Thread: Upper Lip Shave

A while ago, a member posted something about shaving ATG on his upper lip. I was feeling a bit inadequate, since I've never been ablet to really do this and had accepted that my upper lip was always going to me less than BBS. I felt a little better when one of the mentors (forgive me, I con't remember which one) remarked that anyone who can shave ATG there only needs to have a cat lick the whiskers off. But last week, as I kissed my wife goodbye, she said, "Didn't you shave today"? I assured her I had and she said, "Your upper lip sure doesn't feel like it". The next day, I was determined to do better. While not able to actually shave against the grain, I managed to come at it at angle that was pretty close to it. The result was so close I could barely believe it! Been shaving that way ever since with the same great results. A great shave on the upper lip every time.

For me, XTG in both directions is the best I can do for the upper lip. Most of the time all I do is WTG, and it's "good enough." ATG gives me ingrown hairs almost all of the time, so I've come to the conclusion that this is one of the more sensitive areas.

I always go ATG on the upper lip. I hold the blade with both hands and shave upward just above the surface. With a really sharp razor an attempt to do this at skin level usually results in cuts. It's possible to get really good results going parallel to the skin plane because the hairs on an ATG pass tend to pull the blade downward. That's why shaving at skin level on the ATG pass on the upper lip can result in problems.

ATG with a straight seems to work well for me. I've found that: 1. A sharp, ideally freshly stropped blade makes all the difference in this sector when going ATG, 2. Fresh lather really helps. If it has started to dry out, I'll re-lather first. 3. Sometimes I do it with one hand, when there's more "old growth" I'll use both hands on the blade. Either way, slowly and carefully - the area is less forgiving to small mistakes.

I do a Fool's Pass with my straight razors. If shaving with a straight razor is so superior, then I refuse to have a shave that is inferior to what I can get with a Gillette disposable double-blade...which I can go ATG with. So I take the extra time and care to go ATG on my upper lip. Extremely short, light strokes with both hands on the blade. I take more time per stroke at this stage than I take with any other part of my shave. The results are definitely worth it.