no-ATG

[G_man]

Hi everyone,

from reading the forums, I know I am not alone when considering shaving ATG.
I have been wetshaving for 3 years now, but I shave daily (6 times a week). So I have a lot of shaves under by belt. But I will never be able to shave ATG on parts of my face. Cheeks and right side of upper lip (funny enough) would allow it. Also the sides of the chin. But middle of the chin and my whole neck (especially neck) would not allow it.
I do have a very sensitive skin, but before you say: "you should not shave daily", I did experiment with letting my skin rest for few days. No real difference.
I think the main reason is the hair growth on my neck. Hair is growing practically parallel to my skin and where it reaches the skin it creates a bump, that's sticking out.
And so if I go against the grain, it cannot be avoided to cut the hair under the skin (i.e. bump) and thus this hair will most likely be ingrown. Secondly because of the bump, I will also create irritation, no matter the angle or blade sharpness.

Those of you, who are in the same boat, please describe your reason not to go ATG.

Those who had those issue but overcame them, please share

 

[gile]

I don't have sensitive skin as you do but I don't do atg either except part of the neck straight in the middle under the chin. I'm daily shaver for nine months now and before that used to shave every 2.5-3 days. I find that atg is absolutely not necessary for daily shave as it doesn't let any hair to grow for next day. That is in my case. As I tried so many razor/blade combos I now have selected best combos for every razor I have. This gives me so close shaves that my skin is almost bbs and stays smooth almost all day long. Next morning there is just enough hair to shave. If I use something more aggressive as R41 or 1912 I tend to skip next day shaving. Key is to find what suits you best and set the goal. If you need to be clean shaved for work or just love to be shaved you need to get it most comfortable for you and your skin.

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[Dansco]

If I use something more aggressive as R41 or 1912 I tend to skip next day shaving

Why? My suggestion would be either you are using too much pressure with the r41 and damaging the skin or the wrong angle with your other razors resulting in a sub par shave.

The r41 can't remove MORE hair than the others, unless you find the others are leaving some?

 

[gile]

Why? My suggestion would be either you are using too much pressure with the r41 and damaging the skin or the wrong angle with your other razors resulting in a sub part shave.

The r41 can't remove MORE hair than the others, unless you find the others are leaving some?

Maybe I needed to use term efficient. I don't use any pressure with any of my razors. R41 and 1912 just shave bit closer and there is really nothing to shave next day.

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[seveneighth]

I'm not a big proponent of the ATG pass. I was always told never shave ATG. Indeed if I am shaving with a straight razor I prefer a modified ATG at an angle. However there is nothing like the feel of a really close clean BBS from a good ATG pass.

The secret I believe is to remove enough hair in your WTG/XTG passes - this is true for both safety razors and straights. If you haven't reached a point where you feel you have achieved a really close shave already and would be happy to walk away I don't think you are ready to make the ATG. This might be closer than you are used to.

How to get to that level of closeness by the XTG pass? Heat and hydration help immensely in my experience, face lathering with a good brush does as well. Sometimes, for really a luxurious shave I like to shave with an aggressive razor on the WTG/XTG passes and then a milder razor for the ATG pass. This gets me to the right level of hair reduction by the third pass and a gentle finale.

There is also the question of the razor and how it behaves. For an open comb, I find you need to float the razor on the ATG - particularly in the moustache area that you describe. For an SB I prefer to ride the cap.

 

[G_man]

I don't have sensitive skin as you do but I don't do atg either except part of the neck straight in the middle under the chin. I'm daily shaver for nine months now and before that used to shave every 2.5-3 days. I find that atg is absolutely not necessary for daily shave as it doesn't let any hair to grow for next day. That is in my case. As I tried so many razor/blade combos I now have selected best combos for every razor I have. This gives me so close shaves that my skin is almost bbs and stays smooth almost all day long. Next morning there is just enough hair to shave. If I use something more aggressive as R41 or 1912 I tend to skip next day shaving. Key is to find what suits you best and set the goal. If you need to be clean shaved for work or just love to be shaved you need to get it most comfortable for you and your skin.

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I do agree that ATG is not necessary. However, I shave in the evening and considering I can only go WTG with semi-XTG on my neck (I forgot to mention that in the OP) I do see stubble the next day. It's still minor, but still. I can also do only 2 passes on the neck, where as I can do 3 on the rest of my face.
Oh yes, the hair grows left and right from the adam's apple, which is additional hassle

 

[TomG]

I have a similar issue with sensitive skin and coarse "wild" hair growth on my neck. It was a lengthy learning curve to reach comfortable and efficient ATG shaving on my neck; here's what worked for me:

• hot water to soften bristles; I shave in the shower, so easily done, but if I do shave at the basin, I'll use a hot towel.
• prep with a good quality facial soap, working lather into whiskers (Musgo Real glycerine soap was good, but the best I've found is the tallow-based Valobra Glycerlanolina).
• a good pre-shave gel - best two I've used are Castle & Forbes and Myrsol Emulsion. Oils just didn't work that well for me.
• Bleedin' obvious, but a slick shaving soap to provide smooth razor glide.
• Use of a hefty razor, coupled with a sharp blade. This combination just seems to scythe the whiskers effortlessly; a combo I often use is the Merkur Futur with a Polsilver blade or sharp vintage blade e.g. English Wilkies, Gillette Platinum Plus, etc.

 

[Benz3ne]

I'm the same as OP. I've got very flat-lying hair especially towards the centre and base of my neck. The rest of my neck I can shave ATG on and my face I can shave ATG on quite comfortably when required but not at the base of my neck where darker hairs stop growing or around my Adam's apple.

Same as OP, I would almost certainly get weepers with this as it seems to lift the hairs and scythe the skin/follicle rather than cutting the hair just above the skin. I'm happy enough with WTG/XTG passes here so no harm done!

 

[Dansco]

Maybe I needed to use term efficient. I don't use any pressure with any of my razors. R41 and 1912 just shave bit closer and there is really nothing to shave next day.

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Maybe this is a bit of a thread hijack but I don't see why you couldn't achieve this same thing with any other safety razor. They are all capable of doing the same thing - it's the blade on your face and the angle you're using that give you the close shave, not the handle.

 

[chris.hale]

WTG and two XTG gets me to a point where I can only feel stubble if I rub my face ATG and I stop there. Going ATG hurts as my stubble's coarse and no matter how sharp the blade it pushes the hair back on itself before it cuts. When I have suffered through an ATG pass I do get BBS, but after about four hours I can feel stubble ATG again so it's pointless.

Skipping ATG gets me a very close shave and most importantly it does it with no discomfort or irritation.

 

[Dansco]

In response to the original question, I always go against the grain in some areas of my face and neck as they will not be smooth enough without it.

It has taken quite a while to learn how to do it with a straight razor but the area under my chin and directly below on my neck just isn't cleanly shaven. Probably because of change in direction of hair on the neck.

 

[gile]

Maybe this is a bit of a thread hijack but I don't see why you couldn't achieve this same thing with any other safety razor. They are all capable of doing the same thing - it's the blade on your face and the angle you're using that give you the close shave, not the handle.

There are more variables then blade angle. Blade exposure, how firmly blade sits in razor, weight of the razor etc. If all the razors shave the same way there would be one razor only. With all the razors I tend to find most comfortable angle to shave with. Some use shallow angle with r41 some don't. I used ball end tech yesterday and it gave me pretty good result but it can't match r41 in time that smoothness lasts.

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[Count of Undolpho]

WTG and two XTG gets me to a point where I can only feel stubble if I rub my face ATG and I stop there. Going ATG hurts as my stubble's coarse and no matter how sharp the blade it pushes the hair back on itself before it cuts. When I have suffered through an ATG pass I do get BBS, but after about four hours I can feel stubble ATG again so it's pointless.

Skipping ATG gets me a very close shave and most importantly it does it with no discomfort or irritation.

Like what he said - except ATG also equals pizza face.

 

[G_man]

WTG and two XTG gets me to a point where I can only feel stubble if I rub my face ATG and I stop there. Going ATG hurts as my stubble's coarse and no matter how sharp the blade it pushes the hair back on itself before it cuts. When I have suffered through an ATG pass I do get BBS, but after about four hours I can feel stubble ATG again so it's pointless.

Skipping ATG gets me a very close shave and most importantly it does it with no discomfort or irritation.

Very well said. Especially if one shaves daily, there really is no need for ATG. But I shave at night, so my best window of closeness goes to waste

 

[Count of Undolpho]

Very well said. Especially if one shaves daily, there really is no need for ATG. But I shave at night, so my best window of closeness goes to waist

I hope that was a mistype, pube shaving gets some of the chaps quite discombobulated.

 

[Dansco]

There are more variables then blade angle. Blade exposure, how firmly blade sits in razor, weight of the razor etc. If all the razors shave the same way there would be one razor only. With all the razors I tend to find most comfortable angle to shave with. Some use shallow angle with r41 some don't. I used ball end tech yesterday and it gave me pretty good result but it can't match r41 in time that smoothness lasts.

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Not all razors shave the same and there are many variables that affect the properties of the shave, but they should all provide the same result when used properly.