Do some aftershaves give less acne/iritation than others?

While I love the scent and feeling of alcohol, especially if my skin is already dry I notice I tend to get more acne with it post shave. It irritates the skins and greates some pimples, as in shaving pimples. Alum block which I started to use this year, I can swear by it, doesn't excessive dry, shuts pores, makes my skin feel smooth. Allows for post shave oil.

Your experiences?

Try some Bay Rum.

Brasso said:

Try some Bay Rum.

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I have slightly better than the rest, but makes my skin oily/sweaty.

I've always had terrible trouble with acne (did two courses of Accutane before they stopped distributing it in the US), but I very rarely have even the occasional blemish since I started using Aqua Velva Ice Blue. It may also help that I use a 10% benzoyl peroxide face wash twice a day. No problems with dry or oily skin though.

Razorock Evil Eye

Very moisturizing, just enough alcohol to do what it's supposed to do, great scent, natural ingredient list, all around awesome stuff. It's a lime scent, but they also have lavender (King Louis) and Eucalyptus (888)

Joe from IB.com actually told me in an email that he specifically designed this stuff for himself as he suffered/suffers from acne, and it is by far my best performing aftershave. I ant recommend this stuff highly enough.

I've been using Tend Skin and it's been decimating redness and acne. I used to get little white heads under my lip and on the corners of my mouth, and the occasional red irritated pimple on my jawline, but the alcohol+salycylic acid in Tend Skin clears everything up.

I'll look at my face in the mirror 15 minutes after I've put it on and be like "wow where did all the spots go?"

BUT if your skin is dry you can't just use an alcohol splash and be done. You have to follow up with some kind of moisturizer too. Otherwise it's going to be even more dry, could get cracks that can become infected and turn into pimples, and will over-compensate by producing even more oil. It seems counter-productive, but using a moisturizer actually makes your face produce less oil.

I was fighting adolescent skin problems at the time I started shaving. I was using an astringent named "Sea Breeze", along with Clearasil and antibacterial soaps (I preferred Ivory to shave with in those days, before my first can of aerosol foam). A neighbor (a lovely redheaded girl) was using straight Dickinson's WH or a Rexall drugstore house brand, and her skin was really cleared up.

I followed her lead, and used the Witch Hazel several times a day. There were a couple of other less frequently applied products, still, including one in a similar jar to Noxzema's blue glass, some kind of medicated pad, and I think those are still around -- were those called Stridex?

Everywhere I was shaving, very quickly came under control. My forehead, near my hairline, and the tops of my shoulders, those places took longer to settle down.

Talk about a YMMV topic. I think this one is at the top. It's all about your skin type. I know people who have skin that will not tolerate the smallest amount of alcohol. My skin is so oily, and my pores and hair follicles are so large that my skin will not tolerate lotions or balms.

zetsui said:

While I love the scent and feeling of alcohol, especially if my skin is already dry I notice I tend to get more acne with it post shave. It irritates the skins and greates some pimples, as in shaving pimples.

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Are you sure it's acne and not ingrowns?

gwsmallwood said:

It's all about your skin type.

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^ This. It's not just a matter of the AS but what works with an individual's skin.

I find that alcohol AS won't cause issues but balms are very prone to causing bumps.

takeshi said:

Are you sure it's acne and not ingrowns?


^ This. It's not just a matter of the AS but what works with an individual's skin.

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little bupms, no puss just some trapped sweat. usually carefully pop them and no scars left

Be sure to give your face a really good rinse (or two - hot then cold, if you like) after shaving to be sure all the lather is gone. I always apply witch hazel after that rinse, dry my razor and then run an alum block on my face, clean my brush, do another cold rinse and then apply either balm or aftershave. I found most of my "acne" issues seemed to be the result of lather residue.