Thread: Shaving tough spots question

I've done a few shaves with my new straight razor - so far so good. But I'm having a problem with a couple of spots:

I can't seem to shave against the grain above the lip. It just doesn't go smoothly, keeps catching hairs. Now, I know it's not the razor - it's a newly professionally honed razor and it works fine ATG in most other places.

Another tough spot is below the chin just where the neck starts. I guess I have mixed direction growth or whatever it's called. In order to get those spots with DE I need to shave WTG, XTG and ATG and usually multiple times (buffing). However, I can't get the angle with the straight - I'd have to put the the blade perpendicular to the floor and go from one side of the neck to the other and I just can't do it. Not to mention that it scares me a bit. So I end up doing multiple passes up and down and overshaving those areas and it's still not as smooth as I want it.

Any suggestions? Is it just a matter of practice or wrong angle or just stretching the skin differently? Thanks.

I just started to go ATG on the upper lip and what I've found that works well (with a properly sharp razor) is to go up on a diagonal with the blade almost flat and I only use the tip. I go very lightly and start at the corner of the mouth, angle the blade with the tip slightly backward and take short strokes along the path up to the center right under the nose. I then do this on the other side. Let's see if I can diagram this:




under the nose



corner of mouth(1) corner of mouth(2)

Now, imagine you draw diagonal line from CoM1 up to the nose and from CoM2 up to the nose. If you keep the blade angled like \ and take short upward strokes and keep moving up the path to the nose, the effect is like slicing the hair as opposed to meeting it square on. This has resulted in excellent closeness and little or no irritation but it takes patience and practice and a sharp blade and good lubrication.

As for where the underchin and neck meet. Try a downward stroke but stretch the skin to the side. I saw Lynn do this and tried it for my entire neck area. I love the results.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by addicted

Any suggestions?

Grow a mustache.

Really. I had to. I never could get shaving my lip right.

Originally Posted by Scrapyard Ape

Grow a mustache.

Really. I had to. I never could get shaving my lip right.

I think my wife would kick me out. Plus, it's not that I can't get it right - it just doesn't feel right while I shave it. Also, there's always and option to finish off with DE I guess.

Originally Posted by addicted

I think my wife would kick me out. .

Ah..... the "higher authority" come into play. I can't help then.

Steve, my grain above the upper lip naturally goes down and side, not straight down. So I normally shave it the way you describe.

As far as the neck, I can seem to find the right way to strech the skin. I have some hairs growing parallel to the chin line. I tried to strech it this way and that but I can't seem to find the right way to raise them enough for an up or down stroke to get them. Maybe it's just the lack of experience.

The overshaving is killing me. I'm thinking of giving up on those sports for a while and see if it will work out with time. Might have to give up facestrubation for now

i think its getting the skin really taught that helps get this spot smooth, although i'm not quite glassy there yet, but the other spot is the ball of the chin, you know the fatty bit, i just cant get it tight enough to get the razor to glide over nicely without catching. Any tips?

For the moustache bit, i once saw a guy put his index finger in his mouth, and pull out and diagonally down toward the shoulder. This stretches out the upper lip quite well. Obviously, you have to repeat for the opposite side!! i tried it the other day, with some degree of success and was reasonable smooth with a down stroke only

I'm a fairly recent ex-newbie. For what it's worth, here's what helped me conquer the chin and mouth area.

Do them first. Make a goatee of lather there, and dab the cheeks and surrounding areas dry. This will give you great grip for stretching the skin from the side and below. Do both passes (or all three depending on how you shave) before moving on to the other parts of the face.

There are several advantages. You're approaching these areas when your blade is sharpest and straightest and fresh off the strop, and when you haven't gotten frustrated or lost concentration. The lather hasn't yet begun to dry, and your skin underneath the lather is still slick. And as mentioned, by isolating the area you give yourself a lot of gripping and stretching options. With that part out of the way, you'll find that the easy terrain of the cheeks and neck are dispatched with in 5-10 minutes.

I now follow a more traditional pattern when shaving. But this helped a hell of a lot in getting me over the hump.

Originally Posted by addicted

I can't seem to shave against the grain above the lip. It just doesn't go smoothly, keeps catching hairs.

Shaving AGT on the upper lip is definitely a trick. I wrote this last year on the subject, but I can also tell you that if the blade is overhoned or underhoned it goes worse than desired. Chris Moss has, I think, shown the only 100% safe method in his Art of the Straight Razor Shave (pg. 35) which is in the Permanent Archives section of the Help Files. Have a look at it. As always take care.

Originally Posted by addicted

Another tough spot is below the chin just where the neck starts. I guess I have mixed direction growth or whatever it's called. In order to get those spots with DE I need to shave WTG, XTG and ATG and usually multiple times (buffing). However, I can't get the angle with the straight - I'd have to put the the blade perpendicular to the floor and go from one side of the neck to the other ...

I do this all that time. The hairs under my chin tend to swoo to the right so I reach over my head and stretch the skin well to pop those hairs up and I angle the blade slightly outward away from my jugular. That's just under my chin though. I haven't got much happening on my neck, but what's there plays the same game, growing straight out from the adams apple. For this I employ a reverse grip, flip the scales round to form a 90º angle with the edge inside the bend rather than outside like normal and use my stretching hand just below the growth line to stretch the skin as flat as possible.

In both cases I tend to employ a very shallow shaving angle with te blade almost flat against my skin. Those are just my techniques. Each man finds his own way through his woods. Remember, good beard prep and full stretching are your best friends.

X

Originally Posted by xman

Shaving AGT on the upper lip is definitely a trick. I wrote this last year on the subject, but I can also tell you that if the blade is overhoned or underhoned it goes worse than desired. Chris Moss has, I think, shown the only 100% safe method in his Art of the Straight Razor Shave (pg. 35) which is in the Permanent Archives section of the Help Files. Have a look at it. As always take

X

I do a very similar thing to Chris but probably with a less vertical angle (I keep getting my lip in the way and I don't want to cut that off). Seems to work well but I waited a couple of months before ever attempting it. It certainly it the toughest thing to do (at least for this newbie)