My son and my aftershaves and acne.

My 18 year old son has been down to visit with me for a few days now, since he's been here he's used my Alcolado Glacier, my Proraso, he tried Aqua Velva and declared it smells funky but he liked the freeze, and now today he's used the Osage Rub. He saw me standing in front of the AC vent drying my face after using the Osage Rub and decided he had to try it. He had a Arko shave followed by the Osage Rub, and stood in front of the AC vent getting the full freeze your face effect. He's hooked! He'll be going back up to Virginia in about a week with a few bottles of his new favorites tucked away in his bags.

Now for a bit of a dilema, neither of us have any idea what kind of adverse affects any of these aftershaves will have with his acne. It's not bad, he doesn't need medicine for it, but it's bothersome for him regardless. Is there anything we should know or be concerned with with him using these or any aftershaves? Or, would anyone have a recommendation for an aftershave for him to use that might help with the acne? He already uses witch hazel and sumi soap that I gave him and it's working pretty good for the most part.

I am no doctor or dermatologist but I noticed that acne comes a lot from the diet (more sweets = more pimples).

However, AS vs. Acne, I think an alcohol based AS will actually dry the pimple quicker. Witch Hazel is an excellent product too. I don't like balms anymore. I think the best way to find out is for him to use the same product on a regular basis. If he likes it and doesn't have any adverse impact, that's the answer!

Conclusion, I believe it will help the acne problem.

I wouldn't use any a/s maybe just a mild splash.

Only way to know for sure is to try it in small doses and note how his skin reacts.

My educated guess is that the AS will be somewhat good against acne as the alcohol content will help kill the surface bacteria that contributes to acne. Witch Hazel is also good for acne. I've had some decent luck with alum block as well (the "salt" creates a hostile environment for bacteria).

I can only speak for my case, but I noticed a great improvement in my overall skin health after switching to brushes, soaps, and aftershaves about 5 years ago. I can't say one step more than another helped, but I think all have a benefit. That being said, I'm 31 now so my acne is likely a bit different than his. (Seriously, where are all those people who assured me when I was 15 that it would all be over soon!) I still deal with pretty constant acne of some sort, generally nothing too noticeable to anyone other than myself. I seem to really "explode" when I have to rush a couple of days in a row and don't spend enough time rinsing with warm/hot water to remove residual lather before a cool water splash and the rest of the day's post shave routine.

@MrGuy

I fall in the same boat as you. I've had acne for, what seems to be, most my life. I was still getting major zits at 30. I'm now 41 and the acne has finally started to taper off. I'm not sure if it's because I've been wet shaving for 3 years or what. But since I've been off the goop and mach 3's, my face has been smoother and healthier than it ever has before.

+1 for the Witch Hazel

OK, heck, I'll weigh in on this.

I'm not much older than your son, and my acne problem kept up with me right up until my switch to DE shaving. I have a feeling that the chemicals in the goop-in-a-can, and all of the grimy crappy crud that collects in the dirty and dull cartridges, were aggravating the condition. Acne can be caused by a bunch of different things, and I know that bacterial infection is definitely one of them.

When I switched to DE shaving I started off with a cheap tweezer-man brush, plain glycerin soaps, a Gillette Tech, and aftershave that was a 50/50 mix of wintergreen rubbing alcohol and witch hazel. After each shave I made sure to clean the razor head and blade off with a spritz or two of the aftershave mix to kill off any stray bacteria that may have gotten on the blade. I also bought some bars of Ivory soap and starting making sure that I went to a sink and gave my face a quick wash any time it was starting to get oily.

Within 1-2 months time pretty much the whole family started commenting to me that my skin looked much better...Somebody even asked which acne eliminating super-medicine program I was on....

I don't know if you've converted him to a DE yet, and I have a feeling you either already have or have been trying, but I HIGHLY recommend it. As I mentioned above, I found that cleaning the razor and blade carefully seemed to help. Honestly, now I usually just toss the blades after one use. I'm still saving money, I recycle them, and I don't have any breakout issues anymore.

lungho said:

@MrGuy

I fall in the same boat as you. I've had acne for, what seems to be, most my life. I was still getting major zits at 30. I'm now 41 and the acne has finally started to taper off. I'm not sure if it's because I've been wet shaving for 3 years or what. But since I've been off the goop and mach 3's, my face has been smoother and healthier than it ever has before.

+1 for the Witch Hazel

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Wet shaving has made a huge difference in acne for me.

Almost never get it since switching to brushes, soaps and straights

I made a thread about this a few weeks ago, talking about my own experiences with aftershaves. I have found that consistent use of any alcohol based splash (Aqua Velva is my standard) causes the pimples to go away. So I think he's on the right track.

Especially if he is shaving with soap which also serves to dry the skin out.

A few years back when my son was in high school, he had a real bad acne problem. He had tried everything, including antibiotics that a Dermatologist prescribed. Finally took him to the family Doctor who was old school and a few years away from retirement , and the prescription was to wash his face every morning with a mild soap, and then apply an aftershave such as Mennen's, or Aqua Velva on a daily basis. After a week his face started clearing up and within a month or so his acne was only minor in comparison. My wife and I were amazed at the transformation, and all we had to do was keep him stocked up with aftershave.

vern said:

A few years back when my son was in high school, he had a real bad acne problem. He had tried everything, including antibiotics that a Dermatologist prescribed. Finally took him to the family Doctor who was old school and a few years away from retirement , and the prescription was to wash his face every morning with a mild soap, and then apply an aftershave such as Mennen's, or Aqua Velva on a daily basis. After a week his face started clearing up and within a month or so his acne was only minor in comparison. My wife and I were amazed at the transformation, and all we had to do was keep him stocked up with aftershave.

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I like this story. It's such a great example of common sense. Keep your face clean, and use an astringent daily. It will keep your face healthy.

Just my opinion but I'll give it a go,

I'm almost the same age as your son and I have had mild to moderate acne since I was about 13. After years of using medicated creams and washes with near acidic qualities in an attempt to end my acne, I realized that such harsh treatments do not work. After some research I decided to start shaving with quality products that use mainly natural ingredients. After seeing some major improvements (I rarely ever have ance anymore) I can say with confidence that these tips work (at least for me):

1. Wash your face with a mild cleanser and hot water once in the morning and once at night. Between washes use hot water only (this prevents over drying). Also, after rinsing your face with hot water use cold water to close your pores and pat dry.

2. If you shave in the morning then do not wash the areas of the face that you are going to shave (i.e. cheeks, chin, neck, ect.). This is due to the fact that shaving already removes most impurities and cleansing is not necessary.

3. Avoid products are abrasive such as scrubs. These products only aggrivate the skin more than necessary.

4. Use moisturizer. This is the tip that is often counter intuitive. Many people blame acne on oil in the skin. In reality these oils keep the skin soft and healthy. However, when these oils accumulate impurities acne ensues. Therefore, washing away old dirty oils and replacing them with clean oils found in quality moisturizers, you can achieve a balance.

5. Use witch hazel after shaving. Witch hazel is a great astringent that tones and cleanses the skin of bacteria after shaving, when the skin is most vulnerable. The best attribute of witch hazel is that it does not dry as much as alcohol.

Of course these tips are not necessarily a solution for your son, but hopefully something here could be of use. To clarify where I stand on alcohol based products, they are not for my skin. However, I have seen alcohol based AS used with ice cold water so that the pores close as the alcohol acts and skin does not give up too much moisture.

Get him an alum block. I find using it before a splash, and at night before bed has made a huge difference. Also, if he's worried about it, I know you said it was mild, but if he's like to get rid of it altogether, have him steer clear of corn syrup (I.E. soda).

I am not a doctor, but the son of a nurse, and that always seems to help for general body maintanance and care, and especially for cleansing and disinfecting (as that is such an important part of surgery prep).

Aftershaves will not increase his acne. Acne results from oil under the skin, so the application of aftershave will not create new pimples where there weren't any before.

That being said, he may have an allergic reaction to it, and get rashes (which for all intents and purposes, might as well be acne, same difference if you ask me). However, you should no by now if it causes him rashes. If he's been mixing up his usage, and rashes are developing, wait for the rashes to die down, and try sticking to just one aftershave for a week. That way you can narrow down the culprit, if there is one.

Suffice to say they all could give him rashes which is not good. The only thing to do then is hunt around for one that doesn't bother him. My father had to try a gillion aftershaves until he found one he can use (he gets irritated by it, I don't, its very strange to me).

I'd go to a dermatologist and ask them, what the most neutral aftershave ingredients are. You might find out that its XYZ that is causing the problem, and then you can look for products without XYZ. (similar to how ammonia in cleaning formulas irritates some children's lungs, necessitating the purchase of cleaners devoid of it).

Though its a shot in the dark I can give you two recommendations: I'd say the unscented aftershave that The Gentlemen's Refinery makes and the aftershave balm Hynose Homme by Lancome (I guess the incorrect spelling of L'homme, makes it easier to ask for by name? Je ne sais pas).

As far as aftershave's potential to decrease or positively influence one's acne, the chances aren't tremendous, but they aren't terrible either. Do to the fact that a lot of aftershave's contain alcohol, it will have disinfectant properties. So any infected acne would benefit, and some residue that is waiting to develop into acne could be neutralized as well.

It most likely will not influence the acne in any way. The acne will be a separate issue, the two items both occur in close proximity on the face, so one naturally worries if one could effect the other. It's a legitimate concern, but I do not believe it to be neccesary.

You'd be far worse to hack up your face and just leave it, rather than using cold water (applied to the face from a wet towel) and aftershave to seal up the minor nicks.

On a personal note, I've found alum blocks helpful in removing blemishes. A barber once noticed a bulbous infection on my forehead, and applied alum block to it.

Acne is one of those things that is really hard to get rid of, but if he takes good care of his face (by shaving correctly with quality equipment) and washes his hair, he'll be better off. The other option is to grow a full beard that covers his face, but he's too young for that methinks. Furthermore, the oil from the hair will just increase the acne problem (it increased it on me, and I don't have an acne problem, well I do now, facial hair is such an oily beast, so yeah its best to avoid it).

To summarize the act of shaving should help acne. He's removing oily hair follicles (that's not a put down, everyone's facial hair follicles are oily, its just how it goes), and he's applying facial cleansing products to his face. Granted they will not be as effective as products specifically designed for acne, but you weren't expecting them to be.

The final point, is that acne or no acne, the potential for it is increased when one has open cuts on one's face. That's the way infections spread, open sores, and well acne is not really an infection, it works the same way, by building up in open areas (pores).

THIS IS MY SUGGESTION if he wants the best performance out of his aftershave:

If he wants to help reduce the open areas of his face after shaving he should take a face cloth (wash cloth) dripping with freezing water, and apply it to his face for ten seconds (it helps if he says Alaska before he does it, so he laughs and the shock isn't so noticeable), then he should apply an alum block and/or an aftershave (Proraso splash perhaps?) Finally he should try not to touch his face after he shaves. (THESE Last three tips are from the best barber I know, right down to the brand of aftershave he uses).

Bottom line: is that it won't make the acne worse, however it might make other things worse (rashes and what not, which he didn't have before). It would be really wacktacular if someone made an aftershave from dead skin cells and acne juice, and that's the only way I'd see it reinforcing the existing problem. I'm just harping on this, because razor bumps, and facial rashes, or even rosacea all look uncannily alike, and if you try to treat one like the other who'll only get more frustrated (ah how come this acne cream is only getting half the acne, why is this aftershave only reducing half the bumps?, I'm 18, I have things to do, I can't spend all this time in the bathroom!)

So short answer: No it won't increase acne, but it can marginally help to decrease it, but has the potential to induce something very similar to acne.

I hope this helps.

Well, I suffer from adult acne myself. I also shave every other day with the usual Cella, splash some witch hazel on, and later in the day I still wash my face with Yardley, and apply benzoyl peroxide to my face for my acne. I counter all the drying effects by applying Nivea creme to my face before bed every night. So basically, if he gets a good moisturizer he should be fine.

trey45....get your son an old fashioned bottle of SEA BREEZE to use as an aftershave until the acne heals up,a fresh pure cotton pillowcase changed every night or at least every other night helps,a lot of oil from hair creeps into the case and rubs it back into the face...sea breeze is cheap and good

I believe the alcohol does help reduce the bacteria associated with acne, it will dry the skin out a little which can lead to the skin over producing oil. A quality oil free moisturizer applied after the AS will help to balance the skin.

Trey45 said:

Or, would anyone have a recommendation for an aftershave for him to use that might help with the acne? He already uses witch hazel and sumi soap that I gave him and it's working pretty good for the most part.

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I know that some doctors prescribe a solution of salicylic acid in alcohol for sufferers from acne. If you feel like a bit of experimentation, try spiking a bottle of AS with this chemical and see how his skin likes that .

I have not had severe acne but had regular zits for a while. I went to a dermatologist and got my face clear for my wedding (9 years ago) but had one or two zits regularly after a few years past when I stopped the treatments. Since I have started wetshaving, my face has been clear most of the time, with only a single, rare zit. I don't know if it's the soap, the blades (keeping old/dead skin off) or the alcohol splashes, but something is benefiting my face beyond shave closeness.