Last ditch attempt re: neck bumps and ingrown hairs

18 months into wet shaving after being a career cartridge guy, I'm about to give up and grow a neck beard.

Attached are two photos 36 hours after shaving yesterday morning. Also attached is one photo taken right after shaving. You can see that my neck improves after not shaving, although underneath that stubble, there is a lot of irritation. It looks significantly worse when clean shaven (see the photo where I'm wearing a white t-shirt). There's also about a gallon of Anthony Logistics Ingrown Hair Treatment and assorted other Bump Patrol goo type things burning into my skin right now.

I simply cannot tame the red bumps on my neck that appear to be ingrown hairs and red bumps near the bottom of my neck. I've tried every variable with some to no success, including:

- cold water prep
- Kyle's prep
- mild razor, mild blade
- mild razor, sharp blade
- Every blade from A-Z with a super-light touch
- Sensitive creams and soaps
- pre-shave oil(s)
- Anthony Logistics ingrown hair treatment, Bump Patrol, Tend Skin
- Alum
- Witch hazel, with and without alcohol
- face mapping
- Neck stretching
- tweezing
- one pass WTG
- one pass XTG
- Every SE razor; several DE razors (Slant, DE89L, SS and Adjustable); several Injectors

The only thing I haven't tried yet is going very aggressive (like 8 on the adjustable) with a Feather. It seems counterintuitive, but maybe not.

I'm a white guy with kinky Jewish hair (on my face and body, anyway), but when I got a straight razor shave from my barber friend, she said she's never seen as many ingrown hairs as mine. Great.

Next step (if I can't come up with something) is going to a dermatologist for some sort of industrial solution. But really, what kind of acid can he/she prescribe that I haven't already spread on my neck??

Please, please help.

Have you tired a Merkur open comb? I have a 12C and it gives a close shave, but not SUPER close. Ingrown hairs are from a BBS shave where whiskers get trapped under the skin when they try to grow back out. The open comb Merkur never cut them quite that short for me. It might be worth a try. The other option of course is simply no going ATG any longer. I would give an open comb Merkur a try.

Also...I have very sensitive skin and I have found that preshave oil, ingrown treatments, etc. make it all worse. You may want to cool it on all that. Stick to witch hazel and alum block for a while.

Good grief you have some unhappy looking skin!

Possible any of it is allergic reaction as well? Do you suffer allergies? Just a thought.

Looks like you need to give your skin a break for a bit and retry step by step to see if it is one or many things making it so hard. I feel for ya!

I am a lifelong allergy sufferer and had eczema as a kid, but never on my face. Pretty sure my skin is quite sensitive.

Nobody said:

Good grief you have some unhappy looking skin!

Possible any of it is allergic reaction as well? Do you suffer allergies? Just a thought.

Looks like you need to give your skin a break for a bit and retry step by step to see if it is one or many things making it so hard. I feel for ya!

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That is exactly why I suggested only using the witch hazel and alum block. TOO MUCH PRODUCT! May be an allergy from all of the chemical bump fighters soaking into his skin.....

I get a few ingrowns here and there, but DE shaving has tamed it greatly. Having said that, I still constantly research ways to completely rid myself of them. The single most thing that has helped me the most is the use of Cetaphil FACE cleanser and Baxters face cleaner. The DE shaving reduced my ingrowns by about 75% but the Cetaphil and/or Baxters face cleanseer vs. regular soap has essentially made up for the remaining 25%. Sure, I still get the occasional ingrown but I attribute that to a dull blade or a rushed shave day.

Matt555 said:

That is exactly why I suggested only using the witch hazel and alum block. TOO MUCH PRODUCT! May be an allergy from all of the chemical bump fighters soaking into his skin.....

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking. My skin is way sensitive to a LOT of products and if I get even the tiniest abrasion, the skin swells in less than a minute and can stay that way for several days. Voila, hair is under skin and may become ingrown, not to mention infected, which complicates the matter further!

Yader, might you try to approach it from the standpoint of eliminating potential irritants and getting the skin healed up? That would be as close to hypoallergenic products and carefully sterilized equipment as possible. I've a somewhat similar growth pattern in the same areas. Getting that area BBS or even close is never on my to-do list. With all the differing growth angles that can be a literal pain.

I could certainly try the simplifying approach. In terms of face wash, I use Neutrogena Men Razor Defense Face Scrub. Maybe something more abrasive is in order?

yaderhey said:

I could certainly try the simplifying approach. In terms of face wash, I use Neutrogena Men Razor Defense Face Scrub. Maybe something more abrasive is in order?

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I would say you should use something much more gentle vs. abrasive.

How 'bout simpler like plain unscented soap? There's lot of chemicals in most shaving products. Have a look at the product and see how much potential toxic waste is in it. How would you know if you are sensitive to one or the other? It seems similar to trying to detect a food allergy. But, y'know, it's just a hypothesis that allergic reaction may be contributing.

yaderhey said:

I could certainly try the simplifying approach. In terms of face wash, I use Neutrogena Men Razor Defense Face Scrub. Maybe something more abrasive is in order?

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More abrasive like what? Simplifying is a better idea. If you're using a shaving brush, you shouldn't need any scrubs. You might be over scrubbing, and over stretching. Here's my recommendation:

1. Let your face heal by not shaving for at least couple of days and exfoliate so the ingrown hair can appear above surface of the skin. Use tweezers if you have to. Make sure to disinfect the tweezers first.

2. Once your face is healed and you don't have ingrowns, shave by washing face, leaving it wet, applying lather with a brush, leave for about 3-4 minutes, reapply lather and shave in three pass of WTG, XTG and ATG without applying pressure.. It's OK if you don't get a BBS.

3. Rinse well with warm water, especially the neck and jawline. Make sure that you wash all of the lather off.

4. Rinse with cold water.

5. Apply witch hazel.

6. If necessary apply a face moisturizer or an aftershave balm.

7. Rinse razor and dip into alcohol for a few seconds and let air dry. That is it.

You do this for a week, you should see improvement.

Prep/post aside ... do you think I should go with an aggressive razor setting with aggressive blade like the Feather?

When I set the Gillette Adjustable to a 2 and did a single pass with a 7 O'Clock Yellow, the bumps were no better and my neck was visibly stubbly.

yaderhey said:

Prep/post aside ... do you think I should go with an aggressive razor setting with aggressive blade like the Feather?

When I set the Gillette Adjustable to a 2 and did a single pass with a 7 O'Clock Yellow, the bumps were no better and my neck was visibly stubbly.

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I would not recommend you go aggressive. Start with a low setting and slowing work your way up. Feather vs. other blades---I don't think feathers are the beast everyone makes them out to be. Just remember to use a fresh blade as often as possible. I find that I only get 2-3 shaves max out of a blade before they dull enough to cause ingrowns. IMHO, the guys that get 6-7 shaves a blade don't have problems with ingrowns.

yaderhey said:

Prep/post aside ... do you think I should go with an aggressive razor setting with aggressive blade like the Feather?

When I set the Gillette Adjustable to a 2 and did a single pass with a 7 O'Clock Yellow, the bumps were no better and my neck was visibly stubbly.

Click to expand...

I have a coarse, wiry beard and aggressive razors work much better for me. I find aggressive razors to be more efficient. The main problem I had with milder razors was that it was more difficult to get the right angle on the neck and jawline, causing me to go over repeatedly on the same area. So the answer is Yes! I recommend them. The best razor I've ever used is a Muhle R41 (2011 design). You can get one on BST or from Connaughtshaving, or Traditionalshaving for about $35 shipped. I don't get along with Feather DE blades so I can't recommend them. I can only get one good shave out of them. My favorite blades are Personna RP and Astra SP. They are sharp, smooth and durable. If you don't have them, let me know via PM and I'll be happy to send you some.

yaderhey said:

Prep/post aside ... do you think I should go with an aggressive razor setting with aggressive blade like the Feather?

When I set the Gillette Adjustable to a 2 and did a single pass with a 7 O'Clock Yellow, the bumps were no better and my neck was visibly stubbly.

Click to expand...

Until you get the skin healed it might not be the best idea. A few times I've actually had to stop shaving for a week so the trouble wouldn't be compounded by shaving over irritated skin. Beyond that, yes an aggressive razor used very delicately may serve you well. Emphasis on "used delicately". My goal during a shave is to get to the end and throw the AS on for no burn from the alcohol. If it doesn't burn, the epidermis hasn't been breached and no irritation follows. At least it works that way for me. It's also why I tend towards an OCMM or adjustable set as high as it will go. Again, used delicately. And who cares about BBS on the trouble areas? Feathers, incidentally, may or may not work well. Some experimentation might be in order. My preference leans more towards blades which flex a little less than the feather. Personal taste and what works for you wins.

I would try a less aggressive razor like an EJDE and less pressure. I had the same issues as yourself.

Your neck looks exactly like mine from a few weeks ago. Mine simply will not tolerate being shaved in any direction! What finally solved my problem, was a Bump Fighter razor. You can get them at walmart for a few bucks. They are over in the ethnic haircare section. You wont be baby smooth with this razor, but it gets it dang close, with no ingrowns. As always YMMV.

yaderhey said:

It's funny. I feel like I had peaked in my wet shaving routine a few months ago, to the point that it was getting a little boring. I was alternating between the OCMM, G-Bar, DE89L and Slant with ease. My neck problems seemed to be fading away. But now they've returned; worse than when I used a Gillette Mach 3 and can of goo. I almost wonder if another factor is at work here.

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That's a possibility as well. It could be bacteria, fungus or whatnot which are living on or around your shaving gear. I had that happen once. Mighty unpleasant. Everything got disinfected just as soon as I figured it out. You might try dabbing on a drop of eucalyptus oil a couple times a day. If that helps, then it may be bacterial or the like. I've also known people who developed sensitivities to chemicals over time and exposure. Sure hope you get it figured out!