Shaving Advice

If my hair looked like the hair in number six, I would use an electric shaver.

I reckon that few will agree.

I hope that I don't get banned for writing this.

DO NOT SHAVE AGAINST THE GRAIN, OR EVEN ACROSS THE GRAIN.

Take a dry cotton ball and rub it in various directions along your neck. When you see cotton fibers sticking to the neck hairs you have found the "against-the-grain" direction. Do not shave in this direction.

Skip the Derby blades. They suck in my opinion.
Try using these blades instead: KAI or Polsilver

Much good advice Dino de Soto thus far. I would also echo that trying a different blade may help. I have not found the Derby line to be much better than average. A stepping stone to some of the other blades mentioned that is a good all round blade [neither too sharp, nor too dull] is the Astra SP.

I do find with light razors [the BS included] that sometimes the temptation is to apply too much pressure as celestino mentioned. You may want to pick up an alternative and check it out as well.

Good luck and keep us posted!

The advice not to shave against the grain is important. For me, that means that my first pass for my face is downward. However, for the bottom 3/4's of my neck, the first pass is upward in order to go with the grain. Once I have done the upward with the grain pass on the neck, I find a no pressure downward pass much more acceptable to the skin of my neck and gives me a close, comfortable shave. I wish I had learned that a long time ago. It sounds weird, but studying the grain patterns of your whiskers is very helpful to getting a great shave and avoiding irritation. I also agree with the advice to upgrade your blades; you will be happier.