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  1. #1
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    Default Very uncomfortable on neck and chin

    Ive been shaving with a SR for maybe 2 weeks now and am shaving with a DOVO blackstar razor. For the last two weeks I shave my sideburns, cheeks, and upper lip and finsish everything else (neck and chin) with a regular multi-blade razor.

    The last 4 days I have attempted to shave my neck and chin and it has been quite possibly one of the most painful experiences my face has ever had. My neck hair grows sideways from left to right all the way accross my neck and my chin grows down. When I shave down my neck it HURTS... the razor feels like it is plucking out every hair individually. And I cant figure out how to shave sideways because of the awkward hold position and the razor jumps and grabs and skips on my neck (not a pretty sight).

    My chin is just impossible, I shave WTG on my chin and it almost brings me to tears. The aftermath is worse... my cheeks and upper lip is smooth as silk and just wonderful... my chin and neck is beat red, cut up, bleeding, and covered in razor bumps.

    Ive searched the forum and found a couple things like scything? I dont know what to do maybe just practice more but if I dont get better in a couple more weeks I dont know if I can continue with a SR. My face cringes everytime it sees the blade come out.

    The blade was professionally honed so maybe I dulled it with bad stopping? Is there anyone around Santa Barbara who can hone it for me?

  2. #2
    Member Compa's Avatar
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    I have more experience with DE than with SR, but the principles are basically thee same.

    First: let your skin get used and heal.
    If you're new to wet shaving, then your skin is not used to it and it will react to this new routine... specially the neck and chin since they are VERY sensitive.

    Two: Avoid ATG
    At least for a while, once you're 100% comfortable with XTG then move to a mix between XTG and ATG. In other words, do a progressive mote towards the ATG.

    Three: Preshave
    This is one of the most groundbreaking parts of the shave. you might already know it Take special care when preparing your neck and chin. Do not rub your brush too hard, when washing it (right before the lathering) do not rub your hand too hard, when your GF is kissing you don't let her rub her lips too hard... ok maybe that's allowed haha.

    Four: Championship Quality Lather
    The better the lather, the better the shave creamy and with a Yuggoth... I mean a Yogurt feeling is waht works for me. Find the lather that best works for you. By general agreement the best is the one that doesn't dry fast.

    Five: Angle/Blade/pressure
    If even WTG gives yoiu pain it can be either the blade or the angle. How sharp is your blade?, is your angle right? Are you applying too much pressure? By general ageement, the lighter the touch the safer and better the save

    And that's what I can tell you.
    In my case, I also use a St.Ives body lotion, it makes my skin smoother and gives my DE an easier time going there. Sometimes I use Noxzema Body Cream (the one packed in a blue Jar) and that helps not only my skin but the lather too

    Wish you good luck with your next shave and Never Give Up!!
    If something else comes to my mind I'll write it down here
    Last edited by Compa; 08-31-2010 at 08:04 PM.

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    Maxi (09-01-2010)

  4. #3
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    The neck and chin are definitely the hardest spots to learn to shave comfortably, it took me two weeks to a month longer to learn to shave my neck than it did my face. Your preshave prep, angle, pressure, and stretching are far more critical and harder to achieve on the neck and chin due to the small areas and the hair growing sideways for most of us. With me being almost a year in, I still need to slow down and take my time on those areas, with my face it seems no matter what I do it is smooth and comfortable, with my neck it seems everything has to be perfect to achieve the same result.

    Pay extra attention to your razor angle(around the curves it is very easy to open up the angle of the razor, resulting in ripping the whisker instead of cutting), get the skin stretched flat as possible and find which direction you need to stretch(different directions will give different results), take your time, work on the schything stroke, relax and in no time the your neck and chin will catch up to your cheeks. Just like everything in life, good things come to those who work at it and perservere.

  5. #4
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    Thank you so much for all this information. I have been getting what I thought was a decent lather by it sounds like I should take a bit more time and really get the lather super thick. I think my razor is sharp just because it seems to cut well on my sideburns and cheeks but I may have dulled it a bit in the first week when I was learning how to strop. A reputable razor supplier recommended I get a balsa hone and strop paste white to polish the edge back if I did damage it a bit.

    I definitely am not ready to quit because just the thought of learning this art keeps me going. Should I consider using preshave oil? Or is it a waste of money? Also I know it is all opinion but is there an aftershave lotion that doesn't have alcohol that is good?

    Thanks for all the help!

  6. #5
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    My neck hair also grows sideways. Stretching the skin to the side, and shaving downward works the best.

    If you get a painful "pulling hairs" sensation then:
    1. make sure lather has been on your neck for 3 minutes and is still wet
    2. make sure you don't have the razor too flat to the skin (2 spine thicknesses away from your face for initial (WTG) passes is about right)

    If you still get the pulling sensation then your razor is probably a little dull. Get some Cromium Oxide (.5 micron jewelry or rock polishing paste), put a very light coat on piece of balsa wood, and strop your razor. That may refresh the edge so it feels as sharp as when you got it.

    I had to refresh my edge every 2 weeks when I first started since my stropping and edge angles while shaving were a bit rougher on the edge than my technique is now.

    ps: If you hold the razor too upright to your skin, you'll also get painful "razor burn" sensation - and more nicks. Plus your razor will dull faster...

    Let your neck and chin heal up for a few days. Shaving off bumps will set you back another week...

    Use Witch Hazel instead of alchohol based aftershaves to sooth your razor burned skin (available from Walmart near the Peroxide). Then use a gylcerin-based balm to help your skin heal up. I hear Corn Huskers lotion from Walmart is very similar to Trumpers Skin Food. I know it definitely helps my skin heal up faster.

    Good luck.

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    jeffegg2 (09-01-2010)

  8. #6
    ..mama I know we broke the rules... Maxi's Avatar
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    +1 on all the information regarding razor angles.

    When i first began, which is not all that long ago, my neck gave me crazy problems. Try to document which way your whiskars grow. This provides some legitimacy when you're shaving. You can say "ooops, thats not a good idea, maybe I'd better do it this way".

    For the upper part of your neck, a member suggested that I pull it up as far as I can onto my cheek. That was magic advice. Skin stretched and as flat as possible.

    For the lower part of my neck, since my hair grows in multi directions, I shave north to south, with the spine almost against my skin. No pressure at all, and a very slight sideways motion. It works for me, and allows me comfortable shaves.

    Slow, well thought out strokes. If they work, remember them. If they don't, try something new after your face heals. Give yourself a couple days in between shaves.

    Good luck,
    Maxi

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    jrgmcd (09-01-2010)

  10. #7
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    I just went back in and read your thread again so I'm changing this first paragraph. I'm a little puzzled at how you can get a good close shave on your cheeks but have that much pain on your neck. When I first started out, I had an experience with both an unhoned razor and a rolled edge on another. Usually, a razor should easily glide across the skin while shaving whiskers. And usually, any time it feels like it's pulling whiskers, it's a sign of a dull or damaged edge. The way you described the feeling of "Plucking" the whiskers on your neck, leads me to believe it's a damaged edge due to poor stropping. Even if you're not stretching the skin tight enough, I wouldn't think it should cause you to have that much pain. I would say give your face a rest for a day or two before anything. If possible, go a couple of days without shaving as a little stubble may help you to see how your razor shaves on both the cheeks and neck. Once your face feels normal, try a section on your neck concentrating mostly on blade angle and some on stretching. Try different blade angles. Some almost flat to your skin and some a little more steep. Then try the same on your cheeks to see if you can feel the razor pulling any. If it feels like it's pulling on whiskers, especially on your cheeks, I would say it's most likely a rolled edge and needs to be repaired.

    If you got the razor from SRD, they usually send it with a free re-honing certificate. If you didn't get it from them, you can send it to them and they will hone it for a minimal charge. Or, if you don't want to mail it to someone, you might want to call around to some of the barber shops in your area to see if they can help you to find someone locally to hone it.

    Let me try to say this where it makes sense. When stropping, keep in mind, you are not sharpening the razor. You are only re-aligning and cleaning the wire edge of the blade. Even though, you go one direction while honing a pocket knife on a stone and the other with stropping a razor on lined/leather, it's easy to associate having to use the same kind of pressure when stropping. All you need is minimal pressure of your razor against the strop. Make sure to keep the strop taught and don't let it sag where the razor is. Picture this in your mind and you will be able to see how you can roll the edge. If you were to lay the razor in the middle of the strop and let it sag while pushing down on the blade, the strop would form a "V" with the blade in the bottom of the "V". Add too much pressure into the mix and you wind up with a rolled edge. You can also roll the edge by just using too much pressure and not letting the strop sag at all.

    Once you look into the above and think you have any issues fixed, I'd like to give you some advice on the chin. Use little short strokes, adjusting blade angle as you progress around the curve of the chin. don't try to shave with long strokes on the chin like you can with a disposable. You can use longer strokes on the flat areas of your face but not on the chin.

    Well, now that I wrote you a book, I hope you have time to read it. LOL! I hope this helps you out and you stick with it. Just be patient and in time, you will begin to enjoy and experience shaving like you never have before.
    Last edited by kcarlisle; 09-01-2010 at 05:38 AM.

  11. #8
    Senior Member Bnick's Avatar
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    Default lather

    I am knew to the whole SR shaving myself about 3 weeks or so into it. I feel lucky my shaves have gone well and I look forward to shaving now. The thing I have trouble with the most is getting good lather I have had to work on this trying different things till I get the thick creamy lather. If your lather is watered down the save is not as good you will notice a big difference if you have a nice thick lather. I don't know how your lather is but if you are like me making lather was tough as I was use to the canned junk. As others have said the prep is just as important as the rest of the process. Just stick with it and things will get better.

  12. #9
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    Wow! Such a wealth of information here, thank you everyone for the advise!

    kcarlisle: The razor is not butter smooth on my cheeks either but my cheeks and stash is the only place where I have been successful in getting a good shave. Nowhere is the razor as comfortable as a multi-blade razor so Im guessing that I may have rolled the edge slightly. Ill check some barbers around and see if they know of anywhere I can get it honed locally.

    *Just FYI to anyone reading this that doesnt have a Walmat locally (closest one to me is a 45 min drive), you can get the Corn Huskers Lotion and Whitch Hazel mentioned earlier in a reply at CVS for pretty cheap.

    After reading all the replies, I noticed off the bat that I was using a bad razor angle for everything. I was shaving probably 4 spine widths from my face so I will close the angle and make shorter more precise strokes because I was using longer strokes like a multi-blade.

    Also is there a difference between buying an actual balsa hone thats $25 and just getting a piece of balsa wood at a local hobby shop for $5?

    I am actually really excited to try out and practice these new techniques and see how the work!

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    jeffegg2 (09-01-2010)

  14. #10
    Senior Member Bnick's Avatar
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    Default Balsa wood

    From what I have read on the forums here you can just go to a hobby store and get a piece of balsa wood. You may have to lap it which will be putting a piece of fine grit sandpaper on a flat surface and running the face of the balsa wood over it just to make sure it is flat for honing. Then get some chromium paste or powder and you should be good. Here is a link on the wiki on how to make a balsa strop or hone whatever you want to call it.
    Easily make a pasted balsa strop - Straight Razor Place Wiki

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