Hello all B&B members!
First, I'll start with an introduction on how I came to this community. I am 26, and prior to this past week I think I can honestly say I have actually shaved (electric or cart) less than 50 times in my life... even that number may be too high. Simply stated, it was always a horrible experience that ended in terrible razor burn and those little whiteheads that look and feel horrible. So as a result I got away with a beard trimmer without the guard. Luckily I have never had a job that required me to be clean shaven.
Not exactly sure what the series of events were, but out of the blue someone shared the "dollar shave club" brand video with me because they thought it was entertaining. Being a curious guy, I started comparing the cost of those blades to mass marketed multi-blade cartridge nightmares which led me to do a search for other's thoughts on the same subject. Low and behold (again, not sure how), I stumbled upon geofatboy's and mantic59's videos discussing DE and Straight razor shaving. I'm one of those guys that really likes learning new things... especially when its the more "traditional" method of doing something. So I watched, and watched, and read, and watched, and suddenly I found B&B. Big mistake! Talk about a time suck - a fantastic one to be sure - but an "oh crap, that was an hour? I thought it was 5 minutes" kind of suck.
Well, I couldn't get my mind off of it. Everyone with a long history of bad experiences fell in love with shaving!? Not possible... With summer coming, and the repeated pattern of growing a beard and cutting it off getting tiresome, I had to jump in and see what I was missing.
I live in NY, so I am lucky enough to have Pasteur's only a subway ride away. A EJ DE89, pack of derbys, pack of astras, pack of feathers, pack of 7 o'clocks, tub of TOBS cream, a puck of Haslinger soap, a starter brush, and bottle of witch hazel later I had an emptier wallet and a smile on my soon to be smooth face.
I learned as much as I could and took the prep seriously. I actually loved the process. I love creating the lather and taking the time to get everything right. Here's the problem/question. I have a pretty well-defined jaw line and adams apple. I have only been shaving WTG to start until my technique gets more consistent. But the hair around my adams apple and the bottom of my neck in general grow in LOTS of directions. So much so that its extremely difficult to shave WTG consistently, which leaves me with some pretty terrible razor burn in that area. The rest of my face is already leaps and bounds better than any other method I have tried... but that area is still terrible.
Other than stretching the skin and taking even more care during prep (right now I'm showering, washing, soaking, and leaving lather on for a few minutes before beginning with the blade), anyone have any advice? If I continue and make sure to always apply very little (read: NO) pressure, will that area slowly adjust? I feel like thats a question for the father, but hes always been an electric guy... too bad for him.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to a future full of fun with all of this.
Nick
First, I'll start with an introduction on how I came to this community. I am 26, and prior to this past week I think I can honestly say I have actually shaved (electric or cart) less than 50 times in my life... even that number may be too high. Simply stated, it was always a horrible experience that ended in terrible razor burn and those little whiteheads that look and feel horrible. So as a result I got away with a beard trimmer without the guard. Luckily I have never had a job that required me to be clean shaven.
Not exactly sure what the series of events were, but out of the blue someone shared the "dollar shave club" brand video with me because they thought it was entertaining. Being a curious guy, I started comparing the cost of those blades to mass marketed multi-blade cartridge nightmares which led me to do a search for other's thoughts on the same subject. Low and behold (again, not sure how), I stumbled upon geofatboy's and mantic59's videos discussing DE and Straight razor shaving. I'm one of those guys that really likes learning new things... especially when its the more "traditional" method of doing something. So I watched, and watched, and read, and watched, and suddenly I found B&B. Big mistake! Talk about a time suck - a fantastic one to be sure - but an "oh crap, that was an hour? I thought it was 5 minutes" kind of suck.
Well, I couldn't get my mind off of it. Everyone with a long history of bad experiences fell in love with shaving!? Not possible... With summer coming, and the repeated pattern of growing a beard and cutting it off getting tiresome, I had to jump in and see what I was missing.
I live in NY, so I am lucky enough to have Pasteur's only a subway ride away. A EJ DE89, pack of derbys, pack of astras, pack of feathers, pack of 7 o'clocks, tub of TOBS cream, a puck of Haslinger soap, a starter brush, and bottle of witch hazel later I had an emptier wallet and a smile on my soon to be smooth face.
I learned as much as I could and took the prep seriously. I actually loved the process. I love creating the lather and taking the time to get everything right. Here's the problem/question. I have a pretty well-defined jaw line and adams apple. I have only been shaving WTG to start until my technique gets more consistent. But the hair around my adams apple and the bottom of my neck in general grow in LOTS of directions. So much so that its extremely difficult to shave WTG consistently, which leaves me with some pretty terrible razor burn in that area. The rest of my face is already leaps and bounds better than any other method I have tried... but that area is still terrible.
Other than stretching the skin and taking even more care during prep (right now I'm showering, washing, soaking, and leaving lather on for a few minutes before beginning with the blade), anyone have any advice? If I continue and make sure to always apply very little (read: NO) pressure, will that area slowly adjust? I feel like thats a question for the father, but hes always been an electric guy... too bad for him.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to a future full of fun with all of this.
Nick
