Thread: Around the chin

Really finding it difficult to get a nice shave around the chin/neck line. Always seems to be a few hairs that just won't go all the way.. I'm guessing it's my angle and I'm sure it will come in time.... Anyone else out there struggling in that area? Any tips?

I have found with my straight that a rapid succession of very short light stroke XTG and ATG get it BBS.
Works for me with no irritation (which should tell you how light the pressure used is)

Stretching with your hand can be a bit difficult. Try facial contortions, and muscle flexing to stand those hairs up. It takes a bit of experimentation to find the right combination but it does work. And of course do not let yourself fall into the trap of more pressure.

Jonathan

I think these must be problem areas for every new shaver - certainly are for me. I'm enjoying trying lots of different positions and strokes - trying something new each day and seeing if I can get one or two more or the tricky bits better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it hurts! The challenge is part of the fun!

I agree with pfries - very short, very light, choppy XTG and ATG strokes have helped with me, especially under my nose (very satifying to be getting that right now) and I've started to try something similar just under my chin with increasing success.

Same here for the chin I have been getting some luck with really contorting my face and stretching with my other hand. And using very short strokes. Basically what I have been doing for under the nose as well.

The chin area is composed of curves. Short, choppy strokes might work, but I found after about six months that I could adjust the angle, carefully, as I go down over and across the chin from side to side. The angle can be safely changed, sometimes above 30 degrees, but this can only be done if the pressure is kept to an absolute minimum and the skin is carefully stretched.

I had been having a serious problem in that area until four days ago. I'd been trying to do things "right", and they just weren't working. I'm a couple of months in now, and can handle the tool fine, but I had to finish every shave with my DE around my chin, just at the bend, beneath the corners of my mouth. Slicing cuts weren't working, and even pushing too hard didn't give any result except planing off skin. Even with the DE, it didn't go well and I had always in the past got a bit of burn in this area before I got it all.


Last week I got a scissors-mounted magnifying mirror, thinking that it would help me see what I was missing in this area, and what I saw was that through this area my hair sticks really close to the skin. I even have a few that appear to be growing horizontally within the skin, just under the surface. They're also not very thick, and very straight. By shaving over them from the back, I think I was trimming off any little bits that stuck up, diagonally level, preventing me from reaching them at all. Some were even lying longitudinally in wrinkles, like they were hiding in trenches.

Since nothing else had been working, I tried two things: first, I made only ATG passes here so there'd be more to grab onto, and second, I used a very high blade angle, in the hopes of getting a grip on them and sort of scraping them upright. The upright angle ATG really made a huge difference, and I'm getting BBS there now with very little work and no self-injury, where before it was impossible.

I guess you could try that, but an even better idea might be to get a magnifying mirror and get a fix on what's really going on down there to keep you from getting the results you want.