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New to straights could use a tip.

So I am new to straight shaves. I have been doing pretty good but as many people I have having a little trouble below by chin on my neck. The hairs lie very flat and down and when I stretch my skin they lay even flatter and retract it seems. The only way to get them to pop up is to bullfrog my neck and shave ATG. I am a little nervous to do this with a straight as the skin is very flat but also very loose when you do this, does anyone else have to do this and are there any tips or consequences.

Also can you blade buff with a straight, how I get these BBS with my DE is bullfrog my neck and lightly blade buff.

Thanks again
 
I had the same problem when I started. Nothing on my chin, and on or under the jaw line could be cut WTG. I could only cut that area ATG. Then, I got a shave ready razor that was finished on a 12K hone (similar to what I have) then finished on CrOx and leather. I shaved with that and everything cut WTG without a problem. Shaving a second pass ATG is a lot easier than shaving the first pass ATG. Now I have a Poor Man's Strop Kit from Whippeddog.com. It has a CrOx Balsa Strop and a Leather Strop, and both of my razors are cutting well. Make sure you are using a sharp razor so you can do WTG cuts.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Give this some time. If you are not confident, don't do it. I would say hold ATG for now.
 
"Blade buffing" is the light scrubbing or scratching (hence the term 'buffing') action that you use with your razor when you shave.

It's useful for scraping and shaving away at areas (such as the chin) where big, sweeping strokes are impractical or impossible.

It can be done with a straight-razor, but the technique is a little different.

I do it by taking a firm grip of the razor and wiggling the blade back and forth and moving it vertically up and down at the same time. It works pretty darn good. Of course, for this to be fully effective, your razor must be very sharp. Trying this with an only moderately sharp blade is a total waste of time.
 
There is one spot on my neck where I have to scrunch my neck down, I think what you call "bullfrogging."
The hair on my neck, and I think many others have this difficulty also, runs in myriad different directions.
Until you build confidence, it might be best to stay with standard strokes and not worry too much about how clean a shave you're getting... Or, you can go for it, jump into the deep end of the pool, and try anything that you think might get the job done. The worst that can happen is a few nicks... You will do no real damage to yourself!

My shaves improved exponentially once I gained knowledge of which directions the hairs grew on different areas of my neck.. So called "face mapping..."

Good luck in your efforts!
 
Ah ok... I do something like this but I call it scrubbing. I hold the point of the blade in my off-hand and do short scrub strokes under my nose. It's a touch-up thing I do right before I'm done. Same basic idea, I think, but I call it something different.
 
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