Thread: Shaving the neck area

I'm having some problem with one side of my neck (the left side) My right side is usually pretty easy and leaves a nice smooth feeling. When I do my left side it pulls like crazy and is even somewhat painful.

I think the hair of my lower left side are sort of growing in all directions. I know I should be shaving with the grain but this makes it very difficult..

Any suggestions?

thanks

Light first pass, (don't expect to get everything with it), thinner (wetter) application of cream/soap, lower blade angle for second pass (less than spine width), STREEEEEEEEETCH the skin, and stretch it in several directions, short strokes and attack from different directions. That's what I've found to work for me. There are other ways to do it, for sure.

that's interesting, I thought a thicker layer of cream or soap was better when doing the first pass. I just found it odd that my right side can go so smoothly and the left side is just a nightmare.

Yeah, thick is fine on the first pass (at least for me), but on the second or third, I water it down by probably 50% just to keep things moving. Sorry I wasn't clear in the first answer. In summation: Thick first pass, thin everything else.

I do the same thing. It's frustrating to get such good results everywhere except for my lower left neck

I also have problems with my lower neck, it seems that the grain goes the opposite direction for the lower 2/3 inch, so I go down and all in a sudden it is ATG and burns like crazy.
Any techniques against that problem?

Originally Posted by Dups

I just found it odd that my right side can go so smoothly and the left side is just a nightmare.

Not odd at all when you're talking about the neck. The left side of my neck shaves to almost BBS on the first pass; nice enough where I don't even bother going at it more than that. The right side, more specifically an area about the size of a quarter on the right side of my neck is very troublesome. I have to hit area with the blade in a vertical position and go with an EXTREMELY light touch towards my ear. That patch stays a bit stubbly to the touch but I don't go XTG or ATG there. If I did, it would the ingrown city no matter what method of shaving I use.

Chris L

Here are some updates..

I just shaved tonight and figured that maybe I could try going up towards my jaw line instead of the usual North to South movement on that little rough spot on my neck...WOW what a difference..almost no burn this time..I guess I was shaving against the grain thus my burning pain each time I was doing it hehe..

im glad you found a techneique that is working for you

I'm glad you are finding what works on your face.

It takes time to learn how your particular beard will respond to a new form of shaving (ie going from a DE or cartridge to a straight). The old barber manuals have some pretty good guidelines for how to shave each area of the face, but each of us has a different topography and grain to our beards. This is why even a first rate barber shave is usually not as stubble free as our best work at home. The barber doesn't get to practice, so it really takes an experienced eye (and hands) to get it right the first time.