Just completed first DE shave - woke up with with whiteheads?

tom6915 · Apr 15, 2016

I'm only going 2 passes 1xWTG and 1xATG. I follow that up with thayer's witch hazel then I clean up and apply the nivea ASB. I do however have a sneaky suspicion that the ASB is alcohol-free and from the sounds of it I could probably do with one that contains some alcohol.

I will give an aftershave splash a try, can you recommend any that are on amazon? Then I can just use my prime and try it out over the weekend

op8glum · Apr 15, 2016

i used to get these alot with cartridge razors. only happened once with DE razor and i attribute it to shaving an area too close against the grain. in the areas they pop up, only shave with and across the grain. there will be parts of your face that you have to develop a "custom" shave routine. for me its right at the corners of my mouth and bottom of neck. if i dont pay attention i end up with issues. good luck.

yamaha0343 · Apr 15, 2016

That's a lot of products/chemicals on your face at one time. I'd recommend trying a shave just using your shaving cream and see what your results are. If you want to add the other products back, do so one at a time and you'll find the culprit.

I've gotten to where I don't use pre shave, aftershave, alum, or any of it. I wash my face with whatever body wash I have in the shower (usually Old Spice). My skin is great these days.

paintflinger · Apr 15, 2016

tom6915 said:
I'm only going 2 passes 1xWTG and 1xATG. I follow that up with thayer's witch hazel then I clean up and apply the nivea ASB. I do however have a sneaky suspicion that the ASB is alcohol-free and from the sounds of it I could probably do with one that contains some alcohol.

I will give an aftershave splash a try, can you recommend any that are on amazon? Then I can just use my prime and try it out over the weekend

...again, these are ingrown hairs. You can play with products if you like and I do prefer alcohol splashes, but recognizing that you are going to need to learn you're face and technique before these go away is a key takeaway. The areas where you are getting them, try just going WTGx2 rather than WTG ATG.

As far as alcohol splashes, why not just start with one of the oldies, but goodies, Aqua Velva, which is available at most convenience/grocery stores.

Dog Whiskerer · Apr 15, 2016

paintflinger said:
...again, these are ingrown hairs. You can play with products if you like and I do prefer alcohol splashes, but recognizing that you are going to need to learn you're face and technique before these go away is a key takeaway.

I would concur.

I get those little whiteheads when I over shave, or when I chase the illusive BBS, both of which usually result in too much pressure, or upon switching to a new razor, I am applying faulty technique, angle or whatnot, to the shave.

My solution has been to back off the shaving for a couple of days. If I can't go unshaven, I'll shave with a Bump Fighter razor. It's almost impossible to get a close shave. Then my face returns to normal.

Silverirae · Apr 15, 2016

paintflinger said:
...again, these are ingrown hairs. You can play with products if you like and I do prefer alcohol splashes, but recognizing that you are going to need to learn you're face and technique before these go away is a key takeaway. The areas where you are getting them, try just going WTGx2 rather than WTG ATG.

As far as alcohol splashes, why not just start with one of the oldies, but goodies, Aqua Velva, which is available at most convenience/grocery stores.

This is the truth. Pressure was also a key for me. Too much pressure would result in cutting the hair too low.

Taborden · Apr 16, 2016

wishbone said:
There are many shavers who would look right at that.

Good points all around, but Merkur blades are the last I would use for my 1000th DE shave ..... let alone my first. I know there are people that get along with them ......... Or so the rumours go ........ But I'd rather take a painters knife, sharpened on a concrete step, to my face than use a Merkur blade......

Ditto the Merkur blade comment. Those are terrible but probably not the cause. I would just use process of elimination. Take out one product at a time. But one thing I will say is a sample size of 1 (1 being 1 shave) is not enough to say that anything you used will do the same thing again.

marlap · Apr 16, 2016

My suggestion would be to splash your face with alcohol or aftershave before shaving to kill any possible skin bacteria. Dip your razor and blade in alcohol also to disinfect.

Jack19 · Apr 16, 2016

As others have said, I suspect that, for your face anyway, just too much product.

I'll get stoned for saying so, but a lot of that stuff is more "fun" than "necessary."

tom6915 · May 1, 2016

Maaaaan

So my last two shaves went like this :-

Wash face with soap and warm water
Lather up cream and apply
First pass WTG
Wash face with warm water
Second pass XTG
Wash face with warm water
Clean up
Wash face with plenty of cold water
Apply thayers witch hazel with lavender

At this point m my skin feels great and I got sleep feeling refreshed.

Wake up and the best day is bump-free

However in the 2-3 days that follow I am still getting tiny white bumps on my chin and the corners of my mouth!!

What else can I do? It's causing me serious distress now

tom6915 · May 1, 2016

marlap said:
My suggestion would be to splash your face with alcohol or aftershave before shaving to kill any possible skin bacteria. Dip your razor and blade in alcohol also to disinfect.

I might try this. Can you suggest which after shave to try? And which alcohol to disinfect my razor with?

paintflinger · May 2, 2016

tom6915 said:
Wake up and the best day is bump-free

However in the 2-3 days that follow I am still getting tiny white bumps on my chin and the corners of my mouth!!

What else can I do? It's causing me serious distress now

Just shave WTG, very light pressure near the corners of your lips.

marlap · May 3, 2016

tom6915 said:
I might try this. Can you suggest which after shave to try? And which alcohol to disinfect my razor with?

I would recommend isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, but any kind should do the job. Use any aftershave with a high alcohol content, I like Aqua Velva aftershave.

tom6915 · May 19, 2016

So I'm pretty sure the bumps/zits on the corners of my mouth and chin are ingrown hairs. I am guilty of going ATG in these sections since I can always see hairs that I feel compelled to shave. Some of these have been quite bad lately and left really nasty red sores which are starting to heal now thankfully.

I shaved on Tuesday night this week and by Wednesday night the pimples were forming but I could tell that these were the hairs growing back trying to push through the pores.

I have a wedding reception on Sunday and I'm very anxious about how and when to shave.

My shaves have been very simple, hot face wash, 2 passes (WTG,XTG), cold water rinse and thayers alcohol free with hazel after that's it.

But still 24-36 hours later the bumps and zits appear and I can't help but pop them.

Any ideas how best to prepare for this next shave and what products I can buy (off amazon) ?

Elvergun · May 19, 2016

tom6915 said:
So I'm pretty sure the bumps/zits on the corners of my mouth and chin are ingrown hairs. I am guilty of going ATG in these sections since I can always see hairs that I feel compelled to shave. Some of these have been quite bad lately and left really nasty red sores which are starting to heal now thankfully.

I shaved on Tuesday night this week and by Wednesday night the pimples were forming but I could tell that these were the hairs growing back trying to push through the pores.

I have a wedding reception on Sunday and I'm very anxious about how and when to shave.

My shaves have been very simple, hot face wash, 2 passes (WTG,XTG), cold water rinse and thayers alcohol free with hazel after that's it.

But still 24-36 hours later the bumps and zits appear and I can't help but pop them.

Any ideas how best to prepare for this next shave and what products I can buy (off amazon) ?

Sometimes I get whiteheads when I shave XTG or ATG (nothing like your problem though). I would try a two pass WTG, even if you don't get a very close shave, just to see if the XTG pass is the problem. I would also try using Bump Patrol Original Formula, which has worked well for me.

tom6915 · May 26, 2016

Another shave - more bumps and tiny puss filled zits

I've ordered some thayers with alcohol (14%) I am hoping the alcohol will kill off the bacteria which is causing the whiteheads.

I am also going to change my shave cream from body shop to something else if anyone has some recommendations?

Mushraeddur · May 26, 2016

I love catie's bubble (le pement de la vie ([spelling?]).

I also like taylor of old bond street cream a lot. I use st james but only because i haven't tried the others...yet.

mightyeskimo · May 26, 2016

I can recommend Shea Moisture Tea Tree After Shave & Bump Preventer. You may be able to find it in your local grocery store. It's an excellent astringent.

paintflinger · May 27, 2016

mightyeskimo said:
I can recommend Shea Moisture Tea Tree After Shave & Bump Preventer. You may be able to find it in your local grocery store. It's an excellent astringent.

I only use it when I have to, but it really does clear any bumps up.

ex-bugonaut · May 28, 2016

paintflinger said:
You're shaving either against the grain or across the grain and these are ingrown hairs. If I were a guessing man, these whiteheads are on the lower portion of your neck and/or around your adam's apple?

I really wouldn't sweat the bumps. Your technique and gear will get better and you'll find they only happen once in a blue moon. One thing I can suggest is an aftershave splash containing willow tree bark extract will help you with these bumps. I couldn't tell you why, but any aftershave I've used with this in it cleared up these whiteheads in a jiffy.

I will reiterate though that this is likely from any of the following: too much pressure, wrong head angle, crappy blades, going XTG/ATG in an area where the hairs grow more parallel to the skin.

Excellent advice on this thread. I highlighted this because experiencing severe stinging when using the alum bloc may indicate too much pressure, too much exfoliation leading to irritation. Try blades other than Merkur's is also good advice, as is using a witch hazel post-shave preparation. Finally, you might consider using a gentle, non-sensitizing shave cream such as TOBS Avocado.

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Just completed first DE shave - woke up with with whiteheads?

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