RED spots on my neck ~ What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing wrong? Lately, I always get red spots on my neck and under my chin after a 3 pass WTG, XTG, ATG.

I'm fairly newto DE shavers, and had been using Walgreens blades in my Schick Krona. Today I used LORD Super Stainless, and while it gave more feedback (I could hear each hair getting sheared), I still have my under chin redness issues.

The hair on that part of my face lays WAAAAYY down, almost flat with the skin, so the WTG and XTG passes don't reduce it much. Eliminating the ATG pass isn't an option.

Strangely, if I let it grow for 3 days, I can go ATG with no irritation.

A couple things: I find that the Lord blades (Lord, Shark, etc.) don't agree with my face. They provide an "Ok" shave but they don't give me personally the most comfortable path to get there. But, as always, YMMV. Just pointing out that if your technique is solid it may be a factor.

Next, is your technique solid? Good lather, blade angle, pressure are all very important and if I let any slide I can expect discomfort.

Finally, I have also found that if I give my neck extra attention with the brush, meaning spend more time lathering which helps raise my beard as well as ultra-preps this area it helps a great deal. I may spend as much as 2x the time lathering my neck as my face by way of example. I also choke up on the brush, gripping the base of the bristles to ensure that I really get maximum "treatment".

Good luck!

Eliminating the ATG pass is ALWAYS an option. Aim for consistently smooth, irritation free shaves for now, worry about closeness later. Maybe try 2 XTGs in the opposite direction?

Red bumps can mean anything - pressure, angle, incorrect grain mapping, weak lather, bad blades. You need to really focus on fundamentals on your neck, that's where any weakness in your routine, products or skills always shows itself.

If you're pretty new into DE, are you holding the razor at the correct angle & applying the correct amount of pressure? It sounds to me like you're bearing down too much, and the curvature of that part of the face suggests a possible blade-angle issue as well.

How are you prepping for the shave, BTW?

So does it mean an incorrect blade angle can cause irritation in itself even if you are applying minimal pressure?

I thought that with a less-than-optimal blade angle the whiskers just remain uncut and the irritation comes from the fact that you consequently have to do more passes?

apino said:

So does it mean an incorrect blade angle can cause irritation in itself even if you are applying minimal pressure?

I thought that with a less-than-optimal blade angle the whiskers just remain uncut and the irritation comes from the fact that you consequently have to do more passes?

Click to expand...

The blade can actually scrape your skin if too steep with the incorrect angle vs. cut your beard. Very uncomfortable post shave.

Too shallow and you just scrape lather around...

apino said:

So does it mean an incorrect blade angle can cause irritation in itself even if you are applying minimal pressure?

I thought that with a less-than-optimal blade angle the whiskers just remain uncut and the irritation comes from the fact that you consequently have to do more passes?

Click to expand...

You are correct, but think instead of what happens when you use more than optimal angle!

Go West Young Man said:

Eliminating the ATG pass is ALWAYS an option. Aim for consistently smooth, irritation free shaves for now, worry about closeness later. Maybe try 2 XTGs in the opposite direction?

Red bumps can mean anything - pressure, angle, incorrect grain mapping, weak lather, bad blades. You need to really focus on fundamentals on your neck, that's where any weakness in your routine, products or skills always shows itself.

Click to expand...

+1

For your angle, look at this post: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=130110
For your lather, look at this page: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Lathers

I got rid of the red spots on my neck by using an adjustable razor (Gillette Super Adjustable) turned down to a mild setting for going ATG.

Maybe its the angle of your razor? Remember do not put too much pressure on the skin. let the razor do the work.

kwsher said:

I have also found that if I give my neck extra attention with the brush, meaning spend more time lathering which helps raise my beard as well as ultra-preps this area it helps a great deal. I may spend as much as 2x the time lathering my neck as my face by way of example. I also choke up on the brush, gripping the base of the bristles to ensure that I really get maximum "treatment".

Good luck!

Click to expand...

+1 I have problems with oddly growing hairs on my neck and found spending more time with the brush there helps raise the hairs and soften it a bit. Been doing this the past couple of months and been working fine.

Also with my neck as it grows in all directions, even the slightest bit of ATG will cause irritation if the hair isn't super short, so I find I have to do maybe 3 or 4 WTG/XTG passes on that area to get the hair short enough to go ATG with no irritation

Go West Young Man said:

Eliminating the ATG pass is ALWAYS an option. Aim for consistently smooth, irritation free shaves for now, worry about closeness later. Maybe try 2 XTGs in the opposite direction?

Red bumps can mean anything - pressure, angle, incorrect grain mapping, weak lather, bad blades. You need to really focus on fundamentals on your neck, that's where any weakness in your routine, products or skills always shows itself.

Click to expand...

+1.
If you start changing routine/hardware/software only do one variable at a time. Much easier to narrow down the culprit.