Thread: Sideways on the neck

Originally Posted by medicevans

Great video. That guy is very confident shaving!

Ah yeah, that's an understatement! One thing to note about Chimensch's shave is how he gets all the lather off. The other guys have lather left all over their face, in their hair, on their fingers, etc! One immediately realizes that Chimensch is a very precise and studied shaver. I'll bet if he made another video, it would look just like the first.

I use a guillotine stroke on my neck (and no I'm not Louie!) Start just above the collar bone under the ear and finish under the chin. Holding the blade about 20 degrees off perpendicular to the direction of the cut.

Something that I just tried tonight, to which I will have to try again to see how well it works for me.

The hair on my throat runs horrizontaly from left to right. So what I did was to hold the razor in my left hand angling the blade from top left downward to right, and shaved downward. But more specificly was I did was a blade buffering type strokes (quick-short-light strokes).

That seems to have done quite well on that problem area of the neck.

Originally Posted by medicevans

...Of course my razor is too long to do that. What to do? Get a short blade and make a neck razor? I've been kicking that around. Any opinions are appreciated.

gssixgun did this for me. He shortened the blade on my 4/8 razor to 2 inches. It is really maneuverable now. I'm stuck in a body that is too small for me, and the contours of my (short) neck make for difficult shaving.

Glad you brought up this topic!

Originally Posted by MrIdentical

I had the same problem. Although i havent entirely solved it I've made progress. I hold the blade on a 45 degree angle and shave directly sideways on the neck...

This has been working for me, too. I'm also experimenting with the pitch of the blade when I do this.

Originally Posted by FatboySlim

...I actually pull up on my earlobe rather than stretch up on my cheek as Chimensch does. But however you pull this move off, it's very effective as part of a 3rd pass ATG neck shave.

Thanks for pointing out that stroke. I've seen it, but I've not been able to duplicate it. I concur that shaving "opposite" handed works much better for my neck.

Originally Posted by JCummins

Something that I just tried tonight, to which I will have to try again to see how well it works for me.

The hair on my throat runs horrizontaly from left to right. So what I did was to hold the razor in my left hand angling the blade from top left downward to right, and shaved downward. But more specificly was I did was a blade buffering type strokes (quick-short-light strokes)...

I may try that one as well.

I'm with the TBS on this one. I normally just do two passes on my neck, basically, up, and down, no sideways, If I get BBS, great, if not. I don't sweat it. I'm going for comfort, as well as BBS. I have to be careful on my neck, it's very sensitive and subject to irritation. I have be aware of the contours, and the blade angle.
Good Luck....

Originally Posted by JCummins

Something that I just tried tonight, to which I will have to try again to see how well it works for me.

The hair on my throat runs horrizontaly from left to right. So what I did was to hold the razor in my left hand angling the blade from top left downward to right, and shaved downward. But more specificly was I did was a blade buffering type strokes (quick-short-light strokes).

That seems to have done quite well on that problem area of the neck.

That "buffing " stroke seems to work well for me too.

I guess I am lucky here, while it's not always BBS a few X patterns on my neck and it's done, The direction of growth is various and with some very good stretching; just thinking on it though I am very consious on the blade angle though.
Sam.

I use something i call "the reverse guillotine".. will try to post a vid in the next few days. I had a 3 passer 2 days ago and a 2 passer yesterday so inned to let my face rest for a day

On my neck, in order to go near horizontal, I swing the scales out of the way and grab the tang between my index finger and thumb -- sort of as if it were a Japanese style razor. NB: unless you have a firm grip and concentrate on the angle and little/no pressure, THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS. Without your fingers on the scales to stabilize the stroke, if the razor slips vertically you will slice yourself. This has not happened to me (yet), but I recognize that it could if I became careless.

My beard grows from left to right on my throat. So, I'm basically doing four passes to get close to BBS. The first pass is, of course, down. Then, up. The third stroke is down at about 45° from ear to the bottom of the larynx on my right. Then a repeat from the center to the left. The fourth is a "fan stroke" that's as close to ATG as I can get at this point in time.

I'm relatively new, but I find that I get quite close on my neck now with a very comfortable shave.
My system is:
1. I start with my neck only, only lather my neck so that I can grip the rest of my face and the blade is sharp.
2. I do a bottom up shave. This grabs the easy hairs and makes for an effective XTG on those that grow horizontally from left to right.
3. Hot towel, and relather.
4. Pull the skin as far to the right as I can and start an ATG on those, with light, short strokes, leading with either the heel or the point of the blade. I do this all the way along the right side and middle of my neck.
5. Once to the left side of my neck, I pull that skin as far over as I possibly can and continue from right to left until I've taken all the lather off or I am confident I got the area.
6. Begin the rest of my shave as usual.

I find that since I only do 2 passes, I don't usually get much if any irritation. Keep in mind, this may work for me only because I have a moderate amount of hair on my neck, though it is very coarse and tough. I hope this helps if you choose to attempt it, It works for me.