Thread: Shaved off moustache, have issues with upper lip.

I shaved my moustache off a few of days ago (had it for years) and I have had a harder time shaving the upper lip than I thought I would. It seems that the whiskers are thicker on the upper lip than the rest of my face. I do the usual passes of with, across and against (very gently) the grain but the razor seems to pull and drag at the whiskers where the stache was (especially across and against the grain) instead of reducing them smoothly the way it does on the rest of the beard.
I have been shaving with the straight for about 6 weeks now (still a noob) but no problems on the rest of the face, even the neck. The razor is a Dovo Best purchased from SRD and alternated every other day with the Progress DE. Maybe about 20 shaves so far.
Could the razor be getting dull already or do I need to change how I shave the upper lip? I do a thorough pre-shave prep. I strop without pressure, with both the woven fabric side (X25) of SRD's strop and the leather side (X50). I do not use paste on the strop. I am a little stumped. Just more practice or what? Thoughts or suggestions?

Hello Bob,

I recently shaved my goatee (after having it for about 12 years). At first I thought that those whiskers were thicker than the rest on my face but I have come to realize that the whiskers are more dense (there are MORE of them) where my goatee was compared to the rest of my face. Strange, no?

Thanks,
Mike

Bob i have whiskers like a wire brush which is why i use a straight and my top lip and chin are the harder spots to shave i have a dovo best full hollow which has no problems with the rest of my face but really struggles where it's thickest because of this i decided to try half and quarter hollows and a near wedge and i find the less hollows do better with thick hard whiskers i love the near wedge it goes through them like it did when i was a kid

Well if the problem is only with one spot then I don't think it's your edge, otherwise you'd notice is tugging on the rest of your face as well.

The upper lip is a tricky spot to get the hang of, especially directly under the nose where I have to make silly facial expressions in order to get a good shaving angle.

How does that area feel and look after your first WTG pass? It should be presentable and feel smooth in that one direction and in my experience, that definitely makes a difference on how the XTG pass feels (I can't go ATG).

Sigh......I'm not a noob and I just recently grew back my stash as my upper lip is like concertina wire on a wartime trench.Yet the stash grows out soft and nice.That's whacked !!.... I feel your pain...for real ha . Welcome to SRP !

The upper lip seems to be a quandary of many with no two solutions being the same. I have always found that my lip is much more sensitive to pressure and blade angle. It was a bit odd at first, but I found that puffing my lip out like a blow-fish really helped.

While it doesn't sound like your edge is lacking in any way, it might be worth giving it a touch up if you have a hone. I have found that a razor will shave the rest of my face quite nicely, but if the edge isn't completely on the money it will make the lip much harder.

At any rate, good luck, and may we all reach shaving nirvana!

Originally Posted by BobW

I shaved my moustache off a few of days ago (had it for years) and I have had a harder time shaving the upper lip than I thought I would. It seems that the whiskers are thicker on the upper lip than the rest of my face. I do the usual passes of with, across and against (very gently) the grain but the razor seems to pull and drag at the whiskers where the stache was (especially across and against the grain) instead of reducing them smoothly the way it does on the rest of the beard.
I have been shaving with the straight for about 6 weeks now (still a noob) but no problems on the rest of the face, even the neck. The razor is a Dovo Best purchased from SRD and alternated every other day with the Progress DE. Maybe about 20 shaves so far.
Could the razor be getting dull already or do I need to change how I shave the upper lip? I do a thorough pre-shave prep. I strop without pressure, with both the woven fabric side (X25) of SRD's strop and the leather side (X50). I do not use paste on the strop. I am a little stumped. Just more practice or what? Thoughts or suggestions?

I'll make an educated guess that after a long time of not shaving that upper lip is tender and has to adapt to a daily shave.

I have extra coarse wiskers on my upper lip, and chin areas.

For my upper lip, I use an ATG (S-N) stroke - BUT the razor has to be super sharp. ALSO, I have to make a XTG stroke first. After the XTG stroke, the lip feels 90% as smooth - but still looks a bit stubbly (maybe it's big pores / thick wiskers ???)

Also, it took me 3-4 months of daily shaves before I had the skill to to ATG on the lip without the razor just getting "stuck" &/or causing rash-like irritation &/or weepers at the corners of the mouth.

So for now, I'd recommend sticking with WTG until it looks as good as an electric shave (ie: all short stubble, with no wiskers twice as long as other stubble). Then spend another month perfecting the XTG technique.

Here's the best video of the XTG technique on the upper lip I've found:
YouTube - Chimensch's Shaving Video