 2 passes. Also use a scything stroke, as well as grimacing, head tilting and leaning over.
Dang, reading this over I gotta ask myself if my shaves really are as comfortable as I think they are :D
I have exactly the same issue, and I'm starting to think this is more common than some are letting on. What I've found is helpful is by shaving diagonally on my neck in those areas. Mine is the entire width of my neck, below my chin. (The Lord has blessed/cursed my with spotty hair growth and less-than-average amounts in those spotty areas)
Similar to the scything technique has come my diagonal motion. It's more or less slowly moving towards an East to West movement over time, until I become more comfortable with the directly lateral movement. This way, I'm easing myself into that transition instead of throwing myself into the fire.
I'd give the diagonal motion a try and see how well that works for you.
I had awesome shaves the last two nights. After a basic WTG all over, I used the japanese kamisori grip with short strokes with the blade flat against my neck (like honing). Up from the bottom, then down from the ear using left hand on right side, and vice versa. Awesome results. Still have a couple random spots I have to figure out how to hit, but very happy with the progress.