SOTD - December 2021

[Old Sarge]

Oof. I do not envy that. The skin is soft and thin down there. I used to have patches that went down pretty far but one autoimmune disease later and that hair has receded. Interestingly enough, the hair now stops above my Adam's apple making neck maintenance much easier. Not something I recommend but there have to be some upsides, right? 

Wow. Like you said not recommended but yes at least there is some benefit. When my beard is trimmed short I start just past my jaw bone (on the neck side/Inside if that makes sense ) and shave down to my collar bone. When I let my beard grow longer the starting line of the shave migrates closer and closer to my Adam's apple. Either way just above my Adam's apple to my collarbone gets shaved every time and the Adam's apple and to each side of it are the extra tricky spots. The skin each side of the Adam's ape is more sensitive and the hair there seems tougher. Not a great combination. Ad to that the fact that most of the hair there grows laying flat to the skin and it's difficult to get a good close shave there. And on top of all that a few of those difficult hairs are extra thick and darker than the rest making missed hair really visible. Sometimes even when I get thase hairs closely shaven they show under the skin making it difficult to tell weather I really got the shaved close enough. I'm really not trying to complain. I actually really enjoy shaving since finding vintage and antique razors as a hobby.

Regarding the hair laying flat to the skin, I too have a part of my neck where the hair does the same...growing south to north. On my first pass I shave from S to N going WTG on my neck. On the second pass on my neck, I used to go N to S as my neck seems to be able to handle ATG. But now, in that section where the whiskers lie ultra flat, I now hit it at a 45 degree angle first then touch up going N to S. I've yet to feel comfortable shaving XTG on the neck, either E to W or vice versa. The razor just doesn't seem to lie flat enough and make me feel jittery...if that makes any sense.

BTW...I don't see you as complaining at all. It's good to chat about how we shave and I'm glad Eric posed the question that triggered this discussion!