Thread: The Best Way to shave top lip

check out the videos section for coupe de maitre.. or is that right? i'm unsure.. i'll try to find it and link.

Yep,
found it,does he actually keep his razor at 90 deg while he's scooping????, my razor wouldn't budge at that angle,or i should say i wouldn't budge when i felt it tugging & my razor is well sharp.I'm sure its just my technique but a few more close up videos of lip & chin shaving would be appreciated from you seasoned vets(i don't mean anything to do with animals,i know some of you would).

Thanks....

Yup, You start with the razor flat up against the bottom of your nose and twist it to an increasing acute angle as you bring it down your upper lip. It's daunting at first, but it's definitely doable. There is a reason it translates to "blow to the head," or something like that.

Coup de maître isn't that hard, really.

As long as you're paying attention to what you are doing there won't be anything to worry about.

Fool's pass is a different story though.

Hi Morty,

I'm fairly new to this myself, and YMMV, but I like to do a really light pass coming in from my cheek/under my eye at first. That makes the Coupe de Maitre a little easier for me.

Good luck and take it easy!

Hey Morty1, you're not alone. The upper lip shave was, and still sometimes is the part of my shave that I must approach with much caution. Buffering Strokes works best for my face, until I shave under my nose. What has worked for me is a steady pressure, steady speed WTG pass. YMMV.
As I became more confident, I started to see an auto reflex of ever so slightly curling my lip up (like a sneer) towards the razor to accompany the downward stroke of the blade. Good Luck.

Now I know why I love having a mustasche!

Originally Posted by morty1

Yep,
...my razor wouldn't budge at that angle,or i should say i wouldn't budge when i felt it tugging & my razor is well sharp....

Sounds to me like your razor isn't sharp enough. Especially since your 1st post in this thread also mentioned a lot of razor burn under the jaw.

If you bought it from SRD, Vintage Blades, or one of the SRP honemeisters, then try refreshing the edge on a pasted strop. If not, you should probably send it out for honing.

You can also try leading your downstroke with either the heel or toe of the razor so that the edge is slanted like a guillotine (the spine is still 1-2 spine widths from your face). This works well for me on the tough chin wiskers, and allows me to get another few shaves in when the razor is starting to need a touch up.