How to prevent razor burn

Hi all.

I'm of the African American race and I really enjoy shaving. My skin tone is a light brown. I like to shave everyday to every other day ,but recently I find myself shaving every 3-4 days just so I can get a smoother shave. Maybe I need to change my blades more frequently. Anyway, I went to a family reunion and saw a picture someone took of me and I saw how dark my face and neck was where I shave and I didn't shave for 2 months just to get my skin tone to even out. It's stating to happen again as I'm trying out some new creams I haven't tried before and I don't want to wait 4 days to try a new cream or to use one that I really like again. Any suggestions? I can't always see under lather to get wiskers and I don't pull my skin to get them either. Maybe an alum block or changing blades more frequently. Any suggestions?

I'm not African American, but I do have some pretty ridiculously coarse beard hair. I too find it much easier to shave if I skip a day or two. In my experience, I think prep work will make a much bigger difference than blades or razors will. Try some Kyle prep if you haven't yet. Also make sure you are using moisturizers, and consider trying a few pre-shave products just to see if they help at all. Pre-Shave moisturizing seems to make the biggest difference for me if I'm trying to shave daily.

Whats's your set up. Blades, razor. prep etc?

I had the same problem, could only shave every couple days. I would highly suggest you pick up some good Gillette blades, try out some Yellows, Blacks, the Gillette Platinums, or Polsilvers, those are some really good blades. I would also suggest to use them for no more than 1-3 shaves, I actually only use mine 1 or 2 shaves. I have such sensitive skin and what Ive found helped me was using a really good blade, changing it often, and using an adjustable razor. Once I started using the Merkur Progress and using different settings for the different parts of my face, I could then start to shave everyday. Ive found out that some areas of my face just need a different level in aggression, such as my neck and upper lip. The other really big part to my success was using Nivea sensitive cream. That stuff is wonderful, I actually use the canned gel too and believe it or not this stuff is a really good product, and it does not resemble anything close to canned goo. Ive tried so many high end products but nothing would work for me as good as that Nivea. I wash my face with hot water and a good facial soap, then apply the Nivea, after that I go over the cream with wetted fingers and thin it out. A lather that is thinner and has more water has also really helped with the razor gliding across my skin. A good hot face bath, an adjustable razor with a good blade, and then using a lower setting for the more sensitive areas of the face, and then also a good cream for sensitive skin. I would also suggest to try shaving in the evening rather than morning if you are getting irritation, I know you would rather shave and have no irritation in the first place, but if you still get some redness after shaving and then shave in the evening by morning your skin will look better and most of the redness will have faded away. Well I wish you the best of luck and hope you get your irritation problems resolved.

Razor burn usually comes from putting pressure on the blade. So I would take another look at the basics: prep, pressure, and blade angle.

I'm not African American either. In fact, not American in any sense of the word. But here's what works for me:
Very mild face wash.
Hot towel or shower.
Preshave oil.
Light pressure on the razor
Plan your shaving so you don't drag the razor over the same area more than absolutely necessary.
Take your time.
Cold water rinse.
Alum block.
Aloe vera gel.
After shave balm.

I thought this sounded like red blotches I get, but Google says no, if you're African-american you can get "post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation" which can be exacerbated by sun exposure. So I'd be looking for salicylic acid and sunscreen in my balm. Thinking outside the box, shave at night and do a pepto bismol mask after shaving instead of astringent, followed by "psoriasis" cream from Dollar Tree.

Things turned around for my neck when I got a TTO. Better for buffing. A steep blade angle picks off flat-lying neck hairs.

I recently started using grape seed oil (GSO) as a pre-shave - an idea that I adopted from a member here at B&B. I had always used Proraso sensitive pre-shave, even in my cartridge shaving days. I apply 6-8 drops of GSO after a shower/facewash before I apply lather. The GSO takes comfort and glide a few steps further than Proraso pre-shave. I barely need after shave balm or post shave moisturizer. In addition, its a very light oil that doesn't clog my razor (Merkur 39C) or give me acne. My skin looks and feels better since using the GSO (4 shaves now) and ZERO razor burn.

What mblakele said is right on in my opinion...

white male here but had some razor burn problems early on and found out only using new blades a couple times and then chuck them, light pressure and nivea sensitive shave balm helped.. I'm on to one more thing the last couple weeks that i saw here and it is using noxzema as a pre shave.. Its cheap, can get it anywhere and has seemed to really help...

Your join date is April 2011, and you just recently started having the problem.

I'm a white guy from Canada.

In February when it is really cold and the heaters working overtime, the house air gets really dry... enough for the skin on your hands to chap and bleed if you don't moisturize them. Face skin is also affected, though not as much.

Do you live in a cold climate? Perhaps it is the the over-dried air affecting your skin.

Good point. I'm in the states in Baltimore, Maryland and it has been pretty cold here. i also have been concentrating on smoothness and not discoloration.

Here's my list:

No pressure. You might think you're using very little pressure. Still, cut the amount of pressure you are using in half. Then half if again. Make the razor hover over your face.

Cold water shave all the way from start to finish.

Pre-shave oil can't hurt to try.

Try Astra SP or red Personna blades. Just a hunch.

Yes to the alum block.

Nivea or Neutrogena post-shave balm.

Don't go for the perfect shave. It grows back in a few hours anyway.

p38thadl said:

I thought this sounded like red blotches I get, but Google says no, if you're African-american you can get "post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation" which can be exacerbated by sun exposure. So I'd be looking for salicylic acid and sunscreen in my balm. Thinking outside the box, shave at night and do a pepto bismol mask after shaving instead of astringent, followed by "psoriasis" cream from Dollar Tree.

Things turned around for my neck when I got a TTO. Better for buffing. A steep blade angle picks off flat-lying neck hairs.

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I believe p38thadl has nailed this one. doctordial, the darkening of your skin, are you sure it's coming from razor burn and not from post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation like p38thadl pointed out? I think we need to understand what exactly is going on before giving more irritation solving answers.

I'm in the same boat as you, I also have dark spots where ingrowns have caused scarring (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation like others have mentioned).

My situation is improving by preventing inflammation, instead of shaving as normal and trying to correct it after the fact. A solid prep, preshave oil (jojoba oil is pretty solid) and following the basics while shaving like no pressure, wtg passes in other words.

Hope this helps bro

williabe said:

I recently started using grape seed oil (GSO) as a pre-shave - an idea that I adopted from a member here at B&B. I had always used Proraso sensitive pre-shave, even in my cartridge shaving days. I apply 6-8 drops of GSO after a shower/facewash before I apply lather. The GSO takes comfort and glide a few steps further than Proraso pre-shave. I barely need after shave balm or post shave moisturizer. In addition, its a very light oil that doesn't clog my razor (Merkur 39C) or give me acne. My skin looks and feels better since using the GSO (4 shaves now) and ZERO razor burn.

Click to expand...

GSO as in what I currently have beside my stove that I use for cooking?

You need to wait a couple days. I have had the same problem. My shaves are better if I wait 3 or 4 days. My beard growth looks like barbwire.