Shaving the neck

[TGilly]

I've been doing pretty well using my one-piece twist to open Parker DE razor. I usually do a 2pass WTG shave all week. The sides of the face come out smooth but the neck has a little more stubble than I'd like. Not comfortable with my technique enough yet to shave ATG upwards on my neck. Any tips to getting a cleaner neck line?

 

[Jcabbage]

Try across the grain. But pay attention to what direction your hair grows. I know mine grows in about 5 different directions so my whole neck is not just a north to south motion. Oh ya and no pressure.

 

[Watasha]

You may also want to try "j-hooking". That works fairly well for me.

 

[intotheforge]

Wish I could tell you; but I still don't have a good solution for my own neck - it's like one giant swirled cowlick. I J-hook on my jaw line. I'll have to try it on my neck.

 

[goatee]

you say ATG upwards.... are you sure upwards it a true ATG shave?

 

[TheHammer]

I too have cowlick swirls and multiple directions of hair growth. Oddly enough, my best shaves come from when I just make straight passes from North to South on my neck. This results in "mostly" WTG. It may not be the most conventional, but it seems to work for me. As long as my fundamentals (no pressure, proper angle, etc) are good, I get a great shave.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I've had good luck with blade buffing in an XTG direction, but my technique has improved enough now, and found some right blades for me, I can actually blade buff ATG on my neck and not suffer for it. Still not quite BBS on my neck, but getting closer all the time.

 

[Useless shaver]

Good advice above.

I'd mention the "bullfrog's technique": look down so that your neck skin is loose and very smoothly do your upwards ATG pass (if that's the case). It works for me but YMMV as always.

 

[Deltaboy]

I touch up my neck between barber visits and I go N&S!

 

[sir-nix-alot]

I go WTG, then XTG, then hit ATG in a couple areas where the hair grows differently.

 

[oldbluelight]

One more vote for the swirly cowlick neck. Actually a true WTG pass on my face is North to South above the jaw line, chin to ear on jaw bone, and South to North on my neck from ear to start of chin, North to South directly under the chin. A four pass shave, WTG XTG XTG ATG resembles a slow motion aerobic workout. Did I mention the two areas on either side of my Adam's apple that don't match up to a full blade width of WTG in any direction whatever. I feel your pain. No, I really mean that, I feel your pain but a cold water rinse, witch hazel and AS help.

 

[mistercitizen]

All great advice above. I've been working really hard to get BBS on my neck lately. Not quite there... but very close. One thing I've noticed is that if I focus on the proper blade angle and no pressure, I can do just about as many passes as necessary without too much burn or irritation. What little burn and irritation I have is handled easily by a splash with high alcohol content. I don't quite understand why the splashes with the most burn seem to just evaporate the razor burn from my face.... but they do. Anyway, it sounds typical but, my best advice is focus on technique. The more passes you can do, the more practice you get. It takes alot of time, but I enjoy the extra time shaving.

Ben

 

[GershwinInParis]

+1 on goatee's question. If S to N isn't a true ATG, you might be fine. For me, both N-S and S-N are XTG, and quite comfortable (since I figured that out). If not, look into j-hooks?

Also, an open comb razor has greatly improved my neck shaving comfort and closeness. YMMV. Good luck!

 

[musicman1951]

I don't think XTG is nearly as scary as ATG, and can be very effective. On my neck ATG is down (N-S), so make sure you've got a good map to start. Short strokes help keep the same blade angle. Pressure is always bad.

 

[DonN]

I go jawline down & then ear to apple , other ear to apple - I may throw in a few neck to jaw strokes - but the key for me is the buff finish of the entire face & neck with diluted goo & Fusion - ugh , didI say goo 'n Fusion ? yup I did, not a total purist unfortunately - and lately I've been a real rebel and have used diluted goo entirely for the DE passes , bad !!!!

 

[intotheforge]

One more vote for the swirly cowlick neck. Actually a true WTG pass on my face is North to South above the jaw line, chin to ear on jaw bone, and South to North on my neck from ear to start of chin, North to South directly under the chin. A four pass shave, WTG XTG XTG ATG resembles a slow motion aerobic workout. Did I mention the two areas on either side of my Adam's apple that don't match up to a full blade width of WTG in any direction whatever. I feel your pain. No, I really mean that, I feel your pain but a cold water rinse, witch hazel and AS help.

Ha! This is the exact same growth pattern I have.

 

[zethreal]

I have cowlick swirls all over my neck... I found that the easiest way for me to shave is actually to ignore grain ( for the most part ). I shave towards the middle of my jawline/neck on the first pass and then diagonally towards my chin on the second. There are a couple of small places where this does not get me smooth. Those places I do a 3rd 'touch up' pass, usually ATG but if I'm having an 'off' day and have irritation, I will do a cross-grain shave - as best as I can.

 

[TGilly]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

[retturn2blades]

All my life I did one pass including using and old SE razor and injectors way back when. Returning to "wet shaving," I played with multiple passes but got red and burned almost every time on areas of my neck. Now I go one pass with a little touch-up.

Shaved this morning (after 4 days!) with a shower, zero prep, a 1912 with a Carbon Steel blade and no post shave except splashing on some Floid, my favorite morning AS. Got a CCS...the good enough shave. No burn. No redness.