Help me with bleeding please!

Hi there! First post here. Have read much and much all around the forum to help me through my technique, have read reviews a lot. Got a problem though.

Here is my story:
Introducted to Wet shaving via my search through the web on the best way to shave.

Started shaving with the classical Merkur 38 razor 2 months ago, initially with Merkur blades. I learned good with this blade, and especially working through good lather has been a process of learning for me that I now consider a past step (I can now use both soap and cream, and I think cream's the best for the moment).

I have been doing a single WTG pass for the first 5 weeks, because I read that it was probably the best way to learn and especially because when I tried going ATG, I was having "trouble".

I just wanna say now that I have been through all of Mantic videos.

Obviously, using a single WTG pass, I didnt have that smooth baby shave.
Initially, i would have some regular bleeding with the WTG pass. But for 3 weeks now, this is gone. I think I have learned to use that light touch that everybody is talking about.

I decided to start using a regular ATG pass (after the WTG pass) for my morning routine to start getting that perfect shave I am looking forward to. The fact is that, at the beginning, I would have a lot of bleeding in the neck (that **** neck), and the center throat region/underchin would be impossible to shave ATG. After a few days, the bleeding went down quite a bit, but I am finding it impossible to shave in the center region of the throat/under the chin ATG, without getting 1)bleeding and 2)the razor jumping a lot.

My questions are:

1) Is there any relation between the bleeding and the jumping feeling i get, and what does all that mean--Is it my technique, could it be the blade angle, or the pressure? Should I modify anything in my routine?

2) Especially talking about that, should I do a 3 pass shave and would this have any effect on all my problems in the neck (I consider 3 pass shave would be a long procedure for a routine shaving routine)

3) I just wanna add that I have been adding a different blade-- the Feather blade-- and, obviously, I get more bleeding in the neck than I would with the Merkur (but I LOVE the closeness of the shave I get), and still get the same jumping problem.


So, thank you for your help, this is a big problem for me, and I have lost trust in myself that I will ever get a closed ATG shave in the neck without any bleeding/jumping.

IMHO the jumping blade could be one of two things.
1. Wrong angle
2. Lather is not slick.

Personally, i think its number one, wrong angle. I know you see the "perfect" angle in all of the videos and pictures people post, but try out a different angle in the spots that your razor "skips" on.

Obvious suggestions:
try an XTG pass instead
map your grain - many people's beards grow in crazy swirling directions down there.

Angle - or rather the appearance of angle - can be very tricky under the chin, especially if you're going upwards. I find I do better working more on feel than sight, with an angle that looks like the head is too close to perpendicular to the skin.

agree with angle, lather, adding a XTG pass, also mapping your beard growth. But what kind of Prep do you have? Shave then shower? Shower then shave? Conditioner? Hot towel?...........

danparker77 said:

agree with angle, lather, adding a XTG pass, also mapping your beard growth. But what kind of Prep do you have? Shave then shower? Shower then shave? Conditioner? Hot towel?...........

Click to expand...

+1 on XTG and beard mapping. Saved my neck, so to speak...

Thank you for fast answers.

1)I will give it a try to add a XTG pass in the neck before the ATG. This is allright!
2)My prep =
1 - I put my mug with badger in a sink full of hot water during the shower
2 - shower using light soap in the face (Spectro Gel) and exfoliating the skin with an exfoliant
3 - Building up the lather (I actually use most of the time Proraso shaving cream)
4 - Rinsing all the face with hot water (using my hands)
5 - Lathering and shaving
6 - Rinsing with hot water and hands between each shaves
7 - At the end, cold towel for 20 secs, then aftershave (Proraso or Nivea), and Kleenex for the bleeding in the neck -lol-

3)I find it so hard to use proper angle/pressure in the neck!!
4)I have done proper mapping, and for example, i have found that an ATG for my jaw line is when i go from the jaw to the chin, so when I shave, my 1st pass is from the chin to the jaw, and my ATG pass is the opposite, I dont really go NS and Sto N in that place, but I do use a NtS approach in the middle of the neck (on an about 1-inch large region). Again, most of bleeding comes from this middle region, and MOST of the jumping is RIGHT under the chin.

Thank you

PS Do some guys use that 3 pass shave only for the neck, because, in my case, I get that BBS on the cheeks/chin/mustache area with that 2 pass shave without any irritation

if you are not getting your beard shorn down enough on the first pass then you are going to have problems trying to go ATG on the second pass as the blad will dig into the long whiskers and cut and jump. I would definitely recommend an across the grain pass before going ATG. if you find that that pass helps then you know that you are not reducing your beard enough in 1 pass to go ATG on pass 2.
Also the neck is tender. I get weepers around my adam's apple occasionally on the ATG pass...i'm still trying different things to see what helps.

All of the above is sound advice. You are not alone! I had almost same exact experience with my neck. I shave after I shower. I soak the brush during my shower. After lathering I go WTG, lather again and make a second pass WTG, lather again and go ATG, lather one more time and tidy up everything with the XTG pass. It may sound like allot but it is 15 minutes, max, and I enjoy the process. Styptic pencil is good on the neck cuts. As suggested watch your angle and apply no pressure. Proper angle, good lather, sharp blade, no pressure! Slide the skin to the right and left of your Adams apple to minimize chance of catching your skin in that area.

Everyone is different and you have to figure out what works for you, but on my neck I ignore the direction of growth and go N-S (2), then S-N. I can't do XTG on my neck. If I get "jumping" on my neck it's usually the lather. Certain creams and soaps just don't work for me and that's one way I can tell how slick it is. I also assume you're doing shorts strokes and not just one long stroke the length of the neck.

Do you have a large or protruding Adams apple? Have you tried "holding a swallow" to help flatten this area? Lift your chin and swallow hold it there and do the pass.

get rid of that Merkur blade asap....Try some Personna reds, crystals, derbys, astras. Maybe add a preshave oil routine, that improved my shaves dramatically. Good luck, and welcome aboard!

I get skipping from dry lather, but blade angle could cause it too. I wouldn't do the ATG pass at all, until you're techique is better. Stick to WTG and XTG, and right before your XTG pass...toss a few extra drops of water in your lather bowl and mix it up really well, just to make sure you've got that slickness going. Keep at it, you'll get it.

I just wanna say that I did change a few things.

1)I tried an XTG pass before the ATG pass
2)I did change the way I apply the pressure over my neck, maybe more lightly now
3)I did add a hot towel prep to all my routine described before

So these are 3 variables that I modified, but I wanna say that I didnt have any bleeding at all!!!! Which is a GREAT difference.
Now I don't know what is the major thing that made the difference...
I also want to say that I was on my 4th shave with a Feather blade.

My shave was not PERFECT though, I still had some whiskers left under the chin and on the midline of the throat...
For the rest of the face, that was definitely BBS!!!!

Glad things are improving.

My hair growth under the jawline is like yours. While I do WTG, XTG, ATG everywhere else, I've found myself doing N-S, then outwards (WTG) then inwards (ATG) under the jaw. For some reason it just works better. Probably because it's so easy to maintain perfect contact with an initial downwards stroke, even though it isn't WTG.

I use Cremo Cream under my chin and on my neck then add the regular soap or cream on top of that. STRETCH the skin as tight as you can get it by pulling it against the grain, then shave against the grain with your chin pointed up as far as possible.

Should you really point your chin as far as possible, because I find that by doing that, some whiskers goes into the skin, and the shave, although ATG, becomes a bad shave when you get ur chin to usual position (you can still feel a lot of whiskers left, but none when you lift ur chin)
What do you think about that?