Technique for Jaw Line and Neck to avoid Razorburn

[retroman_1979]

Good morning Everyone,

I'm relatively new to straight razors and have been using DE for a short time. I'm very proficient with the DE and love it! A little too much with all the equipment I want to buy.

I'm having challenges with razor burn on my neck, especially closer to both ears. I've studied tutorials on you tube and continuing to try to hone my technique. I am able to shave my face with little to no razorburn, just a clean shave. Does anyone have a similar issue with their neck that they overcame and have any words of wisdom or videos they could recommend?

Thank you for all you do on this forum. I really enjoy learning from all your collective knowledge as this is a fantastic new lifestyle for me. Straight razor shaving is a lot of fun and I'm working to get more and more experience to get proficient at it. I'm probably about 6 - 10 shaves in experience.

 

[steveclarkus]

Stretch your skin. Use your wrist and fingers to get an arcing motion. Be inventive. Everyone shaves a bit differently because everyone’s face and beard pattern are different. There is no universally correct way. Just keep shaving and you will learn to shave YOUR face with experience. Just be patient and don’t get frustrated and it will all come together. It’s just shaving.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

I'd add to watch your angles.

Along the ears tends to be work with the toe of the razor and it's not hard to find your blade angle is too steep with so little of the blade length touching your cheek.

The neck is easy to be of on your angle because your chin is tilted way up and you're looking way down at a reflection of the razor in the mirror.

If the angles are too steep you are scraping, not shaving. Irritation and razor burn for sure.

 

[retroman_1979]

I'm going to be working on my angles tonight and stretching as much as possible. Thanks for the fantastic feedback gents. I also read about a very wet lather. I'm going to try to make sure it's as watery as possible.
I can't believe I got any feedback, thank you both very much.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes...

 

[retroman_1979]

Ok. I finished the wet lather, stretching and very low angle. The low angle feels smooth like nothings shaving off so i hit it a couple times. I also went to a 5/8 from a 6/8 and only prepped the trouble areas. I can tell its red a bit but not as sore so far. Fingers crossed that practice and practice makes perfect. Thanks guys its nice to have feedback and ideas

 

[Dzaw]

Paying close attention the any further feedback this thread generates. Already incorporating successful advice from earlier posts... Having a similar problem, I will have to be conscious of my angles way down low... Thank you OP for this timely thread!

 

[Suhrim21]

I'm watching this thread as well as I am having the same problem. Will be trying these tips tomorrow or Friday when my skin heals so I can shave again.

 

[toccosupreme]

For me, I’ve had issues along my jawline and neck as well. One of the biggest issues is that the grain of my beard goes in many different directions in different parts of my neck and jawline.

In order to shave with WTG I have to shave down on the entire left side of my neck, down to just above my Adam’s apple in the center, and to the right on the right side to the same distance. And to keep a WTG pass consistently WTG I have to shave the bottom of my neck upwards to the middle point of my neck in the center and diagonally up and to the right on the right side.

If I just shave down for my entire neck, it is WTG XTG and ATG on all different parts of my neck, causing lots of irritation, bumps and ingrown hairs afterwards.

My suggestion is to thoroughly map out your beard growth and pay just as much attention to following the grain properly with your passes as well as your angles.

Helped me a heaping ton.

 

[dundak]

Sounds counterintuitive but to get the corner of the jaw by the ear you can tilt your head to the side you want to shave then stretch. This kind of tucks the corner of your jaw in. YMMV


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[retroman_1979]

Today i shaved with my 6/8. I used face moisturizer before the lather. Angles make a hige difference i am finding for sensitive areas like neck. If i lose concentration for a second or try to increase angle to get the baby smooth i get rash. Best to keep the angle very small, listen to the whiskers get cut off and leave it at that. I stretched my face up on both sides to get jaw and neck as per many vids. With my added focus today the shave was better and any redness was much less. I used nivea sensitive after shave balm the after a bit vaseline soothing moisturize with aloe. Any redness at all was gone within about 20 min. We’re getting better everyone!!! All hour coaching and experience is a hige help. You are all so kind. Thank you

 

[retroman_1979]

I got a shavette this week to try. I found it very easy to use and gave me a good shave. It also served to teach me what a new sharp edge is like and different technique with a light razor. I didnt use my straight for about a week so today i decided to strop up my inox to make sure i kept the practice up. I did one pass and it went really really well! No burn on neck!!!! Not super close yet but i think the technique and use of both hands is getting better and better.

 

[retroman_1979]

Ok. New change to report. Yesterday i received and tried tabac soap for the first time. This is a huge improvement in face slickness and made shaving with a straight or safety much slicker. Before i used col conk or dr harris. Monday i receive and will try mitchells wool fat. What I found was that the super slick tabac allowed for much more error on my blade angle. It glid no matter what, within reason. I hope this experience may help some others here new to the straight. I had no razor burn after 2 passes with a de and one with straight. One pass was even against the grain, which I never do. Best of luck

 

[toccosupreme]

Ok. New change to report. Yesterday i received and tried tabac soap for the first time. This is a huge improvement in face slickness and made shaving with a straight or safety much slicker. Before i used col conk or dr harris. Monday i receive and will try mitchells wool fat. What I found was that the super slick tabac allowed for much more error on my blade angle. It glid no matter what, within reason. I hope this experience may help some others here new to the straight. I had no razor burn after 2 passes with a de and one with straight. One pass was even against the grain, which I never do. Best of luck

Noted. I’ll be investing in some tabac shortly. And sharpening my razor

 

[MurderousCrow]

I was having a similar issue towards my ears and realised I was trying to do too broad a pass, if you see my meaning. The Feather makes this easy in most cases and one can mow down substantial acreage with no trouble. However on the neck, due to the curvature of the throat, the skin angle changes steeply in only a few cm, especially when the head is extended. So while one part of the blade would be cutting hair nearer to my Adam's apple perfectly well, the angle on the skin nearer to my ear was far too steep. This is enough to make the difference @RumpleBearskin alludes to of scraping the hair off as opposed to cutting. After I realised this, I employed a more selective narrower stroke on most of my throat stubble (that below my beard), using a broad but very short pass only for aligning the edge.

Excellent thread. Thanks for reporting back OP; I may try some Tabac soap now on your recommendation

Luke

 

[retroman_1979]

I was having a similar issue towards my ears and realised I was trying to do too broad a pass, if you see my meaning. The Feather makes this easy in most cases and one can mow down substantial acreage with no trouble. However on the neck, due to the curvature of the throat, the skin angle changes steeply in only a few cm, especially when the head is extended. So while one part of the blade would be cutting hair nearer to my Adam's apple perfectly well, the angle on the skin nearer to my ear was far too steep. This is enough to make the difference @RumpleBearskin alludes to of scraping the hair off as opposed to cutting. After I realised this, I employed a more selective narrower stroke on most of my throat stubble (that below my beard), using a broad but very short pass only for aligning the edge.

Excellent thread. Thanks for reporting back OP; I may try some Tabac soap now on your recommendation

Luke

Very good detail! I have forgotten to mention Ive been working or shorter strokes and keeping light no weight passes with the straight. Perfection is tough with these bad boys but thats the fun / badass part!

 

[steveclarkus]

Ok. New change to report. Yesterday i received and tried tabac soap for the first time. This is a huge improvement in face slickness and made shaving with a straight or safety much slicker. Before i used col conk or dr harris. Monday i receive and will try mitchells wool fat. What I found was that the super slick tabac allowed for much more error on my blade angle. It glid no matter what, within reason. I hope this experience may help some others here new to the straight. I had no razor burn after 2 passes with a de and one with straight. One pass was even against the grain, which I never do. Best of luck

The only soaps I use now are MWF, Tabac, Schafmilch and Arko. Arko is the best deal and holds its own with its mates. You are picking very good well proven soaps

 

[steveclarkus]

Very good detail! I have forgotten to mention Ive been working or shorter strokes and keeping light no weight passes with the straight. Perfection is tough with these bad boys but thats the fun / badass part!

Have you tried using your wrists more to roll the razor around your jaw line and using arcing strokes on your neck? Both are very effective and comfortable.

 

[Twelvefret]

The only soaps I use now are MWF, Tabac, Schafmilch and Arko. Arko is the best deal and holds its own with its mates. You are picking very good well proven soaps

Didn't realize you used MWF. Find it hard to lather?

 

[Twelvefret]

Very good detail! I have forgotten to mention Ive been working or shorter strokes and keeping light no weight passes with the straight. Perfection is tough with these bad boys but thats the fun / badass part!

I agree with your use of short strokes and light pressure. I'd rather do two passes that way than three with long and pressure. My face feels better later.