Neck difficulties

I've been SR shaving daily for about 2 months, but I still can't get my side-way's growing neck hairs cut smooth enough.

I'm convinced that if I could do a pass an "outside to inside" pass from the outside of my neck toward the center, or a diagonal "downwards and inwards" pass that I'd finally get the neck stubble to stay gone past early afternoon. However, I can't figure out a way to hold the razor and stretch the skin to toward the middle, away from the outside at the same time. Can someone post a video or a detailed description for me ?

ps: I've tried multiple downward passes, guilotine strokes, sything, S-N passes and "upward and inward" diagonals - all while stretching 2-3 different directions, and looking different directions. So I'm pretty sure the "outside to inside" or "downward & inward" pass is the only thing that's going to work for my neck hairs - which mostly lay flat to the skin and grow sideways.

Thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnG10

I've been SR shaving daily for about 2 months, but I still can't get my side-way's growing neck hairs cut smooth enough.

I'm convinced that if I could do a pass an "outside to inside" pass from the outside of my neck toward the center, or a diagonal "downwards and inwards" pass that I'd finally get the neck stubble to stay gone past early afternoon. However, I can't figure out a way to hold the razor and stretch the skin to toward the middle, away from the outside at the same time. Can someone post a video or a detailed description for me ?

ps: I've tried multiple downward passes, guilotine strokes, sything, S-N passes and "upward and inward" diagonals - all while stretching 2-3 different directions, and looking different directions. So I'm pretty sure the "outside to inside" or "downward & inward" pass is the only thing that's going to work for my neck hairs - which mostly lay flat to the skin and grow sideways.

Thanks.

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Hi John,
I also had the same problem (I've been str8 shaving for 2 - 2.5 weeks now) and to some extent, I still have that problem.

What I did and still do that works, is switch hands for each side of the face. It does a marvelous job of getting stubborn stubbles out. However, the absolute best way is to shave ATG, but I have not dared to do it yet...well, a feeble attempt this AM and it actually worked quite well without the strange contortions that you have to put yourself through to get it done :). But muscle memory is still an elusive concept when it comes to ATG shaving for me.

Try it and see how that works. I'd be curious to know.:gl:

-Robert

I have diagonally growing neck hair as well. It's a complete pain.

It was a difficult period, but I have taught myself (slowly) to do an outside to inside pass with my opposite hands. So, (i'm left handed), if I'm using my dominant hand to shave my left cheek and WTG pass on the left side of my neck, I'm ALSO using it for an ATG pass on the right side of my neck. And vice versa for my right/non dominant hand.

I need to reiterate that it was a slow process, with 100 percent focus. The angle for that portion of my face coupled with a portion done with my non dominant hand was frightening at first, but it works well.

Good luck, and take it a little at a time. If it doesnt feel right, stop.

Cheers,
Maxi

I have a similar problem. I tried switching hands for each side, but that didn't work out so well for me (though I hear it does work well for many people). I didn't cut myself, but it never got to feeling safe. Now I do a lot of ATG passes. The one piece of advice I have on those passes is just to make sure you are keeping the blade angle relatively low to the skin. I've found this to be especially important when shaving the neck.

The "outward to inward" passes you describe sound like they'd be worth trying once you get the right grip. If you haven't already looked, you could look at these examples of different ways to hold the razor from the Wiki article:
Different ways to hold a straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

-Erik

Sometimes using a razor with a strong smile allows you to really get into those areas on a normal stroke better than other configuarations.

I'm to the point where I can shave with either hand on either side of my face comfortably.

I couldn't figure out how to do an "outside to inside" with the opposite hand. Even with my shoulder stretched forward, my wrist would have to bend almost flat to my fore arm. With my face this wasn't a problem, since I could turn my face to decrease the distance I had to reach across by body with the "opposite side" arm.

I couldn't figure out a way to do an outside to inside pass with the "same-side" hand, since either the grip was insufficient to hold onto the razor securely (I reviewed the grips in the Wiki), or the handle got in the way - even if I used a the "handle in-line with the blade".

I also tried a "fold the scales back so they touch the spine of the blade" arrangement with the same-side hand, but I couldn't find a way to grip the razor securely while moving it "outside to inside" since the wrist is ****ed a bit strangely no matter whether I put my elbow high or low.

A smiling blade seems like a good idea, but I'm hoping I can find a way to use the non-smiling blade I already have.

Anyone have any videos of outside-to-inside passes ? The only ones I found on U-tube for E-W or W-E passes were using safey razors.

Thanks.

I have the same growth pattern on my neck. What somewhat works for me (when I bother) is to do a scything stroke with the toe down and heel up. It works well but is more work than it is worth. A scything stroke on the neck requires just a bit too much concentration from me.

It's all about the scything motion with the razor. This is the only way I can get close on the sides of my neck. Look up the stroke in the wiki, you basically slice the blade sideways while you downstroke. Try different angles with the scything motion also on all of your face. It makes a huge difference.

The neck is a tough area, and its still the area I find hardest to get BBS. My cheeks seem to end up BBS just by waving the razor nearby, but I have to think about how to best tackle the neck.

The picture below shows the two passes I do for each side of my neck. For my beard growth this seems to work very well.

For the right hand side, I dont make a straight pass, I kinda move the razor down and swoop it round to the left as well in a sort of scything motion. In this diagram it would look like rotating the razor around the pivot pin hole in a clockwise fashion.

What you need to do is map which way your beard grows, and the stretch the skin to get the hairs to stand up before you make the pass.

Good luck and keep us posted!

same problem here :) I tried to switch back to my M3 and see the movement and wonder if I can imitate it in my SR, dunno but in my case when I tried the same ATG diagonal pass with SR, the blade length really stop me, scything motion do works but not 100% in my case :) still waiting for shorter blade, I wonder if it could do well, may or may not works but hey this is part of the learning curve hahaha

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stubear

The neck is a tough area, and its still the area I find hardest to get BBS. My cheeks seem to end up BBS just by waving the razor nearby, but I have to think about how to best tackle the neck.

The picture below shows the two passes I do for each side of my neck. For my beard growth this seems to work very well.

For the right hand side, I dont make a straight pass, I kinda move the razor down and swoop it round to the left as well in a sort of scything motion. In this diagram it would look like rotating the razor around the pivot pin hole in a clockwise fashion.

What you need to do is map which way your beard grows, and the stretch the skin to get the hairs to stand up before you make the pass.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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This is how I do it also. Also, sometimes I have to turn my head to the side and my chin to the sky to get it just right

I have the same neck hair growth. What I do is stretch the skin by pushing the outside skin closer to my ear. This causes the crooked hairs to straighten out by putting the skin at an angle. In other words, the pushing pulls the inside hairs out towards the direction of your ears. I then do a slight scythign motion as mentioned (but not as drastic as the diagram/picture). By stretching my skin it 1) keeps the skin nice and tight and 2) moves the hair direction so it's an easier scything motion.

I did a horrible job explaining that. Did that make sense?

One thing that I just found really helped me with my neck is Domenico Caraceni "1913" shave cream. I have only used it once, so far, but my neck has never been smoother or more comfortable after a shave. It produces a dense, slick lather that provides amazing glide. I really liked my CF lime, until i tried the caraceni, thanks BeBerlin for the suggestion and review.

I struggled with my neck for years. Now, after basic WTG strokes I place the edge of the razor against my neck at a full 90 deg. angle and and stroke straight up like using a scraper. The razor has to very sharp and the skin has to be nice and tight, but you'll feel the whiskers practically popping off your neck. Oh yeah..... be careful.