Thread: Mustache and Chin Area: Damn Hard to Master...

Hi folks,

I am now on my 5th shave with my straight razor. Prior to start SR shaving, I had been shaving with a Fat Boy safety razor (and badger brush and real shaving cream or soap) for 3 years already.

As recommended by Lynn, I only did sideburns, cheeks, and neck for my first 3 shaves. Those went pretty well actually. I am able to shave sideburns and cheeks reasonably well, almost BBS, with no irritation or close to no irritation at all, even managing WTG and XTG passes. Neck is going almost as well, including an ATG pass (from south to north), although the neck is less forgiving if I got the wrong blade angle, either resulting in irritation or small nicks.

But the tough spot is the mustache and chin area. I can't believe how HARD that is! I realize I'm not alone there as it seems all SR beginneers struggle quite a lot with this area.

The first time I tried the mustache, I just couldn't get it done. The blade was pulling like crazy, not even cutting whiskers. I stopped right there and switch to the DE. Then I watched some more videos and realized my angle was far too low: a lot of people seems to start out with a much greater angle on the stache when comparing with cheeks (like 45 degrees or more on the stache). However the trick here is to have just enough angle as having too much a large angle scrapes the skin more than cutting whiskers. The chin is no more easier, and the curves makes it a tough process. Today was my first shave of this whole area. Results were: lots of stubble left, and a case of real bad razor burn like I haven't had since when I started with a safety razor a while back.

Lessons learned:

A) I think my biggest problem is that since I'm slow, by the time I get to the stache and chin, the lather is all dried and I have no lubrication to help the razor. I think I will need to wipe out the dried lather, wet the skin thoroughly again, and reapply lather as if I'm just starting the shave.

B) I also need to continue experimenting with angles: the angle the blade has can make a dramatic difference in comfort and smoothness of shaving. It is not always obvious which angle is best depending where you are on your face. I guess I have no other choice than experimenting, stepping back and repositioning when I realize what I'm doing is just not working.

C) Handling the razor: I also realized that keeping the razor straight (with the scales in line with the blade) makes it much easier in some places where having the scales perpendicular to the blade makes you bump in your neck, the head or whatever. I was surprised when I noticed that, I thought you had to keep the blade always perpendicular to the scales. Not so.

D) Practice and experience makes perfect. I think it will take me months to get proficient enough with a SR to have a close, comfortable shave, with no nicks and no irritation. This way of shaving requires tremendous patience and concentration. You can't rush your learning there, or your face will let you know. It actually took me months to develop the necessary ability to shave with a DE with no irritation and BBS quality. I guess straight razor shaving is no different. I need to hang on tight for the long haul on this if I am to be successful. Quick results won't happen.

If it is any help... and take this with a grain of salt as I rarely shave off the mustache. I found that curling the lip under your teeth is sufficient to stretch the skin. I also don't use a straight north to south in that area. I start at the middle of the mustache and work diagonally down toward the edge of the lip on one side and then middle diagonally down to the other edge of the lip. Both short quick strokes.

Those areas are the most difficult. As I recall I didn't even attempt the chin especially the very bottom and underside for a couple months of daily shaving and it took longer than that to really be comfortable with that maneuver.

You simply need to develop a great deal of facility with the razor to be able to shave those areas. I know of no secrets to tell you. it's just practice, practice, practice. One day you will just do it and think hey what just happened here?

A goat tee solves the problem for me

I cheat on the mustache area as I have one. The chin though is still tough to do. I stretch the skin by curling my lower lip over my teeth to help with that. You have to constantly be adjusting your angle as you go and I do small strips like peeling a potatoe when going vertically. Going XTG on the chin I do so diagonally and then sub another diagonal pass going the other way instead of going ATG in that area. I am slow too so I may have to relather an area that has dried out.

Bob

Originally Posted by ZeroCool

A goat tee solves the problem for me

That's cheating !

Originally Posted by Pyrateknight

If it is any help... and take this with a grain of salt as I rarely shave off the mustache. I found that curling the lip under your teeth is sufficient to stretch the skin. I also don't use a straight north to south in that area. I start at the middle of the mustache and work diagonally down toward the edge of the lip on one side and then middle diagonally down to the other edge of the lip. Both short quick strokes.

Good idea, will try going diagonal instead of straight down.

First, there are no rules… you can and should re-lather as much as needed, the whole point of lather is to keep the whiskers wet. Try a drop of Glycerin in your soap. Most drugstores carry it, around $6. It will make your lather thicker and last longer, just one drop.

Second, try a 2 hand grip, regular grip with the razor hand and hold the tip with the other hand, thumb and fore finger.

Third, no such thing as too low of an angle, you can lay the blade flat on your lips and go straight up, to do the stash.

Forth, your razor may not be sharp enough, have it pro honed and practice stropping. Slow & steady.

I'm only just now getting better in those areas. I still do a little final finishing touches with a D.E.

For the upper lip I curl my lip over the teeth as mentioned but I hold the blade in place and let the moving lip do the shaving just under the nose.

I keep both areas lathered very well and thicker than some of the other areas.

On the lower lip/chin area I keep the angle shallow and go diagonally as mentioned especially on the first pass.

If I nick myself I'll skip a day or two with the straight razor and use just a D.E. to allow for the skin to be healed as I'm being kind of rough on the chin area due to inexperience anyway.

Having too great an angle just rubs your skin and irritates it without really removing much stubble.

Once you have a day or two with good results in those areas it's a good feeling and it makes further progress much easier.

They can be hard when you're just starting out. Try short buffing type strokes. That worked for me until my technique got better.