What's new

The Neck Area Shaving Info Thread : post tips, suggestions that would help others.

My latest discovery for better neck shaving is that I need aggressive razor i.e 39C or R41 with a sharp blade, currently am using Gillette Silver Blue. I will do a NW-SE pass on both sides of my neck i.e. non-symmetrical. This pass I have found to be closest to XTG I have found on my neck. I do short strokes, almost buffing. Two of these passes and I have irritation free DFS result. Not yet perfect BBS but the best result I have managed to get consistently so far.

ATG passes seem to drive the blade into skin and WTG passes don't cut enough. I tried five consequential WTG passes and the result was as good as with one WTG pass with much more irritation.

Summary:
-Aggressive razor, sharp blade
-Two identical XTG passes, no WTG nor ATG passes

Your comment on doing a NW-SE pass on both sides of the neck caught my attention right away. In my own quest to master shaving my neck I
find myself doing the NW-SE XTG pass and I use short strokes as you describe. This seems to the best way of dealing with my neck that I have found so far.

I also concur with your observation that “ATG passes seem to drive the blade into skin and WTG passes don't cut enough”.

Thank you for your interesting and helpful post! :001_smile
 
I don't think so. There are no pumps or anything like that. It's just redness on the skin. I'm thinking self induced stubble burn.

I'm going to TRY very hard to minimize pressure and use the shallowest angle possible in this area to see if it stays red after shaving.
Frequent updates please......
 
My latest discovery for better neck shaving is that I need aggressive razor i.e 39C or R41 with a sharp blade, currently am using Gillette Silver Blue. I will do a NW-SE pass on both sides of my neck i.e. non-symmetrical. This pass I have found to be closest to XTG I have found on my neck. I do short strokes, almost buffing. Two of these passes and I have irritation free DFS result. Not yet perfect BBS but the best result I have managed to get consistently so far.

ATG passes seem to drive the blade into skin and WTG passes don't cut enough. I tried five consequential WTG passes and the result was as good as with one WTG pass with much more irritation.

Summary:
-Aggressive razor, sharp blade
-Two identical XTG passes, no WTG nor ATG passes
Very interesting, aggressive razor for the neck......
 
Get fat! I've watched some videos on Youtube and the overweight guys seem to have an easier time shaving their necks. No big transition between jawline and neck, no struggling with protruding adam's apple or things like that.
 
Another tip, it's so basic it's easy to overlook: watch your blade angle on your neck. We tend to learn about blade angle on our cheeks, where it's easy to see. Take care that your (hopefully shallow) blade angle is the same on your neck, especially on south-to-north strokes, where the razor is upside down. It's easy to be too aggressive.

Get fat! I've watched some videos on Youtube and the overweight guys seem to have an easier time shaving their necks. No big transition between jawline and neck, no struggling with protruding adam's apple or things like that.

This is the principle behind bullfrogging, which we less-fat gents can use as well.
 
Last edited:
For me it was beard mapping and realizing I had to limit my ATG passes. Several variations (angles) of XTG gets me to DFS. I don't even try for BBS on my neck/jaw anymore.
 
I've had neck irritation from time to time mostly due to poor technique when starting out or the one that really stumped me: switching from a VDH boar brush to a Vulfix 1000 badger brush. I finally realized I was getting brush burn from the new badger. I still use it to make lathers, but only apply the lather paintbrush style on my neck. Using that brush in a circular motion, I was irritating the sides of my neck before I even applied a razor to it.

I have to wear a polyester uniform shirt that contacts my neck, so any irritation is noticeable, but the biggest thing I learned is that when I do get irritation, to stop thinking about it and touching it. When your neck is irritated, it seems to be some primitive urge to keep touching it or rubbing it to see what stubble left there is causing the problem and sometimes it feels better if you just lay your warm hand on it. If you just leave it alone, after awhile you won't even notice the shirt collar touching it. Some irritation might still be there, but fixating on it and touching it even lightly just prolongs the irritation.

Not saying this is the case with everybody and all neck irritation, but it's something to keep in mind.
 
For me it was beard mapping and realizing I had to limit my ATG passes. Several variations (angles) of XTG gets me to DFS. I don't even try for BBS on my neck/jaw anymore.

+1 to everything above, esp. beard mapping. The importance of understanding the growth patterns of your beard cannot be overstressed, imho.
 
My neck area grows e2w and w2e. I have read and read and know that bullfrogging works great for me. But, if I go directly against the grain and shave going e2w and w2e, I can get irritation very easily. Very very tiny strokes xtg bullfrogging works great for me. However, when it's just not working, I have to force myself to stop and shave another day or there WILL be irritation.
 
We're supposed to be clean-shaven for work. A lot of guys don't shave that day at all or just get by with the minimum to the point The Powers That Be are going to start cracking down on it. I don't have to worry about it because I love to shave. I observe these things. If a guy doesn't shave, it's going to be blatant on the cheeks and the chin. Nobody is going to notice a not-so-great shave on the neck. I really can't remember the last time I was cognizant of looking at a co-worker's neck, but the cheeks and chin are kind of hard to miss. In short: nobody is ever going to notice any stubble on your neck. After you shave and realize there's still some stubble there, it might seem like it's a quarter-inch long when you run your fingers over it, but I guarantee you nobody else can see it.

I could do 5 passes with a dull hatchet on my cheeks and be okay. My chin is a little more sensitive but my neck is most sensitive, especially the sides where my shirt collar rubs. The front of my neck is not sensitive: I can shave it any way I want. There are just two "pits" right below my ears on my neck that are very easily aggravated no matter what I do.

I just stopped worrying about the sides of my neck and just do one pass there. Nobody is going to notice it. It doesn't matter what way I go, because the hair pattern is all crazy there, anyway. That seems to be common amongst quite a few of us. I do one pass in the direction of least resistance and let it go at that. I figure it's just a battle I cannot win and I'd rather have some non-naked-eye-visible stubble on my neck than irritated skin

It's not the residual, non-visible stubble on the sides of your neck touching your shirt collar that creates the irritation, it's trying to get it all off and inflaming your skin that causes the problem.

Some people can get away with whatever they want on their neck and some can't. I'm one of those who can't and that's all there is to it.

Back when you were shaving with a cartridge, how many times did you finish your shave and run your hands over your face to gauge the quality of your work? If you're like me, you never did. I can't even compare my old cartridge shaves to my current DE shaves because I just never paid any attention to my cartridge shaves. I never had any complaints with my cartridge shaves, I just started DE shaving because it sounded interesting and have stuck with it because I like it.

Back in my cartridge/disposable days, I shaved and looked in the mirror and if my face looked clean, I was content. I can't remember once every running my hands over my face after shaving with a cartridge and I've always been in a profession where being clean-shaven was mandatory.

I've learned to do the same thing with a DE. It's easy to go too far in search of perfection and start thinking you're not getting A+ results because you're using the wrong razor/blade/cream/brush/technique. The fact is, you just might not ever get what you're after but your shave is most likely still quite great as far as shaves go.
 
Your comment on doing a NW-SE pass on both sides of the neck caught my attention right away. In my own quest to master shaving my neck I
find myself doing the NW-SE XTG pass and I use short strokes as you describe. This seems to the best way of dealing with my neck that I have found so far.

I also concur with your observation that “ATG passes seem to drive the blade into skin and WTG passes don't cut enough”.

Thank you for your interesting and helpful post! :001_smile

This!
 
Some tips for neck shaving that work for me (ymmv):
1) Use cold water to shave. For the neck area it will stand the hairs up more than anything else you do, at which point they can be cut more easily with greatly reduced pull on your blade.
2) After your final pass, rise with warm water (to open pores) then cold water (to close pores) and finish with a generous pass of the alum block.
3) Always wash your blade before and after shaving with 90% (nothing less) rubbing alcohol to kill bacteria.
4) Lift your cheek with the heel of you free hand stretching as much neck skin as possible up to (and above) your jawbone. While this won't work for your entire neck area you should be able to expose quite a bit of it to this flatter area where it can accessed and shaved more easily.
5) Be wary of your brush texture and over brushing your face. If it feels especially prickly, consider the possibility that it is not a good match for your skin. Brushes harbor bacteria and particularly scritchy ones can open up your pores and cause irritation even before you start in with a blade.
6) When you are done shaving, resist the urge to touch your face for at least a couple of hours afterwards until it has had some time to regain composure. As noted by another poster, your hands have bacteria on them at all times and you will introduce this to your face if you touch it.
7) Accept some redness for 30-60 minutes after shaving. Shaving traumatizes your skin so it's only normal to have some MILD redness. If you don't your probably not getting as close a shave as you could.
8) If despite everything, you really get after yourself and your neck doesn't appreciate it, an ice cube or two can work wonders as can Balmex (diaper rash cream formulated to calm redness that will take your BBS to the highest level) and Calmoseptine (over the counter moisture barrier cream)

If you try any of these techniques, please share the results with the group so others can benefit. I am now a firm believer in not taking more than three passes maximum to shave, even with problematic areas like the neck. it should not take more than this and if it does, i assume one or all of the following must be true a) my technique is flawed b) my equipment combination is wrong and c) i am wasting my time (by stubbornly insisting on completing a task with a DE that was done better and faster with a cartridge).
 
Top Bottom