touch up passes, techniques, oils?

i can get my cheeks so smooth and they stay smooth longer when i use a straight. however, i am now almost 8 months (?) into straights and i get my neck maybe 90% in places and maybe 60% in others, typically under my goatee which extends maybe a half inch pass the chin/jaw, just right under it say half way to the adams apple, and then in the hollows of my neck. i can get it somewhat better when i touch up with a DE, but id really like to ditch that.

i try to go as much crossways with the straight as i can - that is what does it with the DE for me to shave the stubble down. i use a 5x mirror tonight to examine it and it looks so so, compared to the cheeks, but u can feel the stubble.

the QED shave stick is good to use wet, no lathering, on the neck for touch up. i even try to stretch the areas taut using a above the shave, below the shave and the finger and thumb stretch.

any other tips or ideas?

sam

OK .... everyone knows about the pre-shave prep .... everyone uses a keen razor, or as close to it as they are capable .... yea, and the power of proper stretching.

But one thing about the throat, and the hollow areas there is I really don't use the entire length of the razor. It's just the heel or front part. I get much closer to the areas in contact with just a portion of the blade there doing this ..... and I take shorter stokes than than on the flats of the cheeks.

If something is not working for you, you can't expect different results if nothing in technique changes .....

I have the same problem with the neck. I've gotten to the point where the results are acceptable doing things like David suggests. But I'm a perfectionist and it still doesn't cut it. I don't know if it ever will. My neck is just too sensitive to tolerate a lot of passes with the pressure needed for a str8.

I touch up with what I call a Featherjector. It's an injector razor fitted with a cutoff Feather str8 blade. It has extreme maneuverability and cuts with the weight of the razor only. I can float over trouble spots any number of times to get as close as I want on a touch up. It works.

I don't know if anyone can shave so close with a str8 that you feel no stubble at all even on the tough spots on the chin and neck. if anyone can I'd like to know, and if you have sensitive skin how do you do enough passes?

Hello str8 razor friends,

After experimenting with shaving oils, then just plain plant oils like sweet almond and olive oils as pre-shaves, decided to try normal greasing and moisturising skin creams with a str8, without soap. The results have been surprisingly good. The shave is amazingly close, the str8 "remembers" very well the difference between whiskers and skin, and the skin takes more passes without irritation. Shaving is smoother as well, as the str8 glides better. Just have to wipe the razor quite a few times, rinsing does not work.

By comparison, for my skin (sensitive, dry) / beard (hard) combination, shaving soaps, even good ones, tend to pull grease from the skin. When using these, I nearly always add oil or glycerin.

For someone with an oily skin tending toward acne and similar problems, the grease shave would probably not be the best solution.

Greetings,

lux

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Originally Posted by lux

Hello str8 razor friends,

After experimenting with shaving oils, then just plain plant oils like sweet almond and olive oils as pre-shaves, decided to try normal greasing and moisturising skin creams with a str8, without soap. The results have been surprisingly good. The shave is amazingly close, the str8 "remembers" very well the difference between whiskers and skin, and the skin takes more passes without irritation. Shaving is smoother as well, as the str8 glides better. Just have to wipe the razor quite a few times, rinsing does not work.

By comparison, for my skin (sensitive, dry) / beard (hard) combination, shaving soaps, even good ones, tend to pull grease from the skin. When using these, I nearly always add oil or glycerin.

For someone with an oily skin tending toward acne and similar problems, the grease shave would probably not be the best solution.

Greetings,

lux

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Oils just haven't worked for me as a substitute for lather. I found they gunked up my whiskers and made the razor slide over them, even a keen razor. I just didn't get clean shaven. What has worked is shaving normally for two passeswhere I don't try to get down to skin but just reduce the beatd to fine stubble. Then I apply the shave oil. At that point the whiskers are so short that the oil doesn't affect them, but it sure protects the skin as I cut close.

Olive oil + mug soap works well for me but I have a different problem. I've been making a 2nd pass against the grain for the ultimate closeness. However, this irritates my skin & I am more apt to draw blood during this step. The most problematic area is my jawline. My hairs seem to grow horizontally here, so to go against the grain I need to drag the razor horizontally from ear to chin. I watched Lynn's video & notice that he doesn't do this step at all. Is back-cutting problematic for everybody, or is my technique at fault? I may just stop doing it & accept a less close shave. I have no trouble & don't draw blood with the forward cut.

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Originally Posted by booga

Olive oil + mug soap works well for me but I have a different problem. I've been making a 2nd pass against the grain for the ultimate closeness. However, this irritates my skin & I am more apt to draw blood during this step. The most problematic area is my jawline. My hairs seem to grow horizontally here, so to go against the grain I need to drag the razor horizontally from ear to chin. I watched Lynn's video & notice that he doesn't do this step at all. Is back-cutting problematic for everybody, or is my technique at fault? I may just stop doing it & accept a less close shave. I have no trouble & don't draw blood with the forward cut.

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I am dealing with the exact same scenario. I've been following David's advice and trying different techniques. I can very carefully shave against the grain if I need my jaw line to be as smooth as my cheeks.

I've also come to the realization that for me this closeness is not a daily necessity. For my daily shave I make two passes on my jaw line and neck N-S and S-N. The only stubble I have is when I feel against the grain, which is more than sufficient. I save the ultra close shave for special occasions.

I realize that I could use a DE or Injector to shave these areas closer but I feel doing that inhibits my str8 razor form. Days that I have extra time, I spend more time refining my form in these trouble areas.

The neck is always a problem area. Usually I'm not that paticular as it seems to be close enough though there is stubble left. There is no way I can shave sideways on my neck with a straight to do a really close job. I have a traditional Japanese Straight which has a very short stubby blade. It works fine and I can go sideways with it though it takes practice because its basically a one sided razor. It can be very awkward to use at first.

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Originally Posted by booga

I've been making a 2nd pass against the grain for the ultimate closeness. However, this irritates my skin & I am more apt to draw blood during this step. The most problematic area is my jawline. My hairs seem to grow horizontally here, so to go against the grain I need to drag the razor horizontally from ear to chin.

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I have to take a moment to speak in favour of extra beard preparation. By the time I get to the back pass I find the whiskers have dried out slightly and can benefit from a little more water, hot towel and cream. Doing a really good prep to start will help minimise this need me.

Stretching might be a good hook for you too. I like to haul the skin up above the jawline and shave it just above where it usually sits, so almost on the cheek.

I've got some hairs that like to lie flat too so blade angle is another consideration. Just keep trying different approaches and you should get there.

X

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Originally Posted by booga

Olive oil + mug soap works well for me but I have a different problem. I've been making a 2nd pass against the grain for the ultimate closeness. However, this irritates my skin & I am more apt to draw blood during this step. The most problematic area is my jawline. My hairs seem to grow horizontally here, so to go against the grain I need to drag the razor horizontally from ear to chin. I watched Lynn's video & notice that he doesn't do this step at all. Is back-cutting problematic for everybody, or is my technique at fault? I may just stop doing it & accept a less close shave. I have no trouble & don't draw blood with the forward cut.

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I have the same exact growth pattern and the same problem. I can go forward on the jaw and just under it by pulling the skin onto the jaw, but just below that is impossible and nobody has ever been able to show me a way to do that.

I do a 3 pass shave: down, forward and up. The first two passes are non-aggressive (I don't try to cut down to skin and don't worry about what I'm leaving on my face, as long as I'm down to a light stubble by the third pass). On my neck, on the second pass, I go hold the blade on an angle to the jawline and shave down and forward. The blade is pointing down and I shave with the heel, which allows me themost forward movement I can get. The tip is hanging ou in midair. I do the same thing on the neck in the last pass. To avoid irritation, I need to stretch the skin there totally flat.

If you're getting neck irritation, you may be picking it up on the first pass if you're aggressive. You may not feel it yet at that point, but it accumulates, and after the first pass you're well on your way. For most guys, the grain on the cheecks is down, but it reverses on the neck below the jaw. That means an aggressive down pass on the neck is actually going against the grain. Check the grain on you're neck and see if it applies to you. If so, and you want to shave aggressively, Shave down on the first pass until just under the jawline, and then shave up from the bottom of the neck. Try really stretching on the neck. That should help with the irritation.

Also, instead of a second countergrain pass, try a touchup pass. Feel around for the spots that still need work and do them one at a time. Lather a spot lightly with your fingers, stretch it betwen your thumb and index finger, and carefully shave it very lightly from different diections. This is about as good as you'll get without usinga DE. I'm a perfectionist. I use a special razor on the touchup to get totally clean. It's an injector with a cut down Feather str8 blade.

On the second pass I shave across the grain (from ear to jaw and across my chin). Like others I pull the skin up and shave following the jaw line. When I do my neck on this pass I use a scything(arcing) motion that starts just above the freshly shaved jawline and ends at the base of the neck. I shave the chin the same way, only i just concentrate on that area. The same kind of motion you use when peeling an apple.

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Originally Posted by Dr_Phong

On the second pass I shave across the grain (from ear to jaw and across my chin). Like others I pull the skin up and shave following the jaw line. When I do my neck on this pass I use a scything(arcing) motion that starts just above the freshly shaved jawline and ends at the base of the neck. I shave the chin the same way, only i just concentrate on that area. The same kind of motion you use when peeling an apple.

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I think the problem we're addressing is that ideally we would need to shave forward under the chin, which is nearly impossible. A scything motion would still need to have that forward movement, so it doesn't really avoid it. I have done such a movement moving forward and most down, but it doesn't really help.

Sam,

Keep working at it. Today I was able to achieve a 100% stubble free shave under my jawline when felt across the grain. My final touch-up pass was using the heal of the blade under my jawline ear to chin.

I'm still working on the base of my neck - I'm at about 95% stubble free when felt across the grain. I have a feeling this will improve when I get my round nose razors back from the expert honers. Currently all my razors are spike tip.

That being said, these are simply experiments to improve my form allowing me to achieve a totally stubble free shave when necessary. My daily shaves do not require this level of closeness.

I would encourage you to keep at it and not be tempted to use a DE or anything else to shave these problem areas. The days I've been tempted and resisted were the ones I made the most progress with my str8 by following David's Uthe's advice to try different techniques. I firmly believe a totally BB shave is possible and using anything other than a str8 will impede the learning process.

As soon as I got a decently sharp straight razor I put the Track II down for good. Working at it with the straight is slowly covering all the bases and limiting myself to that tool is making me consider new techniques. It is still a challenge in one or two spots to get that perfectly smooth feel against the grain, but it's so slight and so small an area now that nobody can tell, but me. When my gal commends me on my smoothness, I don't bother telling her about my self criticism. She's happy. Let her think what she likes. :rolleyes:

X

X,


That is me too. I dropped the mach3 for good as soon as I got proficient with a str8.:cool:

I am still having to use the mach 3. Just don't trust myself with the straight on my neck yet. I was under the impression that going against the growth would lead to ingrown hairs. Is that only true on the first pass?

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Originally Posted by The Dragon Master

I am still having to use the mach 3. Just don't trust myself with the straight on my neck yet. I was under the impression that going against the growth would lead to ingrown hairs. Is that only true on the first pass?

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I have been shaving against the grain from the very first str8 razor shave. I have never had an ingrown hair from it.;)

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Originally Posted by RichZ

I have been shaving against the grain from the very first str8 razor shave. I have never had an ingrown hair from it.;)

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Same here. I think if you want that really close shave, you'll have to go against the grain to get it. But, that's just my opinion; your mileage may vary.

It doesn't matter what I do I just can't get my neck really silky smooth with a straight. I tried all the different preps and fancy strokes.Most of the time its not that big a deal if I really want to go the extra mile I have a traditional japanese razor which is shorter than a straight and has a fixed blade and with that I can do the job.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It doesn't matter what I do I just can't get my neck really silky smooth with a straight. I tried all the different preps and fancy strokes.Most of the time its not that big a deal if I really want to go the extra mile I have a traditional japanese razor which is shorter than a straight and has a fixed blade and with that I can do the job.

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I'm a pragmatist. I have no problem with that. I get the neck so clean with a Featherjector taht I don't think I'll ever stop using it. In fact, I'm so happy with it that I even use it to finish after a DE. I've been a DE shaver for over 40 years and I've been getting what I thought was the best clean shave on my neck. The Featherjector proved otherwise.