Hi all, I have been experimenting with different shaving techniques for years now and have yet to find a way to shave my moustache well. I pretty much only grow a under chin beard and a moustache, so not being able to shave my moustache well really stands out, and I have finally had enough with not being able to hide it well. When I shave my mustache, I generally try to go against the grain very softly. However, almost always I cause spot bleeding on the outer parts of my Moustache, as in little dots of blood all over the place. In order to avoid this, I found that when I wait an extra day to shave (2 day cycle instead of 1), I do not have this problem at all. But, when I do wait two days, I end up with an awkward Moustache every other day. So my options are bleed and irritate my skin or look bad every second day. Strangely enough, I only seem to have problems on the outside of my moustache, I can shave the center no problem. Also, I pretty much exclusively shave against the grain on the little amount of beard I have as well and have never had any problems. When I try shaving with the grain, pretty much nothing happens at all. I have tried many different methods, from shaving with the grain (which literally seems to cut nothing on my moustache) to cutting sideways (which causes the same irritation) to frequently using aftershave. I have also tried using an electric razor, in which I don't get the weird spot bleeding but I don't get a close enough shave. No matter what I try, nothing seems to produce an ideal solution. To make it all worse, the skin under my moustache seems darker then the rest of my skin, which makes my moustache seem thicker almost all of the time. I think this may be hyper pigmentation from years of abuse of the skin, but I don't know how to fix it since I can't shave without irritating my skin. I've also just considered giving up and wearing a moustache, but after trying that briefly I found out that I look AWFUL with a moustache... I guess I just don't have the moustache face. I would love to hear some advice. Am I just doomed to look pitiful for every other day, or is there some sort of solution here?
If you are getting that much scraping and irritation on your upper lip, I would suggest not shaving against the grain at all. What do you shave with? If you could kind of lay out what tools you use and what kind of pre shave prep and post shave, the gang around here will probably have some suggestions for you to try out.
Skin stretching and pressure/angle control are the real solutions. Interaction between blade and skin is the same regardless of razor type. Nearly all shaving irritation is caused by high attack angle scraping and improper pressure. Once these essential skills are mastered, direction becomes irrelevant and all directions will be comfy. No amount of post care will fix this, and more prep will likely make it worse.
I would tend to agree, though it seems some people just can't go ATG on the upper lip at all. Without knowing what he is shaving with, it's tough to make any suggestions. I assume pressure is the main culprit here, along with angle, as you have so ably shown recently. But I don't know if he is using DE or carts or what.
I feel like new converts tend to "lean on the razor" trying to make it cut efficiently. This is a habit that comes from spring mounted carts, and results in disastrous DE shaves. Too bad we don't hand out Gillette Techs to every 14 year old boy, as they never learn all the bad techniques from cart shaves.
In addition the above suggestions I found that doing 4 passes helps me avoid irritation. Of course your technique and not using pressure are key here but for my tough beard areas, I find the best way is beard reduction. I go WTG, XTG, XTG (opposite direction) and then finally ATG after I have reduced the stubble to a manageable level. Now even with 4 passes, I am without irritation. I do adjust the angle to make the razor less aggressive on the final ATG pass. Also having a sharp blade helps, I am not sure what kind of razor you are using but do not push your blades too far in between changing them.
