Thread: First strictly 3 full pass straight razor shave (Help)

I have been using the straight razor for about a month now, and for that time I have been cleaning up with the DE after one or two passes with the straight razor. Today I said "Let's go for it," and I did all three passes with the straight, now I have a couple places near the back part of my ears that I missed, but for the most part I have a good shave. My wife was impressed with my left cheek (non-dominant hand) go figure. However, the after shave balm did burn a bit more today, probably not as gentle as I should have been.

So I need a little help with a couple things:

1) Right under my nose, I tend to slice off a tiny little spot right up at my nose, my hair goes all the way up to where the philtrum meets the septum, and I can't seem to get any of that close in hair without cutting that spot, and I refuse to point the edge towards my nose (This is the 3rd time it's happened). I don't get quite as close to my nose with the DE, so never had that problem when shaving the upper lip before, just left a small line of hair by the nose. Are there any tips for me to get this without slicing that spot? I have watched so many videos now I don't know what to think, or is there someone in Charlotte that can show me some techniques in person?

2) I am very tentative on my neck because my hair grows every which way, and I have a very full neck beard area, should I do more than three passes in the places where the hair changes direction 2 or three times to get it smooth? I would really appreciate some help on this one too, because I have serious trouble, even with the DE getting the whole neck smooth.

Congrats on your success! Sounds like you may want to try the Coup de Maitre on you mustache area. It is a with the grain stroke under your nose with a scooping motion. As far as your neck area, it is a challenge for most of us. The more you practice, you will find strokes, angles and skin stretching that will do the best job. Persistence will pay off in this respect.
I typically shave with gravity on the first pass, then across my cheeks and chin and up on the front of the neck for the second. On the third pass against gravity all areas, with a feww "cleanup areas".
Try "mapping" your beard, so you can know which way the hair grows and find your best angle of attack, and last but not least HAVE FUN!

I have a similar problem under my nose. What works for me to clean up the last few whiskers is to hold the blade vertically with the toe (the end of the blade NOT the sharp part!!) sort of pushing up into my septum and making very careful short strokes from the mid-line toward the edges of my nostrils. Then, turn it on the spine and go the other direction with the same technique. A spike point razor works better that a round point for this.

Shave on!

I like how the top of the lip under the nose was referred to as a scoop. Thats what I do with the WTG pass. It may seem scary but the ATG pass is even easier. Just get close to the mirror and work it up slowly. A couple hairs away from the nose I dang near chop'em one at a time with the point (mines a round point, but you know where it stops cutting. But thats just my n00b technique and something to try :/

2) pick one fight at a time, besides if your worried more about someone admiring how smooth your neck is more than why their hands are around it you may want to rething priorities. all joking aside, mine does the same thing, I get it visually smooth and have not really worried about it since.

Congrats on the shave. I have a pretty tough beard as well and can get a close shave with the three passes on my neck. Try to figure out which directions to try. I use straight down, straight up and an angle from the center of my chin towards my shoulder with a light scything motion. Seems to work well.

I catch myself once and a while still where you are talking about when I just use facial contortions. I have found that I do this more often with a full 6/8 or larger blade. Something that works for me when I am using a larger blade is the ole nostril hold where I push up on my nose with my non razor hand while using a facial contortion. My mustache hair grows just as yours.

The three passes and getting a bit of burn is normal for your learning curve. This tells you that you used too much pressure or too much razor angle...or both. Practice makes perfect, you are doing fine...

Originally Posted by LameBMX

2) pick one fight at a time, besides if your worried more about someone admiring how smooth your neck is more than why their hands are around it you may want to rething priorities.

Nice... But I think the term here on SRP is faceturbation... Sad, but I have found myself doing that a lot since I discovered wet-shaving. Kind of like when you discovered girls in the 6th grade, but different. This is socially acceptable.