In-grown hair issues

[stringer]

Hi everyone, have been a casual reader of these forums for a fairly long time, and a DE shaver for 4-5 years. Despite having generally good success with shaving with a DE razor, I still occasionally get in-grown hairs around my adam's apple, and to the right of it as well. I have curly hair, which also grows quickly so I generally find I have to shave each day in order to look presentable. Around my adam's apple, the hair growns in a whirl kinda shape (hard to explain) so that its extremely difficult to shave with the grain all the time. I tend to aim to do only one pass, and occasionally a few short strokes under my chin just to tidy up there.

My question is: would I stand a better chance of getting rid of the in-grown hairs by making the jump to a straight razor? I'd say my technique is pretty ok - my shave's fine apart from this one problem area, but the red bumps I get look unslightly so I want to find a solution to this if I can. I've tried most methods I've read about on these forums for getting rid of in-growns - is it worth investing in a straight razor for a last-ditch attempt to get this solved?

[haagiboy]

Hmm... I'd say, go for a milder razor, or go get yourself a slim or a fatboy and dial it down to 1 and shave your adams apple. It won't be a bbs shave (which will give you razor bumps), but it will look presentable! That's how I do it atleast :)

[DE Shaver]

Personally, I don't think a razor change will help. Red bumps or red areas mean irritation, which tells me you are not using an appropriate amount of pressure.

[stringer]

Personally, I don't think a razor change will help. Red bumps or red areas mean irritation, which tells me you are not using an appropriate amount of pressure.

You think too much pressure? I'd like to think I don't apply much pressure, but it may at least be a contributing factor. I don't get any irritation elsewhere on my face either.

[TreeHugger]

Hi everyone, have been a casual reader of these forums for a fairly long time, and a DE shaver for 4-5 years. Despite having generally good success with shaving with a DE razor, I still occasionally get in-grown hairs around my adam's apple, and to the right of it as well. I have curly hair, which also grows quickly so I generally find I have to shave each day in order to look presentable. Around my adam's apple, the hair growns in a whirl kinda shape (hard to explain) so that its extremely difficult to shave with the grain all the time. I tend to aim to do only one pass, and occasionally a few short strokes under my chin just to tidy up there.

My question is: would I stand a better chance of getting rid of the in-grown hairs by making the jump to a straight razor? I'd say my technique is pretty ok - my shave's fine apart from this one problem area, but the red bumps I get look unslightly so I want to find a solution to this if I can. I've tried most methods I've read about on these forums for getting rid of in-growns - is it worth investing in a straight razor for a last-ditch attempt to get this solved?

Try exfoliating every third day, and then increase/decrease depending on results. This will remove any dead skin and potentially allow hair to grow normally and not within the skin.

Here are some products you can try and can be found in most stores:

http://well.ca/products/clean-clear-deep-action_13462.html

http://well.ca/products/clean-clear-morning-burst-facial_13481.html

http://well.ca/products/clean-clear-blackhead-clearing_2705.html

[DE Shaver]

You think too much pressure? I'd like to think I don't apply much pressure, but it may at least be a contributing factor. I don't get any irritation elsewhere on my face either.
Well, I cannot be absolutely sure but redness indicates irritation/aggravation of the skin and being too gentle doesn't do this. That area tends to be a bit thinner in terms of skin thickness.

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to B&B !!

[Luc]

Welcome to B&B!

+1 on the pressure. Normally, you would get that type of irritation if you apply some pressure.

A milder razor is a good idea. It might not shave as close but it will probably solve the ingrowns issue.

I think you would have similar issues with a straight razor but if you think it can help, try one. I have to warn you, the learning curve isn't short and quick. It took me around 3 months to get a consistent good shave and I was shaving with a DE for a while before that.

[stringer]

Welcome to B&B!

+1 on the pressure. Normally, you would get that type of irritation if you apply some pressure.

A milder razor is a good idea. It might not shave as close but it will probably solve the ingrowns issue.

I think you would have similar issues with a straight razor but if you think it can help, try one. I have to warn you, the learning curve isn't short and quick. It took me around 3 months to get a consistent good shave and I was shaving with a DE for a while before that.

Good to know about the pressure aspect, definitely need to look at that again and see if perhaps I am using too much pressure. When you say a milder razor, are you referring to the blade, or the aggressiveness of the razor itself? In terms of equipment, I'm using a Merkur HD, and currently using Astra and Derby blades.


Well, I cannot be absolutely sure but redness indicates irritation/aggravation of the skin and being too gentle doesn't do this. That area tends to be a bit thinner in terms of skin thickness.

Didn't know that about the skin being thinner there, although now you mention it I can see what you mean - thanks for the help!

[Luc]

Good to know about the pressure aspect, definitely need to look at that again and see if perhaps I am using too much pressure. When you say a milder razor, are you referring to the blade, or the aggressiveness of the razor itself? In terms of equipment, I'm using a Merkur HD, and currently using Astra and Derby blades.



Didn't know that about the skin being thinner there, although now you mention it I can see what you mean - thanks for the help!

A milder razor. If the blade is sharp enough, you should be right then. However, you will need to try a few blades in the new razor as it won't perform the same way. Your favorite blade in the Merkur HD might not be the best pick for the new razor.

I would go with something milder such as Gillette Superspeed. If you want something new. Then, very cheap and ok, Weishi. I wouldn't recommend a Weishi very often but it's one of the mildest razor I ever had (in the same league than Gillette Tech). It's not the best razor around but it's fairly cheap and easy to find.

[rm71]

Welcome.

[Blacknoise]

Its too much pressure for sure... I used to get them with cartridges, but they went away when I changed to DE. I got some the other day after being a little overzealous with my razor buffing! :P

I found ground up aspirin tablets made into a past with water, rubbed onto the skin and left for 10 minutes, followed by which hazel every day seemed to help them to heal...

[DE Shaver]

Didn't know that about the skin being thinner there, although now you mention it I can see what you mean - thanks for the help!
Let us know if things clear up or not.

[franstjohn]

Welcome to B&B!

A lot of good advice in this post. The absolute mildest razors in my rotation are the Schick Krona and a late model Schick Injector (late model-non adjustable). I also have an EJ DE89L which is pretty tame and a really good looker.

Shaving the neck can be a difficult balance between leaving stubble only you can feel and bumps everybody can see. Not a hard choice for me.

[HaroldingPatrick]

I know exactly what you are talking about. Despite being lilly white with straight hair, I have a terrible problem with ingrowns on my throat. This issue is what led me to DE razors in the first place. I don't know about the straight, but a milder DE has helped me. My slantbar gives me ingrowns, my HD sometimes does, my EJ89L doesn't give ingrowns or a good shave for that matter, and my Feather Popular with feather blades has been the solution to my problem. I'm going to try my luck with a super speed as soon as I get one. With the Feather/Feather combo I can apply a little pressure everywhere but the throat and get a smooth durable shave (I have very dark, thick, and fast growing facial hair). No pressure on the throat and the feather blades cut well enough on one pass for down there and I don't get ingrowns.

Hope this helps.

P.S. When I used the mach 3 razor, I found the "Bump Stopper-2" product for African American men did give some relief if you're not too ethnophobic to buy it.

[JonJon5280]

I've recently switch from the Mach 3 and bump stopper 2 which had some lack luster results. Being African American with course hair I've stuggled with in-grown hairs all my life and recently switch to a Schick Krona with a Personna blade (mild shave) which has eliminated all my in-grown hairs and still gives me a relatively smooth shave. I have always used a exfoliating cleanser with salcylic acid which reduces visiblity of the bumps St. Eves apricot scrub (medicated) after (yes after) the shave .You can also remove the in-grown hairs completely using a sterilized sewing needle to lift the hair out of the skin and using tweezers to pluck it out! There will be some redness at first, but it will subside and bye bye bump.



**Wet shaver for 8 years- DE safety user for 1 week.

[canarado]

I've recently switch from the Mach 3 and bump stopper 2 which had some lack luster results. Being African American with course hair I've stuggled with in-grown hairs all my life and recently switch to a Schick Krona with a Personna blade (mild shave) which has eliminated all my in-grown hairs and still gives me a relatively smooth shave. I have always used a exfoliating cleanser with salcylic acid which reduces visiblity of the bumps St. Eves apricot scrub (medicated) after (yes after) the shave .You can also remove the in-grown hairs completely using a sterilized sewing needle to lift the hair out of the skin and using tweezers to pluck it out! There will be some redness at first, but it will subside and bye bye bump.



**Wet shaver for 8 years- DE safety user for 1 week.

+1.....I had more than my share of in-growns during my 20's and did lots of harsh scrubbing to allow the hairs to pop thru the outer skin as well as the "twizzer" technique, wait a day or two for the bump too heal up then do a shave. A word of advice to those who suffer from ingrown hairs would be keep your neck area soft with warm wet towels daily to open up the pores and allow the sharp follicle to break through instead of roll over and down, as well as increase the amount of water you consume daily as the skin is very sensitive to dehydration and losses its elasticity very quickly.

[stringer]

I've recently switch from the Mach 3 and bump stopper 2 which had some lack luster results. Being African American with course hair I've stuggled with in-grown hairs all my life and recently switch to a Schick Krona with a Personna blade (mild shave) which has eliminated all my in-grown hairs and still gives me a relatively smooth shave. I have always used a exfoliating cleanser with salcylic acid which reduces visiblity of the bumps St. Eves apricot scrub (medicated) after (yes after) the shave .You can also remove the in-grown hairs completely using a sterilized sewing needle to lift the hair out of the skin and using tweezers to pluck it out! There will be some redness at first, but it will subside and bye bye bump.



**Wet shaver for 8 years- DE safety user for 1 week.

Thanks for all the help guys! A lot of new razors have been mentioned here - as well as applying too much pressure, is the Merkur HD I'm using too aggressive? If so, where's the best place to buy other razors from, in the UK in particular? I bought the Merkur from Amazon, but I don't think Taylors, T & H, or any of the others like that in London really sell many razors themselves.

[magelsen]

Are you sure that the grain of your hair is in the area. I have found that a small adjustment of the angle of my pass in certain areas of my face is needed. I have a small area on one side of my Adams apple that my passes need to come form different angles to keep from being ATG without passes in other directions. Blade pressure is another good suggestion, but some sensitive areas on my neck still will not take an ATG pass now matter how light the pressure is. My problems are improving over time, but so is my technique and my understanding of my face. In some ways, the problem areas have forced me to learn to become a better shaver and the rest of my face has benefited from the learning.

[stringer]

Are you sure that the grain of your hair is in the area. I have found that a small adjustment of the angle of my pass in certain areas of my face is needed. I have a small area on one side of my Adams apple that my passes need to come form different angles to keep from being ATG without passes in other directions. Blade pressure is another good suggestion, but some sensitive areas on my neck still will not take an ATG pass now matter how light the pressure is. My problems are improving over time, but so is my technique and my understanding of my face. In some ways, the problem areas have forced me to learn to become a better shaver and the rest of my face has benefited from the learning.

The grain of my hair around my Adams apple is really tricky - in an area which only really takes up about an inch of my neck, the hairs all grown in a corkscrew fashion, so that its really hard around there to always ensure I'm with the grain. Maybe this is something I'm always going to have to deal with, but maybe a gentler razor, looking again at the pressure I'm applying and paying extra attention to the grain there will help. Thanks!

[SiBurning]

Around the sides of my adam's apple are the hardest place for me to shave. While I don't get ingrowns, if I try to get BSS, it itches when the hairs grow back. It doesn't help that the "grain" is almost directly sideways towards the middle, which is an awkward direction to stretch the skin. Instead of worrying about a BSS, which would mean cutting below the skin line, I focus more on cutting to the point of comfort, and not beyond. In other words, it's smooth in most directions, and I don't apply any pressure ATG when I'm checking the shave afterward.

The way to get it smoothest is more very gentle passes, but more passes can mean more irritation. The Merkurs can be tricky here because they like to mow down everything in their path, and with the skin so flexible there, it often ends up being counterproductive, taking off too much. Then again, at some point after there's enough removed, one well directed pass can make short work of the rest. An SE, with its lower angle, does an easier job for me, but is a bit rough on the skin: still, it does a better overall job measuring by some kind of closeness-to-irritation factor. The Merkurs seem to use a higher angle than the Gillettes, but some Gillettes are easier than others--the Tech being my favorite out of only a few I've tried. Milder seems to be better for the multiple gentle pass way.

While I'm not a very experienced straight shaver, it's definitely given me more comfortable shaves than anything else. It seems to be the steel that makes the difference, but it's also the ability to control the angle. I wish someone would come out with something like an injector or SE with a solid grip right near the blade edge and good steel. Injector blades are too thick for a really close and comfortable shave, and SEs don't hold the blade stiff enough. Any of these three (SE, injector, straight) might help you by allowing you to use a very low angle. Still, given all the tradeoffs...