Good to know if I ever decide to use a straight razor. I think this technique should get added to a sticky for the newbies.
It could be worth experimenting with something else. I know when I switched my after shave product I completely eliminated irritation/redness/bumps.
I'm working on a new straight razor sticky but I'm bogged down with reviews and other stuff LOL. Gimme time!
I added it to my advice for newbies link in my signature. It's not a sticky, but it gets viewed on a fairly regular basis.
I do tend to get razor burn on the neck as I tend to have trouble getting this area. Sometimes, I have tried stretch my neck skin towards my chin and shave, which does help...But a bit tricky to pull off. In fact I am taking the day off of shaving to give my skin a rest. I didn't have time to read this thread before work so I will check it out more later.
I tend to get ingrowns on my neck. My beard grows almost horizontally on my neck; what I do--and it does seem to help me--is two passes XTG. So I shave a "X" on both sides of my neck from the center out in both cases. The other key that I have found is to slow down, concentrate and take short strokes. This allows me to get any hair that is stubbornly laying flat against my neck and not cause any irritation. It also helps that I use an open comb razor too.
I am going to try the diagonal as well. I am able to shave XTG (s to n) and with the grain (apple to ear) but if I go eat to apple all hellfire breaks loos. Tomorrow I will try low outer neck to chin and see how that goes!!
Hello Gentlemen, this is my first reply(long time lurker). This has been a very interesting post for me. Learned a few new thing to try. I've been Wet shaving using a DE and/or SE for about two years now(used a Trac2 for 34 yrs before and HATED every shave! Usually only shaved 12-14 times a month. Now I shave every single day and LOVE it). I also have trouble getting BBS in every direction on my neck, the hair seems to grow every which way. I do a 3 pass(down,up and then across) with a touch up pass which can end up being another pass or two or three trying to get my neck under the chin smooth. I also use diagonal passes in all directions during touchup to try and get BBS on my neck. I can also HOPE that practice does indeed make perfect "lol". At least now for me it's fun and no longer a hated chore.
I gotta say I tried going diagonally this morning, and I don't know if it's this or the 2-day break I took but it was much nicer on my neck. I use to find it awkward to go in this direction (ear to apple) because of the jawline, the throat hump, etc. I find it took me some time to plan every move, but it helped getting a good XTG and made the following ATG much smoother than going ATG only after WTG with all the residual hair and stubble. The last pass (roughly S-N for me) was pretty smooth and irritation-free. I should also add that I divide my last pass in 2 halves. I no longer pull my neck taut but rather leave my face level and shave what I can see at the correct angle, then shave what I cannot see (ie under the chin and jawline) and that angle. It prevents me from trying to contour-follow my neck and getting the motion wrong as my wrist has to move. This way, my wrist stays rather fixed, and my arm alone moves. Almost no touch ups needed. Neck aside, I tend to have better results if I don' tighten the skin.
J.S. glad shaving diagonally helps. You can go ear to apple or apple to ear depending on the direction your beard grows. I go apple to ear because I can go ATG on my neck. But it's a good tool to have in your shave box.
I'm glad that it helped. I have not had any irritation since I switched to this method. I think my technique might be getting better using this because I am very close to getting BBS on my neck.
I used to get razor burn on the neck, particularly on the right hand side (I'm right handed) when shaving with a cartridge razor. It's much better since moving to DE. I wouldn't shave ATG on the neck, and I've found using rose water and/or an alum block are really helpful.
