I find the lower lip more difficult although, yes the upper lip is quite prone to bleeding. I think half the problem is it's difficult to find anything to do with your non shaving hand. Even though you're stretching the skin over your teeth, having the other hand holding on does help to steady your shaving hand. I've tried holding my nose up wich does help. I also find that as long as I only do a single pass, I don't suffer any irritation. Any more and it starts to hurt. Thankfully, the single pass in this area gives an acceptably close shave. Perhaps that's because I tend to use greater pressure because of the odd angles.