Razor burn and bloody neck

Hey guys, I have a couple of questions and would love some advice. I've been DE shaving for about a week with the Merkur Progress.

1) So far, on both my cheeks I have getting small red bumps. Is this razor burn, and how do I address this issue?

2) No matter how slowly and gently I shave my neck, I am persistently getting small bloody spots all over my neck. How do I address this issue.

3) In terms of the razor itself, I'm not sure how to use the adjustment. I think you turn the white knob all the way clockwise (on my razor this is a 1), and then adjust up from there. Is this correct? What is the best setting to have the most comfortable shave?

Thanks in advance.

OSUbuck said:

Hey guys, I have a couple of questions and would love some advice. I've been DE shaving for about a week with the Merkur Progress.

1) So far, on both my cheeks I have getting small red bumps. Is this razor burn, and how do I address this issue?

2) No matter how slowly and gently I shave my neck, I am persistently getting small bloody spots all over my neck. How do I address this issue.

3) In terms of the razor itself, I'm not sure how to use the adjustment. I think you turn the white knob all the way clockwise (on my razor this is a 1), and then adjust up from there. Is this correct? What is the best setting to have the most comfortable shave?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

1) Ingrowns would be the right term I think. Too much pressure, let the razor and blade do the work. Lock your wrists and make sure you let the razor slide at a 30 degree angle to cut the whiskers.

Also, your prep and lather could be one of the cause, if not done properly, they can influence the shave in a very bad way. Make sure that you warm up the skin with a hot shower or Kyle's prep. The tutorials should help you for your lather.
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/How_to_pre-shave_prep
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Lathers

2)Again, I think too much pressure, speed is probably not the issue...

3) I never used a Merkur Progress so I can't help on that one. This thread however could give you a hint... http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=121450

Yep, You you have a case of razor burn. I would stop shaving for a couple days and get a shaving cream for sensitive skin for starters. I just ordered the white tub of Proraso and you might want to try something similar. Also it sounds like you are making too many passes and trying to get your shave too close as a beginner. What blades are you using? Are you making sure you have a lather down for each pass? Each face is different. After your face clears up try making a single pass on 3 and don't try for the perfect shave right off. If it doesn't look patchy then quit there. after the second pass your working on razor burn I think. Also stay with the grain and don't go against it if you don't have to. Order a variety pack of blades and try different ones. You'll do better with one blade than I will and vice versa. Others will chime in with their opinions as well but its a start.

Agree with the comments offered about too much pressure with the razor as a possible culprit for the burn. Let the weight of the razor do the work as you maintain the angle. The tutorials can be a big help and will give some good direction on the basics that will form a good foundation for you to build technique on. Take your time and be patient while you learn the process. Your will see improvement over time and come to enjoy wet shaving.

I'm new to DE shaving as well... the first couple days I also noticed red bumps on my lower neck. I found that the grain of the hairs on the lowest part of my neck are in a completely different direction than the rest of my beard and that to go WTG on that area of my neck I have to shave almost horizontally from chin to ear direction. By doing this I am able to avoid burn and the red bumps in this area.

Run your hands over that part of your beard and see if you can tell if you need to shave a different way to go WTG there. This may or may not be the answer but I thought I would suggest it as it worked for me.

You have to be careful with DE shaving is to make sure you are not putting any pressure on the blade. Let the weight of the razor do the work. To assure this I use two fingers and my thumb to hold the razor very lightly. I hold it as lightly as I can without it falling from my hand.

With the Progress, turn the blade as far as you can (if you are holding the razor in your hand upright, you turn to the left). Then you can turn it to 1, which is fairly mild. One thing to be careful of, some of the Progress razors may be more aggressive than other because they are not as accurate as they should be with respect to settings. [That is why I sent my Progress into Eric to convert it to a Mergress.] However, if you let up on the pressure you should be OK.

What blade are you using and more importantly what part of Ohio are you from?

All good points mentioned so far.

I would add this: Two links that helped me immensely. You can't use one without the other, I don't think anyway, your results may vary.

The first link is from Mantic went to Las Vegas and had a shave from a Master Barber from Truefitt and Hill. He, the barber, includes tips and advice as he shaves Mantic.

The other is from doesnotcompute where he started a great thread about blade angle.

After I looked at both items, I took the blade out of my razor and ran my finger (the fleshy side) from the top of the cap down to the safety bar; noting all the while the relationship between the two. And the distance between the safety bar and where the blade would be. I found that to be tremendously insightful.

Duggo's link to the blade angle thread got jacked up. Here's the correct one:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=130110

Thanks Fluffman for the post. I fixed the link.

Drybonz said:

Run your hands over that part of your beard and see if you can tell if you need to shave a different way to go WTG there. This may or may not be the answer but I thought I would suggest it as it worked for me.

Click to expand...

+1 the biggest trick to figuring out my neck was really understanding what direction the grain went (east to west not north to south). Once I got that down it just took a little practice and my neck is mostly better. If the skin on your neck is really torn up you might give it a couple days rest or cut down on the number of passes you do over that area.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

instpasr said:

What blade are you using and more importantly what part of Ohio are you from?

Click to expand...

I'm from Beachwood in the Cleveland area, but I went to Ohio State. Go Bucks!

I'm relatively new to wetshaving with a de too, and recently had one of the worst shaves of my life. Amateur mistake, I shaved over previous razor burn. Ouch.
Anyway, looked through Mantic's vids and found a neat trick to deal with ingrown hairs. Thought i'd adapt it a little. I powdered a couple of dispersible aspirin into my Nivea extra soothing balm, and left the mix on for ten minutes. Seems to really have helped with the inflamation and tenderness. Might not be a great idea for people with dry skin though-i've heard salyclic acid is pretty good at drying you out if not used with a moisturiser.
Let me know your thoughts

One suggestion I would like to make is what setting do you have your progress on? (If I sound patronising, sorry)

When I got my mergress (same razor except its been modified) I started off on a 2 so I could get used to the razor.. after a week I took it to a 3 (equivalent of a merkur hd barberpole) and found no irritation, although I agree with everyone above, no presure and let the razor do the work.

I have taken it to 4 and use that when I need bbs for important meetings and the like but never to 5 lthough I'll get there eventually

OSUbuck said:

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.



I'm from Beachwood in the Cleveland area, but I went to Ohio State. Go Bucks!

Click to expand...

I'm from Champion in the Warren area so we're pretty close. Kent State man myself but life time Bucks fan, shame what we had to do to Miami this weekend huh. Not!

OSUbuck said:

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.



I'm from Beachwood in the Cleveland area, but I went to Ohio State. Go Bucks!

Click to expand...

Welcome from Lakewood (B-W & Case Western Reserve)!

Hercule

Absolutely, the Bucks looked great, and so did the Browns in the first half until the Delhomme interception led to the team meltdown.