The horrific reality that is RAZOR BURN

Okay so I am fairly new into the wet shaving world and love it however I still can not get away from the dreaded razor burn. I have 2 DE'S = EJ DE89 & Cadet OC. The open comb gives a close shave under the neck but can tear up my face if I use it ATG. EJ is nice but still I aquire razor burn after the shave. And the razor burn is ALWAYS under the neck. I usually use feathers/kais/or gillette blacks. So I have a few questions that I am hoping someone in the community can help me out with.

1. Should I just go WTG and stop? (Just deal with the little stubble left there?)
2. Should I use a less sharp blade? (Maybe something that's more smooth than sharp?)
3. Are there any products that get rid of the bright red neck?

Thank you all in advance for the information and input

use little to no pressure. only go ATG if you have to.
i still get the burn when i DE. but never when i str8 shave. pretty much a no brainer for me then, huh?

Sharper blade is better. A less-sharp blade will tend to pull and jump, and will create the urge to use more pressure, which is what you don't want.
Pressure, or excessive passes/buffing is normally the cause of burn, however, there is one thing that bit me...

Product sensitivity.

Some people are sensitive to the essential oils that are used in Sandalwood scented products.
Personally, I can not use glycerin/"melt and pour" type soaps. I'm okay for a day or so, but if I use the same product for 3 days, my face lights up like a traffic light. It looks and feels like sunburn or razorburn. My wife even asked if my razor needed honing. I was fine when I went to bed (I shave at night) but when I got up the next morning, my skin was tight and sore and she noticed the redness.

Carefully examine your products. Perhaps use the same products, but go back to carts or an electric to narrow down the source of the irritation being a true razor burn, or from a chemical issue.

Try proraso white soap for sensitive skin. And mabye an alum block. That really helped me with razor burns. After my tecnique got better, i dont need alom after every shave.

When starting out, I used the Merkur 34c and Wilkinson Blades from Walmart. I would also do only one pass WTG to start. Once I got the handle on that, I started adding more passes and other blades. I never cut myself or had razor burns for the first few months. Now I do, but it's because I am going with more aggressive blades and razors.

Assuming you're not sensitive a particular product, the most common cause of razor burn is pressure. Make sure you are truly going WTG. Parts of my neck are N-S and parts S-N for a WTG pass, so make sure to carefully map it out. On the bottom of my neck I often do 2 WTG passes, but use a "Gilette Slide" technique in opposite directions before the ATG. I can't really do a true XTG there with a straight

I know that when we start we think we're not using any pressure, but old habits are hard to break! Visualize trying to remove the lather with the blade without touching the skin. That's how much pressure you need. Let the blade do it's work.

Good advice in these posts. You might want to use an aftershave balm. I like Trumper's Coral Skin Food. A couple of days off to give your face time to heal might help. Your shaves will get better. Welcome to B&B.

Steve

One thing to check might be your lather. It takes a fair amount of time to make really good lather.
If your lather is lacking, the rest of it doesn't matter much.

Are you applying much pressure when you shave? From my experience if I have a good weighted razor (2.5+ ounces) I really don't need to use any pressure at all and still get a BBS shave and zero irritation with 2 passes WTG and ATG. Just glide it and let the weight of the razor do all the work.

Just go for a great shave and not a BBS.
Try some other blades as these may not be suited to you.
Unrefined Shea Butter to help with the irritation.

I'm not sure it's a product allergy. The OP is suffering from burn in the neck area only. Maybe that patch of skin exhibits an allergy while the face doesn't, but I don't think that's the case. It's harder to shave here, so you subconsciously increase pressure. And because the angles are trickier, you have to be careful with blade angle. Where your jaw meets your throat, the skin goes from near horizontal to near vertical. On a N-S pass, if you don't change your angle sufficiently, you'll scrape the throat area. So I'm thinking it's pressure and angle.

I also think the blade might be a problem. Kais and Feathers are not the most forgiving. Perhaps switching to a milder blade until technique is perfected might be in order.

celestino said:

Just go for a great shave and not a BBS.
Try some other blades as these may not be suited to you.
Unrefined Shea Butter to help with the irritation.

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+1

1. Should I just go WTG and stop? (Just deal with the little stubble left there?)
Might be best until you have your method down to the point where you are not burning your neck. Above posts mention blade pressure -- worth following.


2. Should I use a less sharp blade? (Maybe something that's more smooth than sharp?)
YMMV - sharp blades can travel through coarse hair easier, but may still cause discomfort. Get a sampler pack and try 2 3 shave per brand and see.

3. Are there any products that get rid of the bright red neck?
There are shave balms and stuff you can get. For burns I used lots of cold water rinsing. On a couple of occasions I made a "balm" by grinding aspirin into some water and witch hazel and applying it to the burn -- works fine actually.


The neck area is difficult as the skin is not as smooth as above the chin and the hair growth is not uniform in direction. Map the hair growth and try to have the razor move with the grain of this growth with minimum pressure.

Used Osage Rub last night just to cool the burn after work (Just because it was driving me nuts). To my surprise, it took away most of the bright red color on the skin. Followed that up with some shea butter. This morning almost all of the razor burn is gone

As for next time, I am going with a milder blade (Astra) and trying just one pass WTG. When the hair grows back in I'm going to attempt to map it out (might even go scientific with the research and take pictures that I can upload to my PC and literally draw the growth path out) Also I am going to try some preshave oil as I had success in the past with closer smoother shaves. I think I learned my lesson in regards to breaking good habits in the interest of time. Thank you gentlemen for all of your responses. All this for shaving perfection haha!

strop said:

Visualize trying to remove the lather with the blade without touching the skin. That's how much pressure you need. Let the blade do its work.

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Great advice! I've finally come to appreciate the importance of knowing when to put the razor down, too. Do your best, but stop if you've done four passes. That's plenty, and many here may counsel it's too much. Enjoy your shaves!

I have found that Aloe Vera gel (aka sunburn gel) does well to soothe razor burn. If I get a bit aggressive I'll rub in some AV in between witch hazel and an aftershave balm.

I really over-did it yesterday. I got my worst case of razor burn ever on my neck. At first I thought it was an allergic reaction to the Nivea aftershave balm that I used, but upon reflection it appears to be a case of too many passes and/or too much pressure.

Thankfully, my wife has some aloe vera gel. That stuff works wonders!

Have you tried a little shaving oil before the lather....completely stopped the problem for me....