Thread: Clean, Neat, and Straight Beard Lines

Now that I finally got shaving with a straight razor down, i'm no longer a frustrated straight razor user. How can I make clean, neat, and straight beard lines with my straight razor when there's shaving cream on my face? I did it good the first time, but I have a hard time seeing where i'm shaving. I end up shaving off part of the beard I want to save. Suggestions anyone?

Thanks!

I lather with shameless amounts of cream but I'm careful to start my first stroke a little way from my beard line. I find that this approximation has become more refined as I have practised. The latter passes are made with a very dilute lather (thinning down to a 'water pass') when I am able to carefully 'edge' my way up to the desired shape line. This is of course, easier if a smoooth shave is maintained.

Just before shaving up to the edge of my (du jour) Van Dyck,
I wipe away the lather with my finger enough to get a see
the edge clearly. Shave away!

- Scott

Trimming up the side burns I just start a little away from the edge and shave as normal then go back and apply a small amount of lather to that spot where I want to trim. I have to use some alternate grips for those spots to keep my hand out of the way so I can see where I am with the blade.

+2 with sebell, I do the same. I also lay my razor down at the edge of my go-tee & shave away/out from it. That way I never shave in to it. I did plenty of that when I first started LOL.

Originally Posted by mikemeatman

+2 with sebell, I do the same. I also lay my razor down at the edge of my go-tee & shave away/out from it. That way I never shave in to it. I did plenty of that when I first started LOL.

Interesting! My first pass WTG would be away from my chin,
but I do a second XTG pass right up towards the goatee. I
do this carefully, of course.

- Scott

You can also use shaving oil. And that also works well when you have dry skin.

Guus

I love these questions that I actually get to answer when it comes to shaving.... Having a beard means I get left out of most shaving discussions

I do the passes with lather slightly off the beard lines then touch up the exact lines with water only... otherwise every single time I will manage to get a low spot where the heel of the razor comes down by my mouth...
The other thing is to set the lines with a natural face, no stretching and no funny faces to stretch the skin... You just have to be really careful and use a very light touch..... But that gets the straightest lines on there..

I have done this two different ways in the past. When I started straight shaving I used to trace out my goatee and sideburn lines with the back end of my comb right into the lather. That Way I could clearly see where they were when I was shaving. The advantage of this was that even after I stretched the skin and distorted how the lines would look on an unstretched face, I could still see where to shave (hope that made sense).

Now after getting myuch better with my straight and becoming accustomed to shaving around my goatee and sideburns, I shave about a quarter of an inch away from them on my first pass, slightly closer on my second, then I do a water pass around the lines to clean them up.

...then I do a water pass around the lines to clean them up.

Yup. Having pin-point accuracy to cut down even a
single errant hair is one of the advantages of using
a straight!

- Scott