I have areas on my neck that have hairs that grow a different way of the grain. The majority of my whiskers go sideways, but these individual whiskers grow upwards right in the midddle of a the sideways tract. I even found a few that grow to the opposite direction. I need to shave WTG.
How would you guys handle this?
- Thread starter btisko
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I'd quit trying to "tame your gridlock", grow a full beard, and make a living selling razors, blades, brushes, soaps 'n creams, and everything else to other people! I wasn't born to slam-dunk a basketball, and you might not have been born to shave... one thing's for sure: your difficulties are not from lack of trying.
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over a few stray hairs I should grow a full beard. Some better advice would have been dont shave so close in that particular area, don't you think?
The right side of my neck the hairs point upward, so my WTG pass would be starting from the bottom of my neck and going up.
I discovered this because I couldn't shave for a couple days (water heater was broke, didn't want to boil water to shave)
After two days I could tell that when I made a downward stroke, the longer hairs resisted the pass a lot more than usual. After looking closely I saw that the hair in fact did grow upwards. That would explain why I had horrible razor burn in that spot. I was shaving ATG on my first pass!
My hair grow in all kinds of directions, especially on my neck and chin, you may have to let your stubble grow over the weekend and check real closely at which way your stubble grows.
My stubble grows so randomly that I've found that it's easier to do all passes per quarter. I.E., do a WTG, XTG and ATG pass on my left cheek, then do the WTG, XTG, ATG on my right cheek, and so on. I do all the passes where the grain goes the same way. That way I only have to remember which way the stubble grows for each section instead of doing the whole face and having to remember which area grows which way.
Granted, shaving this way makes things feel a lot more repetitious. I'm sure over time I'll memorize which way each spot grows and go back to shaving the whole face again per pass again.
E.
I discovered this because I couldn't shave for a couple days (water heater was broke, didn't want to boil water to shave)
After two days I could tell that when I made a downward stroke, the longer hairs resisted the pass a lot more than usual. After looking closely I saw that the hair in fact did grow upwards. That would explain why I had horrible razor burn in that spot. I was shaving ATG on my first pass!
My hair grow in all kinds of directions, especially on my neck and chin, you may have to let your stubble grow over the weekend and check real closely at which way your stubble grows.
My stubble grows so randomly that I've found that it's easier to do all passes per quarter. I.E., do a WTG, XTG and ATG pass on my left cheek, then do the WTG, XTG, ATG on my right cheek, and so on. I do all the passes where the grain goes the same way. That way I only have to remember which way the stubble grows for each section instead of doing the whole face and having to remember which area grows which way.
Granted, shaving this way makes things feel a lot more repetitious. I'm sure over time I'll memorize which way each spot grows and go back to shaving the whole face again per pass again.
E.
- Thread starter
- #5
The right side of my neck the hairs point upward, so my WTG pass would be starting from the bottom of my neck and going up.
I discovered this because I couldn't shave for a couple days (water heater was broke, didn't want to boil water to shave)
After two days I could tell that when I made a downward stroke, the longer hairs resisted the pass a lot more than usual. After looking closely I saw that the hair in fact did grow upwards. That would explain why I had horrible razor burn in that spot. I was shaving ATG on my first pass!
My hair grow in all kinds of directions, especially on my neck and chin, you may have to let your stubble grow over the weekend and check real closely at which way your stubble grows.
My stubble grows so randomly that I've found that it's easier to do all passes per quarter. I.E., do a WTG, XTG and ATG pass on my left cheek, then do the WTG, XTG, ATG on my right cheek, and so on. I do all the passes where the grain goes the same way. That way I only have to remember which way the stubble grows for each section instead of doing the whole face and having to remember which area grows which way.
Granted, shaving this way makes things feel a lot more repetitious. I'm sure over time I'll memorize which way each spot grows and go back to shaving the whole face again per pass again.
E.
Sound advice. I will do everything except my lower neck WTG first, and then I will break my lower neck up into sections looking for that perfect path WTG. I may have to break it up into fractions as well. Trial and error should sort it out, and of course proper prep so that anything that may go ATG doesn't have a horrible effect. I can't wait until I have memorized by beard growth already, but it keeps it interesting.
Bryan --
You just gave yourself the perfect answer, and it is what I would've written. You are not unique in this regard, and in fact typical. Everybody has the condition you describe at least to some extent, and what you've written is the appropriate approach. Some guys have it much worse, with whisker patterns in whorls and cowlicks; so count yourself lucky.
It comes down to decent prep, a sharp blade, knowing your beard and adopting an appropriate stroke pattern and stroke order, and proper blade angle and pressure --coupled with unhurried, deliberate strokes. See? That was easy.
Seriously though, it's a matter of practice, and millions have successfully gone before you. In short order, you'll be an old-hand at this DE shaving stuff. Hang in there.
-- John Gehman
Although I might not be as bad off as you, might beard grows in about 3 different patterns ons my neck. I've always had to shave in different directions to avoid burn and ingrowns on my neck, even before I switched from cartridge razors to a DE. To echo what John posted, prep is the key. For me personally, I use a good face scrub to get the beard loosened up away from the skin, then I lather up with my brush & leave it on at least 2 minutes before I shave to soften up my beard.
I have a similar, odd growth pattern on my neck. One thing I have found is key is a sharp blade. So I start with my neck, why wait untill it is duller from shaving the rest of my face. Another idea I have an may give a shot is to use two razors, one for my neck, the other for the rest of my face. The neck razor gets two shaves on it, then is rotated to the face. The face razor that now has 4 shaves on it gets a fresh blade and becomes the neck razor. I'm probaly making it too complicated, but man, that last day of use on a razor blade (4-5 shaves typicaly) is hard on my neck.
Your new avatar has been throwing me off. I almost missed this gem. C'mon guys! Keep it light. This was funny!
good advice from the rest though. I also have this problem. Just keep at it, light touch, etc. You will get the hang of it.....
You know it didn't take long to memorize the pattern, I think it took one shave after I posted my reply before I figured out which way things go.
I haven't had horrible irritation yet, but I also haven't been going crazy with the shaves either. I've been doing a four passes (WTG, XTGx2 and ATG) and touch ups on the spots I know I always miss. I've been taking it easy and one I start feeling the burn, I stop. I'm not getting BBS shaves, but they're very nice.
E.
