Tricky Grain at the bottom of my neck

[Seanholio]

My beard grows from South to North at the bottom of my neck. I need some pointers on shaving this area. I don't seem to have mastered the angle for cutting without applying pressure when working with the grain, collar to jaw.

On the cheeks and sideburn, this is getting much easier. This is heartening after only three shaves, but it's also the easiest place. Everything grows north to south, and gravity helps me obey the No Pressure maxim.

Any pointers for going with the grain but against gravity? Going against the grain is something I'm avoiding until I've better developed my skills.

[gregjerome]

I have a similar growth pattern on my neck and it can be very tricky. After DE shaving for several months this is still the place that gives me the most trouble.

One good thing about this area is that you can get away with leaving it a little rough and no one will notice. Make less passes if you have to to avoid irritation while you get the hang of the technique. I frequently leave out a pass on one side of my neck to give my face a break.

You might also try some skin stretching to get you away from the Adam's apple or jaw line. Good luck!

[Limey]

I have some similar directional growth on my neck. I start with a WTG pass going S-N then I will do one or two XTG passes. Lastly, only 2-3 times per week will I go ATG and when I do that I try to keep the skin kind of loose. I do not pull it tight because that is when I get irritation. That was something I picked up on this board a few months back. :shaving:

[scoopster]

Seanholio (yuk yuk),
You are in great shape that you figured this out so quickly. My first few weeks of DE shaving gave me razor burn in this area and I figured I just had a sensitive neck that would not tolerate multiple passes let alone ATG (like a lot of other folks in these forums). I tried really hard working on 0 pressure, perfect blade angle, etc. and I would still frequently get razor burn, bumps, red dots, etc. Then I had the bright idea to get back to basics and think about which way the hair was growing. That's when I finally figured out I had a hair growth pattern like yours. I started shaving this area South to North and the burn went away immediately given that I had stopped the maddness of two against the grain passes followed by a final WTG; which was just adding insult to injury.

[Joe Lerch]

Actually, your pattern of growth is probably the most common. The barber manual says that the grain on most mens' beards reverses at the bottom of the neck. So, if nS is the most common on the cheeks, so is SN on the bottom of the neck.

This is not difficult to manage. You need to pay attention to stretching. That's a very common solution to neck problems. There are two important aspects to stretching. First of all, you don't need a tight stretch, just enough to flatten out the skin. I find that I need to stretch the neck in two steps. First, up at the jawline and then up from a position lower down on the neck in order to avoid lower neck irritation. Also, try to make the stretched flat area as wide as possible. You can do this by pulling with the entire length of your fingers.

The other important thing is the direction of stretch. You want to pull against the grain so you stand the whiskers up, not force them down. So, my direction of stretching won't work for you. You need to stretch down instead of up. So, you would stretch down from a position on the lower neck and then down from a position halfway up the neck. Shaving up is with the grain.

The other thing you need to remember is that, with the sensitive skin on the neck, beard reduction is all the more important. You will only get abrasive irritation if you try to cut to skin from the get go. When you get down to the fine stubble on the last pass, you can use extra light pressure and gain better control of the razor. That will keep you from over shaving (shaving some skin off), avoiding another source of irritation.

[doctorsimon]

It is not unusual for hair to grow SN at the bottom of the neck.

People don't notice longer stubble there too much either as it hides in the crease/fold of the neck. Be careful for now and just go with the grain there.

Not sure if I can suggest any techniques to go SN and zero pressure which you ask for. Maybe you could teach yourself by shaving across the grain first and gradually changing your technique towards SN over the coming weeks?

[cactusbrush]

Hi;

There is a phenomenon known as "whiskeresis" which affects long-time shavers. Whiskers can feel the vibration of a blade moving over the skin, and when the blade approaches will duck and bob and weave so as to either miss the blade or cause it to hit at the wrong angle. Some whiskers have even been known to retract back into the skin until the blade passes then pop back out again to see what happened. Being vindictive, whiskers may also decide to grow back in a totally new direction, or even grow back in swirls just to screw up the grain pattern. This is known in history as the "whisker rebellion." This effect can be dealt with by covering the whiskers with a good coat of lather which both slows down their movement and dampens the sound of the rasping of the blade cutting whiskers, so one can catch them unawares. Using short strokes is also more effective than long sweeping strokes which gives them plenty of advance notice. Dealing with this continuing insurrection requires the constant use of quality shaving products and the continuous use of good techniques and daily evaluation of the current status of the beard. This war can be won.

BobS

[dasein_geist]

Hi;

There is a phenomenon known as "whiskeresis" which affects long-time shavers. Whiskers can feel the vibration of a blade moving over the skin, and when the blade approaches will duck and bob and weave so as to either miss the blade or cause it to hit at the wrong angle. Some whiskers have even been know to retract back into the skin until the blade passes then pop back out again to see what happened. Being vindictive, whiskers may also decide to grow back in a totally new direction, or even grow back in swirls just to screw up the grain pattern. This is known in history as the "whisker rebellion." This effect can be dealt with by coating the whiskers with a good coat of lather which both slows down their movement and dampens the sound of the rasping of the blade cutting whiskers, so one can catch them unawares. Using short strokes is also more effective than long sweeping strokes which gives them plenty of advance notice. Dealing with this continuing insurrection requires the constant use of quality shaving products and the continuous use of good techniques and daily evaluation of the current status of the beard. This war can be won.

BobS

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[hansonb4]

I am accustomed to suffering nicks and cuts in the areas on either side of my adams apple due to the nature of the whiskers there. I have tried reduction but found that multiple passes causes the razor burn to flare up, very unpleasant when wearing a wool scarf around my neck. I have found that if I shave e-w / w-e in the direction towards my adams apple with a 90 dgree arcing direction, I can effectively get all whiskers with just one or two light passes with close to zero razor burn. See below. Basically, begin moving towards your AA while making a 90 degree turn in the stroke so by the end of the stroke it is a south stroke. Let me know if this works or if I am just just high on crack.

WWWEEEE
WWW EEE ADAMS
EEE APPLE
EEEE

[hansonb4]

Sorry - when I posted it the formatting of me WWs, EEs were messed up.

[ramtip]

Hi;

There is a phenomenon known as "whiskeresis" which affects long-time shavers. Whiskers can feel the vibration of a blade moving over the skin, and when the blade approaches will duck and bob and weave so as to either miss the blade or cause it to hit at the wrong angle. Some whiskers have even been known to retract back into the skin until the blade passes then pop back out again to see what happened. Being vindictive, whiskers may also decide to grow back in a totally new direction, or even grow back in swirls just to screw up the grain pattern. This is known in history as the "whisker rebellion." This effect can be dealt with by covering the whiskers with a good coat of lather which both slows down their movement and dampens the sound of the rasping of the blade cutting whiskers, so one can catch them unawares. Using short strokes is also more effective than long sweeping strokes which gives them plenty of advance notice. Dealing with this continuing insurrection requires the constant use of quality shaving products and the continuous use of good techniques and daily evaluation of the current status of the beard. This war can be won.

BobS

That cracked me up! :jump:

[Seanholio]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Glad to know my neck is normal. I'll try a few of the suggestions, although I'm not up to swirling the razor around my AA at this time. My AA is not terribly pronounced, so it's not as tricky for me as it is for some, and I'm willing to tolerate stubble on it, since I usually wear Hawaiian shirts with the top button open to work.

[scoopster]

Hi;

There is a phenomenon known as "whiskeresis" which affects long-time shavers. Whiskers can feel the vibration of a blade moving over the skin, and when the blade approaches will duck and bob and weave so as to either miss the blade or cause it to hit at the wrong angle. Some whiskers have even been known to retract back into the skin until the blade passes then pop back out again to see what happened. Being vindictive, whiskers may also decide to grow back in a totally new direction, or even grow back in swirls just to screw up the grain pattern. This is known in history as the "whisker rebellion." This effect can be dealt with by covering the whiskers with a good coat of lather which both slows down their movement and dampens the sound of the rasping of the blade cutting whiskers, so one can catch them unawares. Using short strokes is also more effective than long sweeping strokes which gives them plenty of advance notice. Dealing with this continuing insurrection requires the constant use of quality shaving products and the continuous use of good techniques and daily evaluation of the current status of the beard. This war can be won.

BobS
Yes we can prevail. And that is why I am asking my minsiter if finance (wife) for an extra seven billion dollars to be allocated towards purchase of soaps, creams and razors to aid in crushing this wisker rebellion once and for all.

Long live the empire!
:a45: