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Upper Lip Shaving

B

Benjamin Moran

Has anyone ever shaved against the grain on their upper lip and NOT get a cut. I’m always really proud of myself when I pull that one off.


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Mark1977

Mark1977

Benjamin Moran said:
Has anyone ever shaved against the grain on their upper lip and NOT get a cut. I’m always really proud of myself when I pull that one off.


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Yeah I shave against the grain on my upper lip pretty much every day. No issues. No irritation or cuts. I just pay close attention to my angle.

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TexOkie Shaver

TexOkie Shaver

The angle and keeping the lip tight, those are the keys. Use a very shallow angle on the blade and curl your lip down over your teeth to stretch the skin. Then go slow with very short strokes.
 
B

Benjamin Moran

Based on the responses, I’m obviously doing it wrong. Back to the drawing board.


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FarmerTan

FarmerTan

George Bailey Fanboy
Benjamin Moran said:
Based on the responses, I’m obviously doing it wrong. Back to the drawing board.


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Aren't you the fellow that is serving me in the military? You don't have a choice about shaving, do you? Ugh. That's my toughest place to shave.
 
ajkel64

ajkel64

The Aussie Bulldog
Moderator
I do it most days but more in the buffing style. I do take my time and go easy though. I have had a few catastrophes in the past.
 
haggis

haggis

Contributor
ajkel64 said:
I do it most days but more in the buffing style. I do take my time and go easy though.
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Same. I do it like a chipmunk nibbling on an acorn ... wee tiny bites. Rarely do I have a straight edge that will do it easily; no problem usually with a sharp DE or AC blade as long as I keep the angle very very shallow (literally ride the cap), third pass after WTG/AGT.
 
Eben Stone

Eben Stone

Yes, every shave. It's not a problem at all if I use the right combination of razor + blade + good lather + correct angle, using short micro strokes and lots of skin stretching. Get one or more of those wrong and I maybe end up with many little weepers. Never had any serious cuts or nicks.

There are some combinations of blade + razor that make it almost impossible to do without lots of irritation.
 
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nicked78

nicked78

I can go ATG on upper lip without a cut most of the time. Might get a weeper though.
More ideas to add to those already:

--"sneak up on it:" start those short upward strokes to the side of the area and work your way over, rather than starting right on the upper lip. For me, that establishes the technique before I get into that challenging area. It seems like starting from a static position there can just be an invitation to a true cut. Those whiskers are tough.
--try a diagonal path: split the difference between XTG and ATG and see how that goes.
--if pulling the lip down over the upper teeth doesn't give you the reasonably comfortable experience you want, try inflating the upper lip with air; for me, this exposes the whiskers a little less aggressively, putting up less of a fight against the blade.

Go for it! Like you, I feel proud to get this right.
 
Contact_vs_Feedback

Contact_vs_Feedback

For the upper lip, I go for WTG and ATG (North South and South North).
I have micro blisters (?) at the edges of upper lip which always get caught in the razor if I go Across the grain (EAST WEST).
For the area where lower lip meets upper lip (East West end of month) I can easily go for WTG, XTG, ATG.
 
Tirvine

Tirvine

I shave the upper lip ATG every day. I find the XTG more tricky, but neither leads to cuts or weepers. The upper lip is usually the first place to feel a tug when the blade is wearing out.
 
B

Benjamin Moran

Eben Stone said:
What razor do you use? I only advise trying it with razor that has a "rigid design". If you have a chatterbox you should expect irritation.
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I use a variety of vintage Gillette razors but I probably use an early 40s Tech a plurality of the time.


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Eben Stone

Eben Stone

Benjamin Moran said:
I use a variety of vintage Gillette razors but I probably use an early 40s Tech a plurality of the time.


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Take a look here:

www.badgerandblade.com

Shaving under the nose. 'The Final Frontier'

Wanted to talk about my worst part of shaving. Between the upper lip and under the noose. I just can't master it. Seem like mustache hair is so brittle hard or grows at strange angles of something. If I'm going to get bumps or cuts, that's where they will be. Fear and trepidation sets in as I...
www.badgerandblade.com www.badgerandblade.com

That post isn't specifically for ATG, but the suggestions I posted on that thread are. And IMO everyone's posts in that thread could be useful for mustache in general and/or mustache ATG.
 
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Roedeer

Roedeer

Benjamin Moran said:
Has anyone ever shaved against the grain on their upper lip and NOT get a cut. I’m always really proud of myself when I pull that one off.


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As a DE user, I tried it, and more or less got away with it most of the time, but it wasn't relaxing.

Mine grows downwards, so WTG plus a bi-directional XTG gets me 95% of the results these days.

Maybe (for experienced users), a straight or shavette would be more ergonomic, because doing it with a DE isn't.
 
FarmerTan

FarmerTan

George Bailey Fanboy
Benjamin Moran said:
I use a variety of vintage Gillette razors but I probably use an early 40s Tech a plurality of the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
That's a nice razor to attempt it with. Do you absolutely HAVE to shave ATG because of your service?

I'll bet I have only shaved directly "North" on the area directly under my nostrils MAYBE twice in my life: once in my twenties with a cart and once again after reading on here that I'm not a real man if I didn't. I may be incredibly handsome, but I ain't no Fool, I may Pass for a Fool, but I'm not. My mom might've raised some homely kids but no fools.
I honestly only accomplished one thing: irritation. And for what? I don't think it was any closer in appearance.

Now, if I'm not in a hurry, I will kinda shave diagonally on the corners of my upper lip, but not often.

This is the only time I miss my mustache.

But I had to shave it. All the ladies running up to me asking me for my autograph, calling me "Mr. Selleck!" That gets old, believe it or knot! True story doggone!
 
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