trying to figure out which direction my hair grows?

[raw8725]

Hello all,

I'm a newbie to wet shaving, I had my first one with a double edged blade and butchered my neck - I'm okay I'll live, I heal fast. I'm failing in understanding and knowing which way my hair actually grows? I seem to have parts where the hair grows in different directions, can anyone help me actually work it out? Thanks.

 

[cooltide]

there's a thread in the shavewiki

 

[mikelz777]

It's very difficult for me to figure it out because my neck is a free-for-all below the jaw line. Depending on where I'm shaving, the hair on my neck literally grows in every direction. Where my jaw hinges on the right side I have a swirl where it grows all directions. On the right side it starts north/south but quickly turns west/east. On the left side, it generally grows north to south but it grows south to north back where my jaw hinges. Then all along the bottom of my neck for about an inch it grows south to north. I'm 9 months in and I still don't have a consistent approach which yields consistent results.

 

[Ronnie Aloha]

I'm the same way below the chin line. Initially I would have a hard time feeling the uncut stubble due to the slickness of the shaving cream after the first two passes. What I did was start to feel around my face while driving to work. This allowed the slickness to wear off and for me to feel which way the grain was going on the missed areas. Shaving with and against the grain actually misses spots that feel smooth when you run your fingers in that direction. The cross grains were being missed to I would just make a mental note to touch up those areas after my initial shave the next day and now I seem to have my routine down.

 

[Cerbul13]

In my case works like this:
I actually divided the neck in the least possible amount of areas making sure that every area has a solution to shave on the first pass mostly WTG maybe some XTG but definitely not ATG. If an area needs ATG, then you need to divide it again and pick different directions up to the point where you no longer have anything bigger then XTG.
On the second pass you can either repeat phase 1 with maybe a bit more XTG approach where possible.
On 3rd pass you can go ATG or simply don't do ATG at all if is that bad.
Even if you have a swirl, there is always a way to divide the zone in 4 subzones, making sure none of them forces you to go ATG on the first pass.
And yes, if is needed to divide into that many zones, then that is what you have to do.

 

[Niles]

In the link below, about halfway down the page you'll see The DE Shave. Those links will help a lot. As far as your beard direction, if you can let it grow for a few days and make mental notes about what direction it grows on each part of your face, that will help. For the areas that it grows multiple directions, just try and use a light touch. We're here to try and help in any way we can.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Interactive_Guide_to_DE_Razor_Shaving

 

[fsturnz]

In the link below, about halfway down the page you'll see The DE Shave. Those links will help a lot. As far as your beard direction, if you can let it grow for a few days and make mental notes about what direction it grows on each part of your face, that will help. For the areas that it grows multiple directions, just try and use a light touch. We're here to try and help in any way we can.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Interactive_Guide_to_DE_Razor_Shaving

+1 My neck is a free for all, so basically I try to keep a light touch and shave N-S, then E-W, and finally S-N. When I'm done, I routinely get BBS with very little irritation.

 

[Mick]

Here is a link to an "interactive" beard map that you can fill in then print out. Just the act of beard mapping should help you, studying it to this point should get you all set

http://www.pbjsite.com/shave/whiskarmap/