Newbie needs a few pointers in some areas

[JakAHearts]

Hey gang. Ive been wet shaving for about a week and a half now. So far Ive been having mediocre shaves. Today, I got BBS on both of my cheeks, minus a few stragler hairs that I couldnt feel until my face dried. How do I get rid of these? Theyre so noticeable because its like a black pearl amongst white pearls. Also, my sideburns are VERY prickly. You cant see them really, but if you rub your hand from my smooth cheeks to that area, goodbye smoothness!

Another area I am having trouble in is the valleys beside my adams apple. Im a skinny dude, with a big apple,i and those things are DEEP. I had better success today with strethcing my skin, but there isnt a whole lot of stretching to be done in that area. It is almost painful to hold there and I dont like risking letting the tension fly when there is a razor in contact with my skin.

PS, anyone ever let their wives/girlfriends have a go at them with their DE?

 

[Kyle]

Mr. Hearts,

If you wouldn't mind explaining your routine, you will be much more likely to get some good/applicable advice.

 

[joel]

Hey gang. Ive been wet shaving for about a week and a half now. So far Ive been having mediocre shaves. Today, I got BBS on both of my cheeks, minus a few stragler hairs that I couldnt feel until my face dried. How do I get rid of these? Theyre so noticeable because its like a black pearl amongst white pearls. Also, my sideburns are VERY prickly. You cant see them really, but if you rub your hand from my smooth cheeks to that area, goodbye smoothness!

Another area I am having trouble in is the valleys beside my adams apple. Im a skinny dude, with a big apple,i and those things are DEEP. I had better success today with strethcing my skin, but there isnt a whole lot of stretching to be done in that area. It is almost painful to hold there and I dont like risking letting the tension fly when there is a razor in contact with my skin.

PS, anyone ever let their wives/girlfriends have a go at them with their DE?

Ditto on what kyle said. If you aren't doing them, try diagonal passes as well, along with cross ways passes. To fine the "rogue" hairs, there are a ton of methods fellas go about doing so. The most effective and reasonable of which is to rub some lather onto your wet face (or a cutting balm) with your brush, then feel around against/across the grain with your fingertips... usually this will pick up the rest of them, and you'll know where to T&C (touch and cut). You can also do the above method with a shaving stick (qedusa.com sell a wide array of shaving sticks) by rubbing the shaving stick around your wet face and feeling for rough spots, then shaving the area in the rough spots WITHOUT building up the lather with the brush (but again, remember this is not for the whole shave, this is JUST for the final step after you have done your normal full lathered passes).

Again, there are quite a few ways to do it, and nearly every guy has their own "customized" way of going about it, as after a few months, you'll know how your particular beard grows to the "T."

Hope this helps.... and by the way - welcome to the forum!

 

[Scotto]

It will take time to find your own routine, as mentioned. It is paramount however, to attack the whiskers from multiple directions. Personally, I do the first pass N-S, then the next ear-chin, then S-N. I'll do a final pass in the direction/area I know will pick up the last recalcitrant whiskers. Needless to say, you should rinse and re-lather before every pass.

 

[JakAHearts]

Ok thats my fault. Im using a Merkur HD, no-name blades, badger brush, and Taylors Sandalwood.

Anyway, I get good lather on my face (yes, its good lather) and do a N-S pass. I can see and hear the hairs being cut, so it seems to do well everywhere. I then rewet and relather my face and rinse the razor. I then do a chin to ear pass. Relather/rewet and do a ear to chin pass. This is the part the seems almost impossible to do on my neck. There just is now a flat surface to speak of, no matter how much stretching or pulling I do. The razor head seems to not even fit in where it should. Anyway, I do all these, and the last time where my face felt super smooth, I did two S-N passes. I didnt have any redness or razor burn, so I accredit this to two things. Either the israeli blades are so dull that they dont bother me, or Im supertough. ill go for option B...

 

[guenron]

Ok thats my fault. Im using a Merkur HD, no-name blades, badger brush, and Taylors Sandalwood.

Anyway, I get good lather on my face (yes, its good lather) and do a N-S pass. I can see and hear the hairs being cut, so it seems to do well everywhere. I then rewet and relather my face and rinse the razor. I then do a chin to ear pass. Relather/rewet and do a ear to chin pass. This is the part the seems almost impossible to do on my neck. There just is now a flat surface to speak of, no matter how much stretching or pulling I do. The razor head seems to not even fit in where it should. Anyway, I do all these, and the last time where my face felt super smooth, I did two S-N passes. I didnt have any redness or razor burn, so I accredit this to two things. Either the israeli blades are so dull that they dont bother me, or Im supertough. ill go for option B...

All of the above is excellent advice, but to ensure you have a solution, first I would suggest that you read this. That will probably address shearing the stragglers and also getting at the areas around your adam's apple. One last thing, the HD has a relatively mild razor head, i.e. not exposing a great deal of the blade and not posing an extremely flat blade angle. If you find that your problems hinge on having a really tough (and it doesn't sound like it at this point) beard, you might opt for a sharper blade..

 

[DoubleE]

All of the above is excellent advice, but to ensure you have a solution, first I would suggest that you read this. That will probably address shearing the stragglers and also getting at the areas around your adam's apple. One last thing, the HD has a relatively mild razor head, i.e. not exposing a great deal of the blade and not posing an extremely flat blade angle. If you find that your problems hinge on having a really tough (and it doesn't sound like it at this point) beard, you might opt for a sharper blade..

Like Ron said, experiment with another blade because they can make a world of difference!

 

[JakAHearts]

Thank you for all your good advice (everyone). A sharper blade does seem to help a bit, though the feathers love to play butcher on my neck. The personna blades I purchased at a local beauty shop seem to be the best option so far. Thanks again and everyones patience with newbies on this board is quite impressive. Thanks again!!