Thread: Chin area question- New member

Welcome to SRP. The two hardest spots to shave and master with a straight are the mustache area and the chin. My best suggestion is to shave that area first while the lather is fresh, slick and gives you all the advantages to succeed. Many try the toughest areas last and the lather may be drying out some and not giving you the formula for success. Keep up the journey, the shaves are so much better and the sense of accomplishment is over the top when using a straight.

Originally Posted by squatman

I agree. The chin is a tough area. For me, short strokes, lots of different angles and stretch, stretch, stretch.

Lots of great advice here. I make 4 or 5 passes on my chin and upper lips area compared to 2 on my cheeks. Stretching and ATG helps clean up a couple of tough spot for me. During my first couple of months I resisted the urge to use a safety razor for these areas and eventually managed to get a decent shave but even today there are days that I would miss a spot or two but I'm fine with it.

I agree that shaving in the shower w/ a sr is very dangerous, and also very bad for the razor. Meaning that water is going into the pivot and not easy to dry out. Which is just going to promote corrosion. So if loosing a ball or anything else isn't bad enough the razor will also end up destroyed too.

My chin is about the size and shape of a golf ball, including some of the dimples. The hair grows almost straight out.

Although I have learned to shave my chin with a straight razor, I can never quite get it BBS. Although some of the traditionalists here may make fun of me, I find it easier to do a clean up pass with a DE razor after shaving two passes with a straight. Straight razors and DE razors are both tools, so just choose the tools that best work for me.

As has been stated in an earlier post, many men with difficult chins have given up shaving the chin area altogether.

Originally Posted by bills2345

New to the site and not an expert by far but been using a straight razor a few months. Luckily no stitches, I picked it up pretty quickly. I am using a Hart 5/8" with a round tip. I still have a hard time I guess in the chin area where another guy would have a goatee. I got the sides and neck pretty good but no matter what method I use, I constantly find on the chin it feels like it's ripping and it's uncomfortable and I wind up giving up and using a regular razor there. I used shave soap soap, a glide gel I found online and I use conditioner before I shave. I let my face heat up and hairs soften in hot water and shave in the shower. Any tips or ideas? If this is not the place to post this I apologize, just let me know where is.
Thanks,
-Bill

When I first started, this was my main problem area also, beside right under the ears where jaw bone runs into neck area. But with the chin, it can be a tough one to conquer. I use short careful pulls with the blade, I do better with larger blades say 7/8 or bigger, because I lay them flatter on the face and chin,, but finally after a great while I feel very comfortable on the chin. Remember don't be in a hurry, and be conscious of the blades angel at all times, even when not on the chin, you'll get it soon enough keep up the good work, you experiencing what many other s have run into also, not to worry.

Chin is a PITA! I'm healing from a little cut right now...

When I first started SR shaving I had trouble with my chin. I would a first pass just on the chin area with a DE and then do a second pass with a SR. The helped develop muscle memory and eventually I could shave my chin with no difficulties. Lots of good prep and short strokes helped as well.

No advice I'm afraid. I came to see what was offered. Chin is my nemesis.

The valley between my lower lip and chin is becoming death valley! I've only cut myself badly 3 times in the six months I've been straight shaving. All 3 times in that darn spot.

3rd time was last night. Of course i had somewhere to be. Styptic didn't want to stop it entirely. Still had TP stuck to my face when i had to leave.

I understand this area can be a problem if your chin is anything like mine. From the bottom of the lip it goes into a valley and then a rather sharp change in direction with bony support as the chin starts to jut out. This also for me is a point of danger where the blade often collides with a wall that starts my chin. A blade can go straight in to this abrupt transition point if not careful. What I tend to do is treat this area as two separate planes and try to be mindful of the border between them. Another thing i do is force air under my bottom lip to try to fill that area to better transition towards the chin. The idea is to try to flatten the area any way that is suitable for you so your shaving stroke doesn't come to an abrupt halt leading to a cut. Many ways to tackle these things you just have to study the angles of your face and come up with a strategy to deal with them. i also have a cleft chin that used be a pita to get also but has become a routine scooping motion similar to what I do under the nose only horizontally. Don't rush study your face, experiment and I'm sure you will get it.

Originally Posted by Chugach68

short buffing strokes helped me with that problem area. That and attacking from different directions. It definitely takes time to get used to all the angles of the chin and other curves. Don't give up.

Yes this is the method I also use, and Practice - practice - and more practice.