Help - What is causing my irritation?

[auk1124]

Sensitive skin / ingrowns.

Milder razor (Tech or Weishi), some in-depth blade sampling, a tub of TOBS Avocado or similar premium/mild cream (ditch the Proraso stuff for now), WTG only, chuck XTG and ATG right out the window and forget them, repeat all the above for a minimum of four months.

My two cents only, based on my own experience. Been there, done that, had ingrowns and sensitivity issues far far worse than those pictures. The above regimen did more for my skin over the past six months or so than any other shaving regimen I've ever tried. Not perfect but a damn sight better than where I started.

But as always ymmv.

 

[Bodach]

Many thanks for all the good advice.

I will work on my lather and will skip soap when showering as a first step and be careful with any additional products.

I'm impressed with all the good advice and willingness to help me out!

From what I see, you have a particularly bad case of razor burn and ingrown hairs. I am not an expert whatsoever; however, one thing I might suggest to try is to limit the exposure of the blade to your face for several weeks. By this I mean, for a week or three, use a single pass with the grain and nothing more. I would go one step further...if you shave the right side of your face from your sideburn down to your jaw on the right side of your face you have just done one stroke. That's it whether you got a great shave or not. Now, take 1/2 the width of the blade and move in toward your nose and use another single stroke...ie the only overlap you will have is one stroke and only 1/2 of the blade. Try to only do one stroke on your face for every 1/2 blade no matter where you go on your face. You might not get a great shave, and you might find stubble, but is that any worse than the results you are getting? It's just a suggestion to take or leave as you see fit.

If you do find a real solution to this nasty case you have, please reply and tell everyone the final solution as you are not alone.

 

[zameus]

My neck looked exactly like that 2 days ago. The result of pushing a blade too far plus using a cream that did not agree with me plus having ridiculously sensitive skin. Today I am close to good as new. By the end of the week I will be there.

How?

Buy the Bump Patrol that was mentioned earlier. TendSkin works just as good but is more expensive and smells worse.

Step One: Shave in the shower using KMF, Nancy Boy, Pacific Shave Co, etc. Something slick with little to no frangrance and of high quality. DO NOT use a blade more than 2 days. Stick with WTG and XTG. NO ATG. Use a mild razor (Tech, SS, etc) or Gillette adjustable set on 3 or 4. A Gillette Sensor would be an ok choice as well.

Step Two: Dry your face, apply the Bump Patrol everywhere you shaved.

That's it. No pre/post creams, no aftershaves, no Kyle's prep (sorry but leaving shaving cream on your face for an extended period of time when you have very sensitive skin is a disaster IMHO).

You can use a pre-shave oil if you'd like and I love the Pacific Shaving oil. Olive oil works fine as well but I don't like the smell. However, in my experience, while it does help prevent razor burn (which isn't your problem), it does little for a rash from shaving (the folliculitus you have).

You should also wash your face midday and at night with a mild cleanser (like Citaphil) and reapply the Bump Patrol.


Oh, and yes it burns a bit.

Once you've cleared up you can stop with the bump patrol if you want and carefully try something nicer. Honestly though, stick with the simple stuff; 100% pure aloe, thayers, etc. and a good quality moisturizer that agrees with your skin.

 

[joglander]

I have tried to not shave for few days but that does not help, actually it get worse when I go back at it again.
I'm not sure what this indicates, but I think this is a key to solving the problem. Most razor irritations go away after a couple of days of not shaving. But yours does not.

When I have irritation like that, it is almost always from too much pressure, usually on the last day I use a blade. When I have a couple of days of growth I tend to use more pressure to try to take it off. So check your pressure.

I am also struck by the sharp line demarking the bottom of your irritation. When I lather or shave, I don't get such a crisp line. Could sun exposure or dry skin be a factor? Do you work in a field that exposes you to heat or dry air or excessive moisture?

If I were you, I would soak my razor in alcohol, try a new feather blade with no pressure, use a new brush, try a brand new shaving soap or creme with different ingredients (like glycerin instead of tallow based or whatever), If that does not work, I would see a doctor. Good luck.

 

[cmannen]

My neck looked exactly like that 2 days ago. The result of pushing a blade too far plus using a cream that did not agree with me plus having ridiculously sensitive skin. Today I am close to good as new. By the end of the week I will be there.

How?

Buy the Bump Patrol that was mentioned earlier. TendSkin works just as good but is more expensive and smells worse.

Step One: Shave in the shower using KMF, Nancy Boy, Pacific Shave Co, etc. Something slick with little to no frangrance and of high quality. DO NOT use a blade more than 2 days. Stick with WTG and XTG. NO ATG. Use a mild razor (Tech, SS, etc) or Gillette adjustable set on 3 or 4. A Gillette Sensor would be an ok choice as well.

Step Two: Dry your face, apply the Bump Patrol everywhere you shaved.

That's it. No pre/post creams, no aftershaves, no Kyle's prep (sorry but leaving shaving cream on your face for an extended period of time when you have very sensitive skin is a disaster IMHO).

You can use a pre-shave oil if you'd like and I love the Pacific Shaving oil. Olive oil works fine as well but I don't like the smell. However, in my experience, while it does help prevent razor burn (which isn't your problem), it does little for a rash from shaving (the folliculitus you have).

You should also wash your face midday and at night with a mild cleanser (like Citaphil) and reapply the Bump Patrol.


Oh, and yes it burns a bit.

Once you've cleared up you can stop with the bump patrol if you want and carefully try something nicer. Honestly though, stick with the simple stuff; 100% pure aloe, thayers, etc. and a good quality moisturizer that agrees with your skin.

This sounds good, will try to get hold of Bump Patrol or Tender Skin which does not seem to be the easiest thing due to that I'm living in Sweden.
Will try on of these and apply some of the good advices in this thread and hope it will help.

If it does help I will let you guys know.

Many thanks for all the good advice!!!!

 

[wildcard]

I know you've been shaving with a DE for 7 months but blade angle is super important and no one has mentioned it yet.

My neck used to look like yours, that is until I started working hard on my technique. I started first with blade angle and immediately noticed improvement with every single shave (in terms of irritation). Now that I have that down pretty good I'm trying to improve how much pressure I'm applying.

I've been shaving with a DE razor for a few months and started out with good fundamentals but over time my technique deteriorated and the quality of shaves started getting worse. A few visits to B&B several weeks ago and now I'm back on track. In fact, I think I'll be completely irritation free in a couple more weeks.

So, maybe you have perfect blade angle and maybe you don't. Can't hurt to check it out in your next couple of shaves though.

 

[haagiboy]

So, cmannen. Any luck with your neck?

 

[camondw]

What soap are you using?

For a long time, I have to use non scented hypo-allergenic soaps with a very high (almost pure) glycerin content.

Fortunately I am able to use regular products without any issues.

You may be having an allergy to soaps and AS that is being exacerbated by shaving. I recommend that you try using a high glycerin soap with a good quality brush. I have a Gillette blue tip and Astra blades shred my face in it, even Feathers can be persnickety. Maybe try different blades. I have 3 DE razors and the red Israeli Personna blades have been the most versatile for me. They work great in every razor I have tried so far.

I would avoid using a blade more than once until you get this figured out. In the event that there is some bacterial component, you don't want issues to arise.

Random as this sounds, have you tried to sterilize all of your shaving gear? Anything that touches your face or touches things that will touch your face should be sterilized, either by boiling or with alcohol. Be careful when sterilizing brushes.

I am sorry you are having such bad breakouts. It will get better, you will just have to find the right combination of blades and soaps

my $0.02

C

 

[cmannen]

So, cmannen. Any luck with your neck?

It's getting better.

The main focus point has been to reduce number of passes, for few days I only did 1 WTG, I'm now doing 2 passes 1 WTG and 1 XTG.

I have also payed special attention to NO PRESSURE, this together with less passes is very much reducing the irritation.

Based on all the feedback I suspect that I also have a problem with ingrown hair, did quite some googeling on this and decide to test Anthony Ingrown Hair Treatment which I have read good review about. Hope that this will help me.

I have stopped using my regular soap and purchased a face wash from Bulldog.

It feels like I'm on the right track, I'm having less irritation and much more enjoyable shaves.

I will report back after few days of use of the Ingrown treatment and see if it helps.

Thanks for all support!!!

 

[SRock]

Added question...

How often are you cleaning your razor?

I've seen (read) instances where people do not clean their razors often enough and get a similar reaction from some bacterial element. After properly cleaning the razor more frequently and more frequent blade changes it cleared up for them.

 

[cmannen]

Added question...

How often are you cleaning your razor?

I've seen (read) instances where people do not clean their razors often enough and get a similar reaction from some bacterial element. After properly cleaning the razor more frequently and more frequent blade changes it cleared up for them.

I'm cleaning it every now and then but not more then with regular soap. Maybe I'm doing this like every second week. What recommended for cleaning, boiling or to clean with some kind of alcohol?
I started to change my blade now every second or third shave, that should be alright I guess, will also add cleaning of the razor then, with which frequenzy does that need to be done?

 

[SRock]

I'm cleaning it every now and then but not more then with regular soap. Maybe I'm doing this like every second week. What recommended for cleaning, boiling or to clean with some kind of alcohol?
I started to change my blade now every second or third shave, that should be alright I guess, will also add cleaning of the razor then, with which frequenzy does that need to be done?

I do the simple soap and a toothbrush method as needed from time to time to remove soap scum and once every month or so I clean with anti-bacterial scrubbing bubbles. I don't really have a schedule for it. I just go by look/feel. I think, if there is a bacterial element, there is no real way for any of us to tell you how frequent you'll need to clean your razors to combat it. Though it may be worth it, as a test, to clean your razor daily for a couple of weeks just to see if that helps clear up your neck.

 

[global_dev]

my neck is very sensitive to XTG which is N-S for me. anything less than a pretty new blade makes me get irritation.

whenever this happens, which is often enough, I do 1 or 2 WTG very light passes only...

 

[armykunin]

i would stop going ATG and try shaving with cold water. Both work great for me and i always get a nice comfortable shave. You might also try shaving every other day.