Shaving Around A Goatee?

Hi-

Wow - I'm glad the site is back up and running.

I was wondering whether any members with goatees could tell me how they shave around their beards. It seems like the technique I use with DE razors doesn't translate to the straight razor. With the DE, I always finish by shaving the 1/4 inch border around my goatee. I angle the blade so that it is parallel to the edge of the beard, and then shave right up to the edge. By doing this all the way around I can keep it pretty well defined.

With the straight, I can't even find a hand position that lets me get the blade close without nicking part of the goatee. Since my chin and neck aren't flat, the blade won't lay parallel, and every other angle I try doesn't work.

Are there different hand positions that work better? Blade technique? Are different types of blades better or worse?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

--Dan

I have a full beard that I trim around but when I get to the area that you are talking about I straighten up the mustache line by shaving XTG so that the toe of the blade is upward and use the heel to trim with...With a sharp razor it will actually clip off one hair at a time.....

A sharp square point works well.

bj

I may be the odd one out here - I shave my cheeks as close to the sides of my goatee (really a Vandyke, but I'm not here to quibble). When my cheeks are mostly done, I go across the grain with the razor vertical to establish the sides of the goatee (i.e. moving from about 1/2 and inch from the side of my goatee towards the side to establish a proper vertical line). When my razor hits the beard proper, it usually stops on its own.

For the underneath bit, I shave as closely as possible on my WTG pass, and then go ATG using the same technique as described above, but with the razor in a horizontal position. Where the goatee rounds under my chin, I continue with the horizontal technique but making very small strokes and rotating the razor slightly with each stroke to create the round.

Hope that makes sense...it's really hard to describe in writing, while it would be super easy to just see it once and replicate.

Mark

I have the same problem. (i use a rounded point)
I wind up spending 30% of the shave time messing around my goatee and have not thus far found any method which seems foolproof.

To make matters worse my hand and the razor gets in between my line of sight when i use a mirror making things even more sketchy.

The method i mostly use is that i trim my sideburns then i work down diagonaly from my ear to my chin on the jawline.
once i have things squared on each side i use that as a reference to shave from the side of the goatee downwards towards my throat.
Then i just tidy up under my chin going from the goatee to my neck.

I get decent results but getting angles right and actualy seeing what im doing is a bit of a nightmare.

A friend of mine uses a matchstick/toothpick and draws on detail after he lathers up then works around the lines to make sure hes never squint, ive tried this too but it doesnt seem to give me any different result.

Hi-

Thanks for all of the input so far! Mark - your technique sounds excactly like what I do with a DE. How do you grip the razor on those passes where you're shaving right up to the edge of the goatee? I've tried straightening it out, flipping the handle up or down, and it always seems to get in the way. I haven't yet tried only the heel per Glen's suggestion -- I'll do that tomorrow.

BJ- I'm using a rounded off square. It's a Griffon Carbo-Magnetic that has seen the hone a fair bit, so the square point isn't perfectly square. I've got a few other razors from Ebay and my own set of hones on the way. I think I do have an actual square point in there. Once I Dremmel the corrosion off of it I'll hone it up and see if it helps.

Chroma- If you don't have one already, you might want to get a shaving mirror. I have one of the four-bar linkage extendable ones from Ikea like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/IKEA-Extendable-...QQcmdZViewItem

When I use it with my regular bathroom mirror it helps me to see the blind spots. My hands still get in the way some of the time, but the mirror definitely helps.

--Dan

To shave in the vertical position, I simply hold the razor in my off hand (so if I'm shaving the left side of my goatee, I use my right hand, and vice versa). The grip I use is just a normal grip with the scale at roughly 90 degrees to the blade. The bevel, obviously, is pointing away from your ear in the vertical position.

Hope this makes sense - again, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Mark

On my first pass, I move my thumb up the jimps until it meets the heel of the blade. Then I use my thumb as a sort of "feeler" to gauge where the blade is. I don't get too close though.

On my XTG pass, I do similar to what Milton said, blade vertical, in opposite hand, moving towards the goatee. That straightens up anything I may have missed the first time.

Works pretty well for me.

I use Milton's technique however; about every two or three weeks, I trim my goatee down and shape it up with my old DE. I find that for everyday stuff I can get away with using just the straight but, every two or three weeks my goatee sorta gets out of control and I have to give it a trim. I'm in the process of growing it out, length wise. Right now, it's almost to the neck/collar of my shirt.

-Pary

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Milton Man

I may be the odd one out here - I shave my cheeks as close to the sides of my goatee (really a Vandyke, but I'm not here to quibble). When my cheeks are mostly done, I go across the grain with the razor vertical to establish the sides of the goatee (i.e. moving from about 1/2 and inch from the side of my goatee towards the side to establish a proper vertical line). When my razor hits the beard proper, it usually stops on its own.

For the underneath bit, I shave as closely as possible on my WTG pass, and then go ATG using the same technique as described above, but with the razor in a horizontal position. Where the goatee rounds under my chin, I continue with the horizontal technique but making very small strokes and rotating the razor slightly with each stroke to create the round.

Hope that makes sense...it's really hard to describe in writing, while it would be super easy to just see it once and replicate.

Mark

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Same technique here. Get as close as you are comfortable with on the first WTG pass then on the ATG or XTG bring the razor in right to the beard line. If I am really primping for a special occasion I might do a final go over with just water where I actually shape by taking off one or two hairs at a time allowing my to have that perfect rounded shape I want.

something i do that i dont see in anyones post is that after i shave right up to it, the next pass i start with the blade aiming away from the beard line, i slide the blade backwards until the beard line is showing forward of the edge and the stubble now stands up with the longer beard laying flat under the edge, start the shaving motion and it picks up that stubble thats hard to get along the beard line. i use a square point, round point, and french point blade, i like the french point best, round the least for beard trimming along the mustache line under the nose. square point for picking up those stray iritating stubble up close to the edges works well

I define my beard as two vertical lines running perpindicular(sp?) to my mouth, about 15mm away from my mouth in either direction, and one horizontal line running parallel to my chin about 20mm back from the point of my chin.

As such, it is very easy to shave around because it is all straight lines. Hold the blade horizontal to trim the bottom and go down (or up on 2nd pass) and hold the blade vertical and move it sideways away from the beard (other way for 2nd pass) for the sides.

I can post pix if you like.

1 - my experience with round points is very limited - I mostly use spike/square
2 - I only hold the blade with my right hand.
3 - I sometimes use an unorthodox grip.

I shave up from my adam's apple to the edge of the goatee. No problems there.
I shave up on each side - using the point to get close on the right, and the heel to do the left side. Everything usually works fine except for a small sliver on the left side of my face right where my jaw-line is. It doesn't help that I have a fairly tall mole in that exact spot, and that it's also the spot that I have view problems due to hand/arm/razor position relative to the mirror. That's usually where the unorthodox grip comes in. I just hold it anyway I can, and typically use the heel to work through it. Consequently, that's where I have the least close shave. But it's not enough to really notice.

I use a technique told to me once by a wise man when I first grew my goatee.

"Shave off all the bits that don't look like a goatee", he said.

Seriously though, I think there's some good tips in the posts. Using the tip to trim around the beard will mean using left and right hands to shave, and has the benefit of not obscuring the area with your hand - I've never had an issue with round/square/french/spanish points, but maybe that's just me. But you can also use the heal, which eliminates the point issue, at the expense of a slight obscuring of the area with your shaving hand. A grip change can help, but be careful that you still have control over the razor.

Practice and perhaps a few mishaps along the way will teach you the best approach for you.

James.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

With a sharp razor it will actually clip off one hair at a time.....

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When I had my mustache the wife hated it, said I looked too much like a cop, (not that there is any thing wrong with that), but I needed it for Halloween. So I would thin the upper corners using the this philosphy. You can get as close as you want with a sharp razor. Take the blade all the way to edge, and then remove one or two hairs at a time until satisfied. The stache is gone now, but if I were to grow it back, I would not have any problem keeping a very tight stache with my straigh blades.

Okay, maybe I'm missing something with all of the discussion regarding the OUTSIDE edges of the goatee...

But what about the INSIDE of my goatee?:thinking:

You know, the two patches that I would like to keep shaved on each side of the center of my chin just below my lip so that i have a "stripe" so to speak.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Milton Man

To shave in the vertical position, I simply hold the razor in my off hand (so if I'm shaving the left side of my goatee, I use my right hand, and vice versa). The grip I use is just a normal grip with the scale at roughly 90 degrees to the blade. The bevel, obviously, is pointing away from your ear in the vertical position.

Hope this makes sense - again, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Mark

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+1 this is the technique I've used, Just trim it up while going XTG (cheek beard goes up to down) using the opposite hand and I even the bottom on the WTG pass as I have yet to really try an ATG.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gatorfan

Okay, maybe I'm missing something with all of the discussion regarding the OUTSIDE edges of the goatee...

But what about the INSIDE of my goatee?:thinking:

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I have yet to figure that one out yet as well, I've just been using some hair scissors to keep that area nice and short.

Great information. Just what I was looking for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gatorfan

Okay, maybe I'm missing something with all of the discussion regarding the OUTSIDE edges of the goatee...

But what about the INSIDE of my goatee?:thinking:

You know, the two patches that I would like to keep shaved on each side of the center of my chin just below my lip so that i have a "stripe" so to speak.

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Use the point and heel of the razor carefully. If it is sharp enough, the last centimetre or so of the blade on either end will be all you need to get into that area and keep it clean shaven.

James.

I shave towards the goatee on the outside, xtg. that's how I do almost my entire cheek actually. for when I carve out the whole middle of the goatee I use just the front part of the blade, very carefully. when i keep the patch in the middle I too use scissors. I can't figure a way to hold the blade to get those spots without taking off moustache, lip or goattee.

man I wished I looked good clean shaven. SO much easier!

Red

I do the inside by resting the end of the blade on the tip of my nose and carefully rotating the blade in towards the soul patch. Sounds kinda risky, and it is, use water as lather and BE CAREFUL!
Another way I use mainly to do the corners of my mouth in the inside is folding the razor completely on it's back and working with it that way. :)

Shave oil or water has to be used for proper beard trimming, otherwise it's impossible to see what you're doing, just go slow, cutting one hair at the time and you'll be alright.

Get yourself one of these little babies.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...ttle-guard.jpg

The cutting blade is only 2" and 5/8" wide and only 8" overall. Cuts around things like a scalpel.

I find that just using the very tip of the blade gets in there pretty good. I do first the inside edges of the outside, and then do the outside edges of that inner stripe. I have to pull the hair slightly to each side when I do it so I can get a straight line. I can do it with the round point, but the spike point works much better. If my beard hair has gotten a little long, I might clip the ends of the hair with the blade just by doing it this way, but I guess that' a reminder that it needs a trim anyway.

Being right handed, it's fairly comfortable to hold the blade with the tip pointed toward my right ear, but when I turn it to face the other way, I have to use a very different grip to be comfortable at all. I sink the handle all the way up to the web between my middle and ring fingers, and hold my index finger completely straight with the blade angled so that the pad of my finger is on the back of the blade just beyond the tang serrations. The tip of my thumb just touches the heel of the blade.

I hope that comes across making some kind of sense because I have no pics to post.