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Jawbone and larynx area?

Hi,

haveing some trouble with those areas I want to ask the professionals here... :)

I found a couple of threads which address this or similar problems - but those I found where started by gentlemen with a *lot* more
experience as I have yet.
So I think my problems are more likely caused by newbie-mistakes.
The problem:
Used razor: Muehle R89 with ASTRA super platinum / Gillette 7'oclock sharp edge (yellow from India I think, since the writing on the box is not cyrillic).
Normally I do as follows:
Put lather onto my face right after I took a shower.
First pass with the grain
Second pass across the grain
Third pass against the grain
Trying to prevent the skin to move with my other hand.

This works fine on greater areas like the cheeks.

But:
Areas of the jawbones: As long as the movement of the R89 is perpendicular to the jawbone it is find most of the time.
But as soon I move the razor in direction of the jawbone, I will get an burning sensation afterwards.
The other problematic area is the neck and especially the area of the larynx (sorry if this is a somehow awkward expression...I looked up "Kehlkopf"
and only found the anatomical/medical translation...I am no native speaker).
Moving the R89 over the larynx minimizes the contact area to the blade to a very small spot...which give me the already described burning sensation.
In general I seem to do something wrong, since the whole neck areas seems to be in a "alarm situation" after shaveing.
No bleeding, though.

How can I improve the procedure ? :)

Cheers!
dullhead
 
For the jawbone, here are two solutions: about mid cheek, pull up a lot. You should be moving the skin off the jaw bone upward so you are not shaving right on it. Number two, can combine these, tilt your head back slightly and pull down gently. Maybe slightly diagonally, you have to experiment. These can take some fine control to pull off, but they keep the razor off your jaw and also make the hairs stand up. I am at a point where I do the exact opposite and use the safety bar to displace loose skin, but you have to have a very light touch or it can bite badly.
 
The neck area is the classic newbie case that you should not feel bad about. You are probably not maintaining light enough pressure or are coming in at the wrong angle. Just a reminder, if you haven't mapped your beard, neck hair sometimes grows sideways. What I have advised previously is to start out very steep, handle straight down. Tilt your head up slightly, stretching optional. Make a test stroke. If it doesn't JUST barely cut, re-angle it up and try again. You want to get to a point where the guard is on your skin and the blade is just above the skin, but grabbing the hair. When you get it right, you can go over the same area without irritation versus one and done.
 
The thing to remember is when you irritation bumps, you don't want the blade leading the cut. By using the guard, you can keep the blade above the bumps and still reduce some hair. Also, just try stretching every which way until you find what gets the trouble spots. Good luck!
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Jawbone:

Less pressure. There is more support there under the skin, than anywhere else you shave. As such, the skin won't flex away from the razor like it will everywhere else. Also, any pressure you do use is focussed more, because you're not necessarily using the whole razor width.

Another thing to try. Turn your feet. Yes, you read that correctly! Turn your whole body side on to the mirror, then turn your head sideways to look at the mirror, and lower your head slightly, pointing your chin vaguely towards your shoulder. At some point (after moving it around a bit to find that sweet spot) you will nearly flatten the entire side area, from cheek, past the jawbone, and down onto the neck. Maybe not perfectly, but enough to relax the tension of skin over the jawbone, and bring the whole razor width into play. I use this trick a lot.

Neck:

Always tricky. Our skin tends to be thinner and less smooth on the neck. Over the Adam's apple (larynx), try pulling the skin to the side to shave it. First one side, then the other. Also, be mindful that your beard might grow in different directions in that area, and not follow the same grain as the rest of your neck. And again, there's greater support under the skin at that point, so again, less pressure!!!
 
The jawline and chin usually have the toughest whiskers. The neck is a problem area for many people starting out. What we think is "the grain" is often mistaken because the grain can change direction in different regions of the neck. You can try experimenting with passes in more of a diagonal direction. The reasons for irritation are usually things like too much pressure, shaving without good lather and going over the same area too many times. It might be better to try for a comfortable shave instead of the closest possible shave on the neck until you have practiced for at least a couple weeks.
 
Hi Aimless Wanderer, hi NorthernSoul,

thank you for your help and support ! :)

..."turn your feet" for a better shave.... I would never had such an idea myself...great! Will try that tomorrow (sometimes
the beard growth is simply too slow for a steep learning curve... ;) ).
I will keep a closer look to the directions of the grain at my neck!

Short questions:
Do you think it is possible, that one edge of a blade becomes dull much faster that the other one? Or is it just me...?
(in this case: ASTRA Super Platinum)
What blade is said to be smoother than a Gillette 7'oclock Sharp Edge (yellow, from India I think) but equally sharp?
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Short questions:
Do you think it is possible, that one edge of a blade becomes dull much faster that the other one?

Yes. I don't tend to use both sides of a double edged razor equally, and can often find one edge tiring faster than the other. Also, I tend to use on half of the edge more... think overlapping strokes, or the jawbone issue, where only part of the blade is in play. Flipping a blade periodically, helps me even out the wear along each edge, and towards the end of a blade life, I just have to keep shovelling the razor round to the "good edge", if I happen to pick it up the wrong way around.

What blade is said to be smoother than a Gillette 7'oclock Sharp Edge (yellow, from India I think) but equally sharp?

I would have said the Astra Platinum, but you're already using it :) You could however try Feather, Astra Stainless, or Gillette Platinums. Wilkinson Sword is another favourite of mine, but might lean too far towards smooth than sharp for you. Still worth a try though.
 

Dave himself

Wee Words of Wisdom
I've seen this on Kevy Shaves on YouTube but when you come to the Adams apple take a gulp and hold it makes the Adams apple almost dissappear hope this helps.
 
One more tip for the Adam's apple: tilt your head upwards and swallow. This will flatten the neck geometry (the duration depends on how well your neck muscles are developed).
As for blades, I would not recommend changes at this stage. If you think your blades are dull, use a fresh blade (at least for the trouble areas) or keep one side of the blade only for the trouble spots. You can always change blades once your technique works for you.
 
Yes. I don't tend to use both sides of a double edged razor equally, and can often find one edge tiring faster than the other. Also, I tend to use on half of the edge more... think overlapping strokes, or the jawbone issue, where only part of the blade is in play. Flipping a blade periodically, helps me even out the wear along each edge, and towards the end of a blade life, I just have to keep shovelling the razor round to the "good edge", if I happen to pick it up the wrong way around.



I would have said the Astra Platinum, but you're already using it :) You could however try Feather, Astra Stainless, or Gillette Platinums. Wilkinson Sword is another favourite of mine, but might lean too far towards smooth than sharp for you. Still worth a try though.

Currently I am using the one edge until it is dull and then flip to the other edge. I had an ASP from which I got 4 good shave from one edge and the other edge was done after about 1.5 shaves. But flipping the edges while shaveing makes more sense. It levels out differences.
While I am testing the ASP and the Gillette 7'oclock Sharp Edge I shave each side of my face with one blade each and flip blade->side of face each morning.
Currently I have more skin irritation with the ASP as with the 7'oclocks. But I need to be more careful with the latter...
I think (read: "don't know for sure") that the ASP isn't as sharp as the 7'clocks...and I need more passes with the ASPs,
which in turn irritates the skin more.
But after all: Currently the weakest link in the chain am I myself haveing the most not-existing experience beside the
one experience: How to irritate my skin. ;) :)

Some of the blades you mentioned is part of my sampler pack. Will test them after I know what I should think of
ASP <=> 7'clock yellows.
 
I've seen this on Kevy Shaves on YouTube but when you come to the Adams apple take a gulp and hold it makes the Adams apple almost dissappear hope this helps.
"Adam's apple!" That was the phrase I was searching for! Damn...and in german it is exactly the same phrase. Will try that trick
tomorrow.
This whole forum and the gents here are awesome! I am learning faster than I am able to shave... :) :) :)
 
One more tip for the Adam's apple: tilt your head upwards and swallow. This will flatten the neck geometry (the duration depends on how well your neck muscles are developed).
As for blades, I would not recommend changes at this stage. If you think your blades are dull, use a fresh blade (at least for the trouble areas) or keep one side of the blade only for the trouble spots. You can always change blades once your technique works for you.
It always put a smile into my face when imageing, what would happen, if one would pull single posting completly out of the
context and present them to person, which has not the slightest clue, about what we are talking here.... :) :) :) :)
Stop a random person on the sidewalk and ask her/him: "May I present the Adam's apple trick to you???" <<<grin>>>

I will add the improvements you mentioned tomorrow to complete the "Adam's Apple manoeuvre" :) ;)
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I had an ASP from which I got 4 good shave from one edge and the other edge was done after about 1.5 shaves

I recently had an Astra Platinum do about 60 shaves ;) In these early stages, your blades might not last long. As your technique improves, you may find that your blades last longer, and you start getting 6 shaves, or 8 shaves.

Don't worry about blade life though. You just focus on getting more comfortable shaves, and better technique. :thumbup1:
 
...What blade is said to be smoother than a Gillette 7'oclock Sharp Edge (yellow, from India I think) but equally sharp?
It's always good to sample different blades since everyone has their own preferences. Still, you may want to try blades such as Gillette Nacet and Gillette Platinum.
 
Some great advice above!

In addition, I suggest you map your beard so you can understand precisely what you are doing in the problem areas.
 
This morning I (tried to) followed the advice of this thread and
TADA! :)
Much better result! Much less burning.
I think, I will write "Much less pressure" on my fronthead in mirrored writing. When I look into the
mirror, then... ;)
This forum and its gents are really great! Love it! :)
 
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