The Neck Area Shaving Info Thread : post tips, suggestions that would help others.

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

This might be of general interest even though his razor is a straight

You can skip to about 2:45 for the actual shave although the beginning is interesting.

He says it took him seven years to develop this technique. The razor is particularly loud because of its grind; the sound makes it sound like he's scraping his skin but he's not. Everyone's skin and whiskers are different, but this is an incredible demonstration.

His shave is so obviously close.

This video was recently posted on my Damn Comfortable Shave thread by someone to whom I'm very grateful. I'm sharing it here because it was so helpful to me.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Twelvefret]

That’s a bit hard to listen

 

[rockviper]

"Scraping toast" is why I do not like hollow grinds.


Hmmm...... now I'm hungry.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I try not to get anal about following my grain as precise as possible. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but I'll explain: on my upper neck, my hair flows slightly down and out towards my ears. On my lower neck, it flows diagonally up and out to my ears. If I was to try to shave purely WTG, I'd be holding my razor at odd angles and I'd be adding unneeded pressure to compensate. Therefore, on my upper neck I shave N-S, and on my lower neck I shave S-N. It is much easier to hold the razor at the correct angle by doing this. I am a firm believer of doing what is comfortable, even if you're not shaving purely WTG. If it isn't comfortable or it isn't producing desirable results, then you need to switch something up. As with anything in this hobby, YMMV.

My throat and neck grain is about the same. Recently I've been doing very much what you describe and going for comfortable. Nobody at work is checking my beard to see if I'm billiard-ball smooth.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I try not to get anal about following my grain as precise as possible. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but I'll explain: on my upper neck, my hair flows slightly down and out towards my ears. On my lower neck, it flows diagonally up and out to my ears. If I was to try to shave purely WTG, I'd be holding my razor at odd angles and I'd be adding unneeded pressure to compensate. Therefore, on my upper neck I shave N-S, and on my lower neck I shave S-N. It is much easier to hold the razor at the correct angle by doing this. I am a firm believer of doing what is comfortable, even if you're not shaving purely WTG. If it isn't comfortable or it isn't producing desirable results, then you need to switch something up. As with anything in this hobby, YMMV.

I am a firm believer of doing what is comfortable combined with what seems to work best for me.

My face, my neck, my whiskers, my rules.

I don't always obey my rules, but rule number one is comfort.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[mbarn]

I finally cracked it for myself by settling with DFS on part of my neck where I had irritation issues, rather than bbs.

Visible on a stubble side is no different, I can just feel a tiny bit on my neck. But I have no redness.

I now do:
Pass 1. With the grain
Pass 2. Across grain back to front
Pass 3. Across grain front to back.

An additional change was thicker lather on pass 1, thinner on pass 2/3 where I just add a bit more water.


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[justliketomthumb]

Picasso drew my beard map for me. Shave, clockwise?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Another great shave video.

Fast. Cavalier. Close. Smooth. Very interesting angles. Zen?

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[mbarn]

I finally cracked it for myself by settling with DFS on part of my neck where I had irritation issues, rather than bbs.

Visible on a stubble side is no different, I can just feel a tiny bit on my neck. But I have no redness.

I now do:
Pass 1. With the grain
Pass 2. Across grain back to front
Pass 3. Across grain front to back.

An additional change was thicker lather on pass 1, thinner on pass 2/3 where I just add a bit more water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I missed a bit on this. I also stopped using alum or witch hazel, including the alcohol free Thayers version on my neck. Still use it on my face, but my neck looks great now. That was the final bit to get a great neck shave.


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[sig303]

It was probably mentioned earlier in the thread (it's a long one), but I've good luck with "cold shaving". Seems like it tightens up skin and so I get less irritation.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It was probably mentioned earlier in the thread (it's a long one), but I've good luck with "cold shaving". Seems like it tightens up skin and so I get less irritation.

Yes. Me too.

 

[justliketomthumb]

It was probably mentioned earlier in the thread (it's a long one), but I've good luck with "cold shaving". Seems like it tightens up skin and so I get less irritation.

AWESOME! I owe you a giant Thanks for mentioning this. Why hadn't i read about cold shaving before???Night and day difference for me after using hot water my whole shaving experience. I was actually able to shave ATG on every part of my face and neck for the first time today. Thanks sig303!!!!!!!
TNS

 

[sig303]

AWESOME! I owe you a giant Thanks for mentioning this. Why hadn't i read about cold shaving before???Night and day difference for me after using hot water my whole shaving experience. I was actually able to shave ATG on every part of my face and neck for the first time today. Thanks sig303!!!!!!!
TNS

My pleasure man, made a world of difference for me. Sad thing for me is I've been down in Florida for a while and the water out of the tap is warmer than I used to shower with in the mountains!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My pleasure man, made a world of difference for me. Sad thing for me is I've been down in Florida for a while and the water out of the tap is warmer than I used to shower with in the mountains!

That's why God made ice!

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[sig303]

That's why God made ice!

Happy shaves,

Jim

I actually am throwing a bunch of ice in my sink and filling it for a shave...lol.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I actually am throwing a bunch of ice in my sink and filling it for a shave...lol.

Now you're in for a treat.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I actually am throwing a bunch of ice in my sink and filling it for a shave...lol.

I keep a glass bottle that once contained milk, now filled with water, in the refrigerator. During the hot months, i.e., March to December (!), I use that cold water to wet my face and to rinse between passes/latherings, as the stuff from the tap is merely tepid, not cold.

 

[sig303]

I keep a glass bottle that once contained milk, now filled with water, in the refrigerator. During the hot months, i.e., March to December (!), I use that cold water to wet my face and to rinse between passes/latherings, as the stuff from the tap is merely tepid, not cold.

I might have to try that instead of the ice...

 

[ronald90]

Great thread, just like a few others who have posted, beard-mapping has shown that my neck stubble goes W-E on one side of the neck and E-W on the other, making WTG + ATG passes challenging. I've tried N-S/S-N neck passes as well as diagonal passes (e.g. NE-SW) to varying degrees of success, but the thing I found made the biggest difference in having a decent neck shave was skin-stretching the right way. Bullfrogging (in some ways the opposite approach to skin stretching) does not work so well with me as I lack the bulk around my chin to bullfrog effectively

 

[rockviper]

For my neck, I simply go NS on pass-1, SN on pass-2, with ear-chin strokes on the jawline at the end of pass-2.