Thread: help out a noob with shaving neck

Ive only just started sr shaving but have read a great deal. My problem is that my neck hair grows from left ear down and fowards and from front to right ear up and back. I also have a hollow at side of wind pipe and when i stretch the skin its still there. I have sensative skin and have now had numerous nicks. All the vids ive seen and most threads talk of up and down on neck but id be going wtg/xtg on left and xtg/atg in right. Have included a photo and should be able to see direction of growth. I only shave lower neck as swmbo will not let me shave any moreThanks for all your help Ed

Three things to consider when tackling the neck:

1. Direction of beard growth
2. Stretching - try stretching the skin every which way
3. Type and length of stroke - short scything strokes work very well.


The multi-pass routine - WTG/XTG/ATG - is suggestion, you can actually do it in whatever order you want. Most will start with WTG, but if that's inconvenient for areas like the neck (especially for guys like you and me with sideways neck growth) it's fine to start with a XTG pass. Hell, some do a ATG pass first; not for me, but if you can get away with it, why not?

How is your beard prep? When I was starting out I used ore shave oil which helped. Hair conditioner also help to soften the beard. You'll get red marks or worse if your whiskers get pulled instead of shaved. Make sure your blade is shave-ready and prepare your beard well before shaving.

For prep I shower if possible, prorasso preshave, hot towel, preshave, and then lather. Have been stretching but if to much i nick myself a lots of tendons? just under skin causing problems. Have just started scything and its helps with the cut but is irritating a little. Haven't figured out wtg yet as that is around neck. Cheers for your replys

I too have trouble with shaving my neck.
One of the things that helped me most was finding out which direction to stretch the skin.
Before the shave stretch the neck skin in slightly different angles while feeling the whiskers in an against the grain motion with the fingers of the other hand.
I found that if I stuck my chin up and to the side as far as it would go while streching and feeling I could find a combination that would make the whiskers stand up that are normally laying flat.
The other thing that helped me was to use a very light pressure against the skin. The effectiveness of each pass was greatly improved and the light pressure allows for more passes without razor burn.
The pressure thing reminds me of my stropping technique. Light pressure there makes good things happen while heavy pressure does the opposite.
Anyway, good luck to you, and just keep trying new techniques and your shave will improve for you.

My neck hair rebels when I go ATG resulting in serious skin irritation and ingrown hairs so I had to get creative myself. I discovered I could shave from my throat outward at an angle and do a XTG stroke on my neck hair which grows straight down. When going from the throat outward your razor has to be at an angle kind of like this "\" following your jaw line. If you need a picture to help you visualize this stroke I can get someone to photograph me doing it later today. This would give you another option to play with. I would also strongly recommend Proraso sensitive skin preshave cream. It really works wonders for me.

I too have trouble with my neck. I've found if I put my chin down against my chest and hold the skin between the collar bones tight and lift my chin back up it streaches differently so I can get different areas easier. Or even just tipping my chin and shaving without streaching. It bunches the skin in that area a little and exposes the areas that normally suck in when I stretch.

I hope this helps.

Alright. had my shave and gave s few things a go. Making faster passes definently helped. Buffing went ok but have irritation mainly to areas of Buffing but that could be a pressure issue. Better than last shave though so will keep at it and sure won't be too long before its sweet. Even with irritation is still a better shave than my fusion cartridges.

1. Prepping is not necessarily a good thing. My neck fares better with cold water than warm. With warm temperature I get heat spots. Figure out which type you are.

2. My beard goes from right to left. All over my face. Ah-huh weird lol. From the sound of it, you're like me. That's why in my upwards and downwards strokes, I make them tilted slightly ie razor not horizontal. This way it can a little across or against grain action. Never go totally sideways, that irritates the hell out of my neck.

3. Go very lightly and never add pressure even if you're tempted. Let the razor move around your skin not push it down scrapping it. I have a not very sharp razor and always tempted to do that.

Good luck. Let us know how you progress.