Irritation, I may just give up.

[Jslinger]

I just ordered a replated tech off ebay. I will see how this goes, and if it doesn't help, I will move on to try a gem.
Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Crag]

I have tried several different blades (Personna red pack, feather, blue bird, iridiums, astra, 7oclock yellows, and others) It seems like I get pretty much the same results from all of them. I tried a straight for quite a while, but I got pretty much the same result. I used to have an HD but the result was similar. I was considering getting an adjustable like a merkur progress, futur or vision.
Any recommendations? I planned on using it on medium for my face, and less aggressive on my neck. Would adjusting it every time I shave wear out the adjustment mechanism?
Maybe I should try a gillette tech?

I'm going to go "off the grid" for a momemt here. Have you ever tried Shave Secret? It's a shave oil that they sell at Wal-mart. I use it on one patch of my chin where I have chronic psoriasis. I shave everywhere else normally leaving my psoriasis patch alone and then when done with the rest of my face I oil up my patch and shave with just the oil, water, and a new SHARP brand blade in my open comb long handle Merkur. I get irritation free shaves with it, (before I used to get the irritation you are describing starting at about 1pm). I used to use a shave product from Feather called NANKA, but it is wicked expensive, and the Shave Secret works just as well, I only use 3 drops of oil. It also has a cooling effect which I like very much.

The Mfr link is HERE.


Good Luck!

 

[Jslinger]

I have used it. I currently use pacific shave oil, and while the results do seem to be a little better, I really enjoy the process of using a brush and cream.

 

[FriedLiverAndOnions]

I had the same problem for about 15yrs, I tried the latest and most expensive electric shavers from various makers, various shave gels and cartridges, numerous DE's that are always discussed on this forum and others, all the favourite shaving creams from England, Portugal, Italy....
I did the Anthony pre-shave oil and the Musgo Real, I also shave in the evening. My facial hair grows in different directions throughout my face, sometimes parallel with the skin, mutiple hairs growing out of one folicle, some hairs as thick as pencil lead! Every couple of months I was taking antibiotics for shaving infections from ingrown hairs, so I understand completely where you are coming from.
One thing solved my problem....one thing!
Cold Water!!!!
Why? Well, hot water swelled my face and brought blood to the surface leading to more irritation, not to mention the hair would over soften and be like a wet noodle which is harder for the sharp blade to cut. So what I did was:
1. Splash face with lots of cold water
2. make lather with cold water ( face lather 5mins.)
3. rinse blade with cold water
4. one pass wtg
5. change blade (Astra sp) after 2 shaves.
6. shave every second day.
You see, the lather will provide the slickness and the cold water will keep you skin nick free, the hair standing up, and the stubble will grow out better without sinking below the skin as the hair and face has not been swollen with hot water. The sound difference you hear shaving with cold water is the hair being cut cleanly not the scraping of skin or the pulling of hair.
Hope this helps.

 

[DaveNJ74]

Try Feathers. Those are the only blades I can use in a DE that do not give me any irritation. I use those or I shave with a Trac2 or Mach3 once in a while. If you want to try a Feather blade, PM me and I will send you one to try out.

 

[Genie]

After 2 weeks of DE shaving, I was still breaking out, I think I was tryign too many different kinds of razors, until one day I got the courage to pick up a feather blade out of my sampler pack. I threw the rest in the garbage. For my coarse beard, feather worked the best for me. NO MORE BUMPS!

One more thing... Don't give up!

 

[Greglam]

I have been wet shaving for around 3 years now, and I have yet to have a streak of more than four days of irritation free shaving.

I have worked on my technique tirelessly.

I have tried all kinds of different creams and soaps and pre-shaves/oils. And I get decent shaves out of most everything I try, but after a few days, the irritation is back.

If you have read this far without getting bored, and hitting the back button on your browser, any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

I change my blade every 4 days or so, but it seems to be better when I first put a new blade in.

Have you tried changing your blade every 2 or 3 days? See the correlation?

Good luck!

-Greg

 

[danielcv]

i would say less aggressive razor, switch blades.

 

[Mycon]

Even after switching to wetshaving, I have had the same issue on and off for quite awhile while I was trying stuff out. Here's what I've concluded:
Feathers only. No other blade will give a clean cut through my tough beard, and the resulting tugging really irritates my face. Use the blade an absolute maximum of 3 times.
No cold rinse. If you have chronic bumps and irritation, this seems to make it worse. It was posted a long time ago, but I remember Mantic himself saying that.
Balms not splashes. This one kind of sucks for me since most of the aftershaves I love are splashes. But, after several rough weeks I've been using nothing but the CO Bigelow balms and all irritation and lingering bumps are going away.
Use a hot towel before lathering up. It really softens the beard. I like to apply a layer of Corn Huskers lotion before wrapping the towel.

These things work for me, and hopefully something in here will work for you. I haven't needed to buy any expensive treatments, just adjust my routine.

 

[BGG]

Well i ditched the derby blade this morning and used a Feather, lovely blade only weeper was where the Derby ****** my face two days ago. Not as scary as I imagined lol but a greats have and no irritation

The Feather was fab for two shaves, the third one today was not very good at all .... feels smooth enough but OOF bit red lol

 

[Optionyout]

I had the same problem for about 15yrs, I tried the latest and most expensive electric shavers from various makers, various shave gels and cartridges, numerous DE's that are always discussed on this forum and others, all the favourite shaving creams from England, Portugal, Italy....
I did the Anthony pre-shave oil and the Musgo Real, I also shave in the evening. My facial hair grows in different directions throughout my face, sometimes parallel with the skin, mutiple hairs growing out of one folicle, some hairs as thick as pencil lead! Every couple of months I was taking antibiotics for shaving infections from ingrown hairs, so I understand completely where you are coming from.
One thing solved my problem....one thing!
Cold Water!!!!
Why? Well, hot water swelled my face and brought blood to the surface leading to more irritation, not to mention the hair would over soften and be like a wet noodle which is harder for the sharp blade to cut. So what I did was:
1. Splash face with lots of cold water
2. make lather with cold water ( face lather 5mins.)
3. rinse blade with cold water
4. one pass wtg
5. change blade (Astra sp) after 2 shaves.
6. shave every second day.
You see, the lather will provide the slickness and the cold water will keep you skin nick free, the hair standing up, and the stubble will grow out better without sinking below the skin as the hair and face has not been swollen with hot water. The sound difference you hear shaving with cold water is the hair being cut cleanly not the scraping of skin or the pulling of hair.
Hope this helps.

+1
Only things I'd add are preshave oil, a slant, alum, and not of that tend skin/ingrown after shave crap, or bumpfighter BS. Just Baby oil after the alum has time to do it's thing. And less aggressive razors are the cause of ingrowns bc you end up having to go over the same spot more bc curly hairs like to hide from blades. Astras with a slant razor.

I went from ingrown he'll for 20+ years to about one or two easy to get ones a week. I have the scars to prove it unfortunately.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I had the same problem for about 15yrs, I tried the latest and most expensive electric shavers from various makers, various shave gels and cartridges, numerous DE's that are always discussed on this forum and others, all the favourite shaving creams from England, Portugal, Italy....
I did the Anthony pre-shave oil and the Musgo Real, I also shave in the evening. My facial hair grows in different directions throughout my face, sometimes parallel with the skin, mutiple hairs growing out of one folicle, some hairs as thick as pencil lead! Every couple of months I was taking antibiotics for shaving infections from ingrown hairs, so I understand completely where you are coming from.
One thing solved my problem....one thing!
Cold Water!!!!
Why? Well, hot water swelled my face and brought blood to the surface leading to more irritation, not to mention the hair would over soften and be like a wet noodle which is harder for the sharp blade to cut. So what I did was:
1. Splash face with lots of cold water
2. make lather with cold water ( face lather 5mins.)
3. rinse blade with cold water
4. one pass wtg
5. change blade (Astra sp) after 2 shaves.
6. shave every second day.
You see, the lather will provide the slickness and the cold water will keep you skin nick free, the hair standing up, and the stubble will grow out better without sinking below the skin as the hair and face has not been swollen with hot water. The sound difference you hear shaving with cold water is the hair being cut cleanly not the scraping of skin or the pulling of hair.
Hope this helps.

I hope some of you guys with serious irritation and ingrown problems read this valuable post. Highlight was done by me, I hope the OP doesn't mind, because I truly believe a lot of the problems I read about here are caused by too much prep and too much, and or, too hot water. And possibly by too much scrubbing of the face with the brush.

 

[California Cajun]

I have tried several different blades (Personna red pack, feather, blue bird, iridiums, astra, 7oclock yellows, and others) It seems like I get pretty much the same results from all of them. I tried a straight for quite a while, but I got pretty much the same result. I used to have an HD but the result was similar. I was considering getting an adjustable like a merkur progress, futur or vision.
Any recommendations? I planned on using it on medium for my face, and less aggressive on my neck. Would adjusting it every time I shave wear out the adjustment mechanism?
Maybe I should try a gillette tech?

I think you're using good razors. PM me with your name and address if you would like to try some medical grade Personna blades. These are used in hospitals and they are consistent from blade to blade.

 

[bobgroger]

For me the answer was a very sharp blade and a SS Blue Tip. Even, God forbid, a Lady's razor. Or a Slim on 1 or 2. I tried the Macho Red Tip and Parkers with Derbys and Sharps, but my face was shredded afterwards. Using a Feather with those neatly sliced the bumps off my face. SO for me, nirvana is a Feather and a blue tip, or a Personna RP in a Tech or SS or Slim =<3. Hot rinse, cold rinse, Witch Hazel, Nivea sensitive ASB. I get less irritation with a cartridge, but a DE is much closer to BBS for me when I have the time.

 

[cjspence]

I had the same problem.
To correct this i use tallow soap, a slim adjustable and a red pack personna blade. A perfect match
Its not BBS but it very close no irritation at all. I toss my blade after using it twice. Blades are cheap enough
Also wash your face with a soft wash cloth and some shaving soap and warm water for about 30 seconds. Same soap you will shave with. Rinse with warm water, then latter up.
Works for me every time.

+1 on very good advice.

 

[Greglam]

I hope some of you guys with serious irritation and ingrown problems read this valuable post. Highlight was done by me, I hope the OP doesn't mind, because I truly believe a lot of the problems I read about here are caused by too much prep and too much, and or, too hot water. And possibly by too much scrubbing of the face with the brush.

True enough but doesn't #2 concern you at all? I.e. "5 minutes of face lathering"? That's got to be irritation inducing in its own right, regardless of the quality of the brush.

Thoughts?

 

[BladeRunner001]

I hope some of you guys with serious irritation and ingrown problems read this valuable post. Highlight was done by me, I hope the OP doesn't mind, because I truly believe a lot of the problems I read about here are caused by too much prep and too much, and or, too hot water. And possibly by too much scrubbing of the face with the brush.

True enough but doesn't #2 concern you at all? I.e. "5 minutes of face lathering"? That's got to be irritation inducing in its own right, regardless of the quality of the brush.

Thoughts?

I don't think prep and time spent prepping has anything to do with irritation...or even the brush (to some extent). Well, depends on how one scrubs the face with the brush while prepping and the quality of soap. If you're using scrubby brushes, then you have to take it easy (there is such a thing as too much exfoliation)...At times, I have spent longer than five minutes prepping my whiskers will no ill effects...0 irritation or discomfort. But, I always use Silvertip and soft brushes for that. 2-band brushes (which are tougher) will be rougher on skin.

My take is the soap/creme...or even post shave balms/AS/etc...I recommend washing the face thoroughly with warm (not hot) water after the shave, followed by cold water. The less stuff that is used post shave, the better.

 

[franstjohn]

I use a merkur 11c open comb with a derby blade. I previously used a 34c with the same result. I have a savile row brush and use mostly tobs avocado. But occasionally I will use nancy boy, and palmolive euro soap. I only get irritation on my neck, and only on one side.
I change my blade every 4 days or so, but it seems to be better when I first put a new blade in.

Have you considered your problem may be something as simple as an incorrect blade angle or using too much pressure? What caught my attention was the fact that your skin problems are just on one side of the face. I believe most of us shave with only our dominant hand. When I started out wetshaving, I noticed the same type of problem on the left side of my face (I am right handed). When I was reaching across myself to shave, I was altering both the blade angle and presure unconsciously. As soon as I realized that and paid a lot more attention to what I was doing, the problem disappeared. (Incidentally, I tried shaving the left side of my face with my left hand and discovered I was not gifted in that regard.)

 

[kingfisher]

I don't think prep and time spent prepping has anything to do with irritation........

We'll have to agree to disagree. I am confident that over-prepping with lots of hot water contributes to shaving irritation.

 

[salazch12]

Sounds like it might be time to try SE shaving. SE shaving in general is much more "irritation-free" than DE shaving. Get a GEM 1912, or a G-Bar, they are very inexpensive, and never look back. . . . . . If you don't believe me, do a search and you will find many marvel at the close irritation free shaves they get from the SE shaving experience.

DD

what is SE shaving?