Neck area irritation - help me solve this puzzle once and for all

Sorry, guys - you must be sick of this question, but I'd really like to figure this out once and for all.

For the neck area, I shave the same way as I shave everything else. Start with WTG (more like north to south) and then go ATG with my fingers guiding me. This still leads to razor burns/bumps albeit not as much when I was using cartridges.

I recently read that it's a good idea to start with the razor at 90 degrees until it starts to cut and go GRADUALLY from there?

I watched this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcNO9u2bHSE) and was surprised to hear him say that he recommends not going ATG at all on the neck area? How will I then be able to shave anything off?

Also, what products are known to work wonders for the neck to prevent and/or help heal razor burns/bumps?

Currently using:

• Merkur HD 34C
• Astra SP
• Thater 4125/1 24mm
• AoS unscented shaving cream
• AoS aftershave gel
• AoS pre-shave gel (don't use anymore, would it help?)

You don't need to go ATG to "shave anything off."

ATG has been recommended by some for lessening irritation. But this is a preference just like anything else you'll hear. The idea, as you may have heard already, is to reduce hair, not eliminate it. It's all semantics really until you understand it. Try using an extremely shallow angle. What I mean is keep the cap against your skin and slowly bring the blade down until you feel it. Hold the neck right next to the head using two fingers for light pressure and use slow starting, quickish finishing movements while stretching the skin as best as you can. The moment you feel irritation, stop. Use spot treatments if you must but save it for another day. And always use cold water afterwards and a good after shave. You can even try an almost frozen towel before the after shave.

Thats what hat ive dome, to include the towel, and I have gotten rid of my irritation fully. Hope this helps!

I use every trick in the book on my neck. Unfortunately, there is no link to the book. The most important: hold the skin static -- not pulling, just keep it in place -- BEHIND the blade. That way, the hair will be cut instead of dragging the loose skin and ducking out.

Mantic59 has a couple good vids on improving the shave on the neck area. I don't think there are any wonder products to prevent or treat neck irritation. Practice and improved technique with beard mapping along with a good bit of trial and error is probably the best you can do. You might just have to lower expectations and accept a less close shave on the neck to avoid irritation.

When you first start out the WTG, ATG and XTG is explained in generic directions but once you map the growth they may be different. For me WTG is shaving diagonal from my nose to my jaw hinge. The only places on my face where north to south is WTG is my sideburns and middle of my under chin. Everything else grows on angles or sideways. I have places where the XTG shaving direction of the razor is actually shaving with or against the grain of my beard growth.

Bullfrogging and J-hooking improved the quality of the shave on my neck. Some guys with an adjustable razor will use a lower setting for their neck than their face.

I use alum, generic witch hazel and Nivea Men Sensitive Cooling after shave balm for irritation. I also wash my face and neck with a vegetable glycerin soap before I shave. Whole Foods sells one for 2 bucks under their 365 brand. My shave soap is Arko.

I've managed to get no irritation on my neck doing it this way. Shower, preshave oil, B&M soap or D.R. Harris, Astra SP in my Schick Krona. Then I do a three pass WTG, XTG, ATG.
I was having lots of trouble trying to get a smooth shave without irritation until I switched soap. I can still get a good shave with my old soap, it just takes lots more patience.

This may not be really what you're looking for...but some guys really just can't go against the grain on their neck as their skin just flairs up with too much irritation if they do. It may be a simple technique tweak...or it may just be that your neck is best of just going WTG and then XTG on your neck. Just a thought. This would still give you a DFS...not BBS...but that doesn't really matter as such. But totally personal, i understand.

Instead of ATG, have you tried a diagonal pass that goes WTG/ATG?

p38thadl said:

I use every trick in the book on my neck. Unfortunately, there is no link to the book. The most important: hold the skin static -- not pulling, just keep it in place -- BEHIND the blade. That way, the hair will be cut instead of dragging the loose skin and ducking out.

Click to expand...

+1.

Also, I can't do much ATG. I just go half wtg and half xtg with light pressure and the right amount of tension on the skin so the blade doesn't drag.

In reality, unless someone is that close to your neck, with the exception of wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, or significant other, they won't be able to see a little stubble on your neck area. I rather have a little stubble than look like a tomato was just splatter all over my neck.

I am retired, so I don't have to show to work looking a certain way, but I shave everyday because, IMO, that's what a gentleman does

What I do, I shave the neck ATG once a week, the rest of the week I go WTG and maybe, maybe XTG, but that's about it for me.

Good luck!

I have had this problem for many years. I just do one pass now, not ATG. I usually just do south to both, and leave it at that. No more irritation. It's been about a year since I have done this, and it works great.

Beard mapping. It isn't fun, maybe you don't need to do it on your face, but look very, VERY closely at your neck. Direction changes frequently for some of us. I just get a small area of irritation at the very bottom of my beard growth on my neck. I have to shave that area carefully and independently of the rest of my neck. And will I agree that not going ATG leaves stubble behind, you are really going to struggle to get rid of irritation if you shave it ATG daily or every other day.

I have two spots on my neck, that I simply cannot go ATG more than once every few days without irritation. I seldom try or care except on a weekend when I have time to go for the perfect shave. Daily, in those two little spots, I do two XTG, and one XTG with just the slightest angle ATG. I end up with CCS or better in those two areas, and I figure nobody's gonna be nuzzling on my neck at work anyway.

livinginavacuum said:

...and was surprised to hear him say that he recommends not going ATG at all on the neck area? How will I then be able to shave anything off?...

Click to expand...

From my own experience, I have no problem shaving ATG on the neck. As a matter of fact it would be impossible for me to get a good shave on the neck without going ATG .

livinginavacuum said:

...Also, what products are known to work wonders for the neck to prevent and/or help heal razor burns/bumps?...

Click to expand...

In my opinion your neck problem could go away by trying a good scrub, so you get good exfoliation and release trapped hair before the blade hits the skin. It works for me, so give it a try. If you don't get immediate results use this method for a longer period of time, like two-three weeks.

Read this article and see if you can learn something from it: Insights into shaving and its impact on skin

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]"Also, what products are known to work wonders for the neck to prevent and/or help heal razor burns/bumps?"

I use plain witch hazel after every shave, right after a cold water rinse. Then I clean up my tools and sink, and apply my splash. On days when I travel just a night or two and don't have witch hazel, I can tell the difference. I am going to get a small re-fill bottle to keep in my dopp.[/FONT]

Make sure you have the right angle and little pressure with your razor but most importantly DO NOT SHAVE AGAINST THE GRAIN IN SENSITIVE NECK AREAS. I make 3 passes, 1 with the grain and 2 across the grain. Map out your sensitive neck area grain pattern. I had the same problem when I first started, thing of the past. Good luck.

I get a little razor burn sometimes, and as long as it's mild and infrequent, I just accept it as a part of shaving.

Two things that have helped a lot, especially on my neck, are bullfrogging (see youtube mantic video) and finishing off my shaves with an alum block.
The alum both lets me know where I've tried too hard (razor rash stings slightly), and it seems to season my skin so that my next shave is smoother -- I know that sounds slightly goofy, but if you give it a try, I think you may be surprised at the cumulative results.

I'll pile on and say that the two sides of my neck just don't tolerate ATG. It's very rare that I do that there.

My right side is worse and I try not to even go XTG on that side.

Again, comfortable is usually more important than BBS and bright red is much more visible than a little stubble. Besides, when I ask my wife how I did shaving she runs the back of her hand up my cheek, maybe touches my chin a little. I can't recall a single time where she inspected my neck.

TigerFan said:

Beard mapping. It isn't fun, maybe you don't need to do it on your face, but look very, VERY closely at your neck. Direction changes frequently for some of us. I just get a small area of irritation at the very bottom of my beard growth on my neck. I have to shave that area carefully and independently of the rest of my neck. And will I agree that not going ATG leaves stubble behind, you are really going to struggle to get rid of irritation if you shave it ATG daily or every other day.

Click to expand...

+1. That's my neck, too. For many years I thought I had "sensitive skin" on my neck. The real problem I had was that my beard grows in so many directions and at times swirls so it is difficult for me to shave there.

So I mapped my beard and took a count of in which direction does my beard grow the most. That has become my wtg pass even though in some spots it's atg or xtg. When I shave on my neck I use a very light touch. I normally do a four pass shave and this removes about 95% of my stubble. I then do so minor touchups using J hooking. If I still have some light stubble I will just live with it rather than risk irritation, cuts, or nicks. I have also come to the conclusion that since I may be going atg in spots during my wtg pass, that I am better off with a less aggressive razor. While for example, I may use an 8 or 9 setting with my Slim or FB, a 5 or 6 setting works best for me on my neck.

I don't go ATG on my neck at all. Two WTG passes with some light skin-stretching only on the 2nd pass. A wise man once posed the question "Do you really need a BBS neck?" The answer, at least for me, is no. BBS everywhere else with a CCS on the neck is A.) comfortable and B.) no one will notice the difference, but they will notice a bloody, irritated neck.