technique for heavy growth in mustache area

[GoodShave]

I was wondering what others do to make shaving their mustache area more pleasant when they are shaving several days growth.

I usually shower before shaving and lately I have been using the PAA Cube 2.0 as a face wash and pre-shave soap. I have been making good lather with various soaps, most recently with Noble Otter Bare.

I shave every other day or every third day but lately I find that it is uncomfortable on the first pass of shaving the mustache area shaving with the grain no matter what DE, injector, or Artist Club style barber razor. I have a variety of razors but most recently, I have gravitated to my 1964 Gillette Slim and my Feather AS-D2.

I am thinking I just need to shave more lightly and keep in mind beard reduction but it still is not comfortable. Would you use a more efficient razor/blade in that area? What else would you try?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Smooth and Sharp]

If it's too dense, tuggy or uncomfortable, you could preshave that area with a clipper prior to your shower. This type works well to reduce hair without cutting everything : Phillips multigroom series 7000. (Many brands have similar products).

 

[Butch Waxx]

You could always consider:

 

[BigJ]

My approach is to shave daily!! Works like a charm!!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

I was wondering what others do to make shaving their mustache area more pleasant when they are shaving several days growth.

I usually shower before shaving and lately I have been using the PAA Cube 2.0 as a face wash and pre-shave soap. I have been making good lather with various soaps, most recently with Noble Otter Bare.

I shave every other day or every third day but lately I find that it is uncomfortable on the first pass of shaving the mustache area shaving with the grain no matter what DE, injector, or Artist Club style barber razor. I have a variety of razors but most recently, I have gravitated to my 1964 Gillette Slim and my Feather AS-D2.

I am thinking I just need to shave more lightly and keep in mind beard reduction but it still is not comfortable. Would you use a more efficient razor/blade in that area? What else would you try?

Thanks in advance!

Hello there! How are you today GoodShave?

Its interesting that you bring this up, because just yesterday, I was doing a 5-day whisker removal, which included the moostash area as I like to call it, yes, I say it like a cow, mooooooostash. This is what I do...

(1) Wash face with hot water, and Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill bath soap bar!
(2) Apply Proraso Preshave Cream to whiskers!
(3) Whip up a yogurt consistency of soap with tallow in it!
(4) Apply lather to face, work the lather into the whiskers really well!

I then set my Merkur Futur or my Rex Ambassador to blade aggression level 4, and I first go over the moostash area on WTG pass. Then I rinse, re-lather, and I set the blade aggression to level 1, and I go back over the moostash area ATG. I re-lather again, set the blade aggression to level 2, go back over it ATG. Then, by this point, I am only left with a few under the nose hairs.

I set my blade aggression to level 3, and I go back over just under the nose WTG, but this time, I make a funny face, and use my other hand, to move my nose out of the way, and I carefully, get the remaining under the nose hairs without nicking myself. Believe it or not, nicking yourself in this area is much easier then you think, much care is needed to prevent from doing that.

But thats what I do, and by doing so, I always come out BBS in the moostash area. I see many Youtubers completely avoid doing BBS on the moostash area, cause they are afraid to nick themselves on camera I think. GeoFatBoy for example, absolutely does not do it, the furthest he goes, is a little XTG on the side of the moostash area, and finishes off the middle WTG.

 

[rbscebu]

I just shave my upper lip with a truly shave-ready straight razor, both with and against the grain. It took me a while to learn but eventually I had no problems or uncomfortable feelings. It boils down to the edge and your technique.

 

[Sukeroku]

Very sharp, exposed steel seems to do the trick...you could go with a straight
but how about putting that Feather blade in your Slim adjustable at an aggressive
setting for your WTG in the moustache area and then dialing it back for the rest
of the shave.

 

[GoodShave]

Thanks everyone for the tips!
I think I run more into this issue when I shave every third day and the growth is longer.
Great excuse to shave every day as mentioned! Maybe then I can make a dent in all my shaving soaps.
I just had more Feather DE blades delivered today so I may break break out my more aggressive razors and see how they handle it.
I also think I will revisit my barber razor technique and try some of my other AC style blades that may be better in that area.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I like to cut that area on the diagonal twice in different directions, just to reduce the whiskers. Also, remember when you have to mow heavy grass, you can bog the mower down unless you cut more narrow strips.

 

[rbscebu]

I like to cut that area on the diagonal twice in different directions, just to reduce the whiskers. Also, remember when you have to mow heavy grass, you can bog the mower down unless you cut more narrow strips.

That's where a good SR comes in. It doesn't get bogged down.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

My approach is to shave daily!! Works like a charm!!

My approach is also to shave daily. Well, that and wearing a mustache.

 

[GoodShave]

I decided to try again today with my Slim and AS-D2 with the Astra SP and Feather DE blade before moving on to more aggressive razors in my collection.

Very sharp, exposed steel seems to do the trick...you could go with a straight
but how about putting that Feather blade in your Slim adjustable at an aggressive
setting for your WTG in the moustache area and then dialing it back for the rest
of the shave.

I like to cut that area on the diagonal twice in different directions, just to reduce the whiskers. Also, remember when you have to mow heavy grass, you can bog the mower down unless you cut more narrow strips.

I used my Slim on setting 7 for the shave. I started with the Astra SP and shaved diagonally downward (based on the direction of my whiskers) for a reduction pass and that definitely was better than shaving straight down. It was more comfortable but still not as comfortable as I would like. I then decided to shave the rest of the left of my face with the Astra SP and then switched to a Feather DE blade for the right.

Doing the downward diagonal with the Feather DE blade was much more comfortable than the diagonal with the Astra SP. I tried shaving the rest of my right side side but it was way too rough/too much blade feel and gave me a weeper on my neck. I had thought about dialing down the Slim with the Feather (since this was the first time using a Feather DE blade in the Slim) but I didn't want to take the time to dry off my hands and razor to do this. Instead, I wound up moving the Feather DE blade to the Feather AS-D2 for the rest of the right side shave. I then used the Slim/Astra SP for the second pass on the left and the AS-D2/Feather on the right.

So the diagonal suggestion and the sharper blade suggestion were spot on. Thanks!

I think I will try the diagonal with the Feather AS-D2 with a Feather DE blade for the reduction pass and see what that does next time. If that does not work well, then I will look at using different razors that I have for the reduction pass.

Thanks!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

A Feather blade is the only way to go, in a Feather AS-D2, they two were made for each other.

 

[GoodShave]

A Feather blade is the only way to go, in a Feather AS-D2, they two were made for each other.

I definitely agree with the AS-D2 and Feather DE blades were made for each other. The AS-D2 definitely tames the Feather DE blade and is one of only two razors that I liked the Feather DE blade (the other being the Muhle R41).

I like the Astra SP in the the AS-D2 as well as it provides a comfortable shave but not quite as close as the Feather DE blade (but also less expensive and I get more shaves per blade with it).

 

[Butch Waxx]

A Feather blade is the only way to go, in a Feather AS-D2, they two were made for each other.

I concur wholeheartedly SWCT.

 

[Butch Waxx]

My approach is also to shave daily. Well, that and wearing a mustache.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I should point out, I wasn't trying to be snide... at least not totally. I have pretty dense growth around my mouth, above and below, and while I only shave the bottom half, it's easier if I do it daily. But yeah, I don't bother with the top half...I like the way it looks. It was a pain to shave 8 years ago (last time it was clean shaven) and it's a lot greyer and coarser now.

 

[GoodShave]

Very sharp, exposed steel seems to do the trick...you could go with a straight
but how about putting that Feather blade in your Slim adjustable at an aggressive
setting for your WTG in the moustache area and then dialing it back for the rest
of the shave.

Problem solved. I went with a more aggressive razor.

I tried my Maggard Razor SS70 head on my Feather AS-D2 handle with an Astra SP blade and it cleared all the growth with a WTG pass and was very comfortable. My guess is the other razors could not get the blade angle I needed for the mustache area.

Anyway, I just thought I would post this in case anyone else runs into the same problem.

 

[frbock]

I was wondering what others do to make shaving their mustache area more pleasant when they are shaving several days growth.

I usually shower before shaving and lately I have been using the PAA Cube 2.0 as a face wash and pre-shave soap. I have been making good lather with various soaps, most recently with Noble Otter Bare.

I shave every other day or every third day but lately I find that it is uncomfortable on the first pass of shaving the mustache area shaving with the grain no matter what DE, injector, or Artist Club style barber razor. I have a variety of razors but most recently, I have gravitated to my 1964 Gillette Slim and my Feather AS-D2.

I am thinking I just need to shave more lightly and keep in mind beard reduction but it still is not comfortable. Would you use a more efficient razor/blade in that area? What else would you try?

Thanks in advance!

What I used to do in the spring for the ditch the full beard was clip it short. In your case that's done. A hot washcloth to help soften it(just like the barber), followed by some hand lotion. Let it soak in, then apply lather and shave, rinse the blade a lot. Last tip, try a brand new blade.