Thread: Shaving against the Grain on neck

One of the big advantages of a straight razor is you have full control over the aggressiveness of the blade. So when going against the grain you can lay the blade flat against your skin and it won't irritate the skin at all. I have the same problem as you on my neck, and after I got some experience I started shaving it against the grain on the first (and only) pass in that area. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this technique for a beginner, but it's worth considering after you get a bit of experience controlling the blade and keeping the blade sharp, because although it sounds rough it helps reduce irritation because (a) it's only 1 pass against your skin (b) the blade is flat against your skin so no scraping (c) your blade is sharp enough to simply snip off the whiskers on contact without being shoved against the skin.

The neck is arguably one of the hardest places to shave. I have to say that I can't even tell you if I'm shaving XTG or ATG because the direction varies so much in different areas. Sometimes, I swear it even changes direction during a shave.

Originally Posted by leadduck

The neck is arguably one of the hardest places to shave. Sometimes, I swear it even changes direction during a shave.

I never had too much trouble with irritation with the mach and fusion, but had a ton of ingrown hairs though. Since starting shaving with a str8, I have noticed some irritation, but no more ingrown hairs. After reading this thread, I think I'll go back to the drawing board on my technique a little, and see if I can't fix that. Thanks.