I decided to settle on DFS for my neck.
This for me.
I decided to settle on DFS for my neck.
I'm still in the earliest of learning stages but by paying more attention to the actual grain of the hair on my neck I found that what I thought was a WTG pass was actually an XTG pass so I have adjusted that accordingly and already got better results. The biggest things I'm currently struggling with is being able to put the razor down and accept that shave I have (resist the urge to do 5+ passes to try to get BBS) and to put no pressure on the razor. I have to constantly tell myself "no pressure, no pressure, no pressure".
I can live with not getting 100% BBS every shave but I can't live with not trying. Might as well go electric otherwise IMO.
My tips as in what I do on the neck...
. Shallowest angle possible
. No pressure, not even the razors weight
. Multiple passes, beard reduction
. Feel the grain with the fingertips
. Short strokes, tiny strokes if need be
. If ATG feels too much try XTG but at less or more than 90 degrees
. XTG from both directions before attempting ATG
. Sharp smooth blade is a must
By sharp blade I mean a sharp blade. Not one with 5 or 20 shaves on it. Also it's important to know when to give up and accept what ya got. Also if you must shave every day accept a true BBS probably isn't doable every day. Lastly beware those who claim to get a BBS shave on the first or second pass. They're either lying, incredibly fortunate or 12 years old.
I decided to settle on DFS for my neck.
This for me.
I have found that mapping beard growth is trickier than it may seem. After several futile attempts at trying to understand the growth pattern of my beard, I finally decided to sit down and really focus on the growth direction. I was surprised to discover that I had it mostly incorrect until now. I took pencil and pad and made notes and applied it to this morning’s shave. The result was a smoother shave, esp. on my neck.
I'm still in the earliest of learning stages but by paying more attention to the actual grain of the hair on my neck I found that what I thought was a WTG pass was actually an XTG pass so I have adjusted that accordingly and already got better results. The biggest things I'm currently struggling with is being able to put the razor down and accept that shave I have (resist the urge to do 5+ passes to try to get BBS) and to put no pressure on the razor. I have to constantly tell myself "no pressure, no pressure, no pressure".
+1 for everything you said.
I have found that mapping beard growth is trickier than it may seem. After several futile attempts at trying to understand the growth pattern of my beard, I finally decided to sit down and really focus on the growth direction. I was surprised to discover that I had it mostly incorrect until now. I took pencil and pad and made notes and applied it to this morning’s shave. The result was a smoother shave, esp. on my neck.
Very good procedure, taking notes can be beneficial.
The neck area is always one of the hardest areas for everyone to get a good close and smooth shave. For some reason it is common for the hair on the neck to grow in all sorts of crazy directions. For example, WTG on your cheeks might be ATG when you get to your neck shaving the same direction. Once I had an understanding of how my hair grows, the neck area became much much easier to conquer.
Ingrown maybe?Not so much as a tip, but an observation.
There is a red spot on my neck that I keep thinking is razor burn. I didn't shave yesterday or today and the redness is still there. It looks like this red area is where the hair growth maks a 180 deg turn and is in a area where my neck creases when I look down. So I'm thinking this isn't razor burn at all. It may be irritation from my stubble rubbing the skin.
Just a thought I wanted to share with others that might have persistent redness on the neck.
Ingrown maybe?
I have that as well. If you take a break from shaving for 1 week or so it disappears. What has worked for me is a single WTG pass over that area. In about 2 weeks from that point it will be all good.Not so much as a tip, but an observation.
There is a red spot on my neck that I keep thinking is razor burn. I didn't shave yesterday or today and the redness is still there. It looks like this red area is where the hair growth maks a 180 deg turn and is in a area where my neck creases when I look down. So I'm thinking this isn't razor burn at all. It may be irritation from my stubble rubbing the skin.
Just a thought I wanted to share with others that might have persistent redness on the neck.
Mapping come into play at this point.The neck area is always one of the hardest areas for everyone to get a good close and smooth shave. For some reason it is common for the hair on the neck to grow in all sorts of crazy directions. For example, WTG on your cheeks might be ATG when you get to your neck shaving the same direction. Once I had an understanding of how my hair grows, the neck area became much much easier to conquer.
Keep us posted.I don't think so. There are no pumps or anything like that. It's just redness on the skin. I'm thinking self induced stubble burn.
I'm going to TRY very hard to minimize pressure and use the shallowest angle possible in this area to see if it stays red after shaving.