Thread: Issues with a round face - Suggestions?

Ok, I have a round (chubby) face and a darned annoying section that I can't seem to shave with a str8 and I could use some help . There is a section of beard that grows towards the adams apple (not that you can see mine ) and I can't seem to find a grip or method that will allow me to shave well there. I was hoping someone here might have a similar problem and have a solution or advice to offer.

I've provided a picture of my ugly mug to help illustrate the problem.

The blue circle shows the area of the offending hair growth, and the arrows follow the grain of my beard. With a DE (since it's so small) I can shave against the grain and get a really good shave, but I can't seem to duplicate it with the straight.



I await your collective wisdom

I tilt my head back, pull whichever way works best with my stretching hand and attack from whichever angle works best to get the offending whiskers. If one angle doesn't work I try another.

I don't know if all I did was state the obvious but I hope that is of some help.

Greetings and welcome!

You really have a tough one there... I now consider myself lucky in the grain of my beard. But many thanks for the blue arrows. That answered what would have been my first question (ie. which direction does your beard grow?)

My first question instead is perhaps a little obvious but I gotta ask all the same. How sharp is your razor? Do you think it could be your razor or is it your technique? Perhaps if you have a second razor that might help you discover that. It may be that the razor isnt sharp enough.

In the short term I would be inclined to suggest something which I rarely do. Continue working on your technique but if something (or someone) demands you have a really smooth shave and you can achieve it with your DE, then touch up your straight razor shave with an ATG DE pass. If it works for you then whats wrong with it? In the meantime you can continue practicing on improving your technique.

I'm not sure you mention how long you have been shaving. May I ask?

Although my hair direction is very different to yours, I've found this technique pretty good:

- lift your head up in front of the mirror
- with your off hand, take a hold of your throat as if you are going to choke yourself, but gently
- the hold should be just below the Adam's apple
- pull the skin down
- eyes down so you can see what you're doing with peripheral vision

Looking at your diagram, that should easily let you go WTG and ATG between the chin and Adam's apple if you want (by using north<-->south passes)

The same passes either side of the midline would let you go XTG.

If you feel you need to go ATG on those areas either side of the midline, that will require a bit of practice at a different grip. I open the blade until it is in a straight line with the scales and I grip the tang between thumb and two fingers. I then sweep laterally across the neck whilst keeping my head tilted way up. I really don't recommend this until you are very familiar with your grip in general because you have to rely mostly on touch as feedback, since your head is tilted so far up it's difficult to see directly where you're shaving.

Sounds risky, but strangely I have never cut myself doing that.

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

Greetings and welcome!

You really have a tough one there... I now consider myself lucky in the grain of my beard. But many thanks for the blue arrows. That answered what would have been my first question (ie. which direction does your beard grow?)

My first question instead is perhaps a little obvious but I gotta ask all the same. How sharp is your razor? Do you think it could be your razor or is it your technique? Perhaps if you have a second razor that might help you discover that. It may be that the razor isnt sharp enough.

In the short term I would be inclined to suggest something which I rarely do. Continue working on your technique but if something (or someone) demands you have a really smooth shave and you can achieve it with your DE, then touch up your straight razor shave with an ATG DE pass. If it works for you then whats wrong with it? In the meantime you can continue practicing on improving your technique.

I'm not sure you mention how long you have been shaving. May I ask?

Hey Sidney,

Razor sharpness is a valid question - the str8 razor I'm using is a 6/8 Dovo and was purchased from Vintage Blades and states it was honed by Lynn. Other than the single touch-up I gave it on my swaty it has only seen the canvas and leather strop (unpasted) It feels pretty sharp on the TPT, perhaps not quite as sharp as when Lynn honed but close.

As far as technique, I'm pretty sure that has a lot to do with it. I've only been shaving with a straight off and on for about 3 months. I'd cut myself, get frustrated and go back to DE's for a week or so to get my confidence back up then try it again. I'm getting better and more confident with it...but I'm having a devil of a problem with the grip. Due to some injuries when I was younger (and thought I was invincible) I don't have as much mobility in my shoulders as I used to...so some of the more "intimate" contortions where you appear to be hugging yourself (not sure if that makes any sense - one hand pulls the skin and you reach across with your shaving hand ) is very difficult for me. I'll probably try to dig up a youtube shaving video that exemplifies the behavior I'm describing.

I have always been a subscriber of the saying that it's a poor craftsman who blames his tools rather than his lack of skill. With that said I have been toying around with the idea that I might have more luck with a smiling blade than the traditional straight, so I went and purchased a (pseudo smiling) Wade & Butcher on ePray a couple weeks ago. True to form it was pretty dull, and I know I don't have near the skill needed to hone it up myself. I'll have to wait and have a honemeister true it up to see if that helps the situation. I was laid off in July and can't justify spending 15-20+ bucks just to satisfy my curiousity.


Here is a pic of my new 7/8 Wade & Butcher "The Celebrated" razor. I'm pretty proud of it, as I think it looks sweet as all get out .

Originally Posted by majurey

Although my hair direction is very different to yours, I've found this technique pretty good:

- lift your head up in front of the mirror
- with your off hand, take a hold of your throat as if you are going to choke yourself, but gently
- the hold should be just below the Adam's apple
- pull the skin down
- eyes down so you can see what you're doing with peripheral vision

Looking at your diagram, that should easily let you go WTG and ATG between the chin and Adam's apple if you want (by using north<-->south passes)

The same passes either side of the midline would let you go XTG.

If you feel you need to go ATG on those areas either side of the midline, that will require a bit of practice at a different grip. I open the blade until it is in a straight line with the scales and I grip the tang between thumb and two fingers. I then sweep laterally across the neck whilst keeping my head tilted way up. I really don't recommend this until you are very familiar with your grip in general because you have to rely mostly on touch as feedback, since your head is tilted so far up it's difficult to see directly where you're shaving.

Sounds risky, but strangely I have never cut myself doing that.

Thanks for the suggestions...I'll give it a try on Sunday (my next shave day).

Regards,

Charles

Originally Posted by clehman67

Razor sharpness is a valid question - the str8 razor I'm using is a 6/8 Dovo and was purchased from Vintage Blades and states it was honed by Lynn. Other than the single touch-up I gave it on my swaty it has only seen the canvas and leather strop (unpasted) It feels pretty sharp on the TPT, perhaps not quite as sharp as when Lynn honed but close.

It sounds like you are doing everything right on that front. If it was honed by Lynn then its sharp. The only thing that could have gone wrong would be either poor strop technique or poor hone technique. To decide if its either of them ask yourself if there has been significant change in the quality of your shave between when you first got the razor from Lynn and as it is currently.

Originally Posted by clehman67

As far as technique, I'm pretty sure that has a lot to do with it. I've only been shaving with a straight off and on for about 3 months. I'd cut myself, get frustrated and go back to DE's for a week or so to get my confidence back up then try it again. I'm getting better and more confident with it...but I'm having a devil of a problem with the grip.

If its been on and off for 3 months you need to not beat yourself up over this! Straight razor shaving is a skill and like most skills it takes time to master. It will come with time. Practice and patience my friend. As my signature says, practice is half the fun

Originally Posted by clehman67

Due to some injuries when I was younger (and thought I was invincible) I don't have as much mobility in my shoulders as I used to...so some of the more "intimate" contortions where you appear to be hugging yourself (not sure if that makes any sense - one hand pulls the skin and you reach across with your shaving hand ) is very difficult for me. I'll probably try to dig up a youtube shaving video that exemplifies the behavior I'm describing.

I know exactly the grip you are describing and I do it too. There are those who use a different approach to the opposite side of their face. It involves skill and patience again. You need to force yourself to learn to shave opposite-handed. I wouldnt usually suggest it if you arent long starting but if old war wounds are stopping you getting the shave you deserve then it might be beneficial to try it.

Originally Posted by clehman67

I have always been a subscriber of the saying that it's a poor craftsman who blames his tools rather than his lack of skill. With that said I have been toying around with the idea that I might have more luck with a smiling blade than the traditional straight, so I went and purchased a (pseudo smiling) Wade & Butcher on ePray a couple weeks ago. True to form it was pretty dull, and I know I don't have near the skill needed to hone it up myself. I'll have to wait and have a honemeister true it up to see if that helps the situation. I was laid off in July and can't justify spending 15-20+ bucks just to satisfy my curiousity.


Here is a pic of my new 7/8 Wade & Butcher "The Celebrated" razor. I'm pretty proud of it, as I think it looks sweet as all get out .

That is a mighty fine W+B. I would suggest if you plan on using it that you get it sent away to be honed. Better yet, now you have two razors you can wait until you get the W+B back and then practice trying to achieve the same sharpness on your first one. That way you improve your honing skill too

Hope this advice is helping

i have a similar growth pattern in that area... but a much fuller neck... to shave it well i start wit the tilted back head and stretching as others have mentions but then transition to my head turned as far to the side stretching and taking the last pass by feel... with a scything stroke takes a bit of practice and some days i just get it pretty good... most people would never notice and other days it is perfect

i find the perfection is harder with razors 7/8 or bigger and easier with the 11/16 and smaller

I've got a similar growth drection also and a similar suze neck. +1 on syslight with the scything stroke except I pull the skin tight from the jaw bone to re-direct the har growth to an angle from my ear to agams apple. Then I ahave onthat angle. I can fit the blade across my neck on an angle but not from jaw to chest. Scything and blade buffing help a lot. Lastly I relax the skin and look straight at the mirror. With what would be XTG I very lightly do scythiing strokes arount the sides of the adams apple to get the last few hairs. The sharper the blade the better I find the results. Oh, the past part I do with water only and sometines dry, but be extra careful

It's a common trouble spot and each of us develops a slightly different way of dealing with it based on our individual issues. For me, it's a matter of very light stretching in just the right direction and raising the spine of my (sharpness is key to this) to a scraping angle and using a very LIGHT touch. Perhaps the most important trick of all is learning to IGNORE wanting perfection in that area!

These problems exist no matter the type of razor used.... I could not do as you do with a DE as I would end up with horrible ingrowns and razor burn if I went against the grain. The straight razor scrape works fine but I rarely worry about perfection down there, I just go close enough to save excessive wear on my winter uniform collars which I could destroy in one winter back when I used cartridge razors! Note, the scraping cut is only done AFTER shaving it as smooth as I can with normal strokes.... it works for me but it is tricky so be careful if you try it. Remember, NO pressure and you must have FULL control when you do it.

Regards

Christian