Razor Rash

**jiujitsuguy** · 07-09-2009, 09:31 PM

Hey all. I'm sure this gets asked a lot but what do you guys do about Razor Rash? I shaved with my DE (Gillette SS) and did 2 WTG passes, XTG and XTG on an angle (did WTG x2, XTG and XTG on a angle x2 on my neck to at least look presentable). Now I went back to basics so help eliminate some razor burn issues (more or less on my neck) and also to help get the skin used to shaving this way. I can get BBS on my face but however my neck looks like I never shaved at all if I go this route. I would like to keep it even looking.

Now I know until I get my blade angle correct I'll suffer from razor rash (for me it's not a patch it's looks like irritated hair follicles) but what do you gentlemen do to reduce the razor rash? I as of right now do the following for my shave:

1) lightly rub my face with a wash cloth while in the shower.
2) After the shower I make up some lather and apply it to my face and put a hot towel on my face to let my stubble absorb the soap and soften.
3) I wash off, and relather and begin to shave as I described above
4) After shave I rinse for 30secs with cold water. Pat Dry and apply Nivea Sensitive ASB and Nivea Sensitive skin moisturizer.

Now the razor rash becomes noticeable shortly after the shave and fades roughly 5 hours later. What can I do to speed up the recovery process if this happens? I'm sure I'm not the only one out there and I hope this will benefit others as well.

**ProfMike** · 07-09-2009, 11:51 PM

Your prep seems way better than mine, but I haven't had the razor rash issues. Then again, I usually do 2 WTG passes and 1 XTG pass all over. My neck is still a work in progress - it's taken me almost three weeks to get rid of the irritation, redness, and bumps on my neck that I thought were almost permanent - but my shaves are still better than I used to get.

Don't know if this has happened to you, but on Tuesday I tried Derby blades from my WCS smaple pack after using the Merkurs that came with my original razors. I did the same prep and procedure as I've always done, but about 5 minutes after I shaved, my face went nuts. Nasty, but really familiar, bumps popped up on my neck and I had a "burny" feeling on my cheeks.

I'm thinking that something about these blades might not agree with my skin. If you've changed blades recently, maybe that has something to do with it. I'm with you though - if anybody has some ideas to speed up the recovery process after we've done something wrong, i'd love to know. Since I'm off for the summer and didn't have anything important going on, I just didn't shave for a few days - I can't do that once the school year starts so, I'm hoping there's something else out there.

Thanks!

**Luc** · 07-10-2009, 02:23 AM

My guess would be that you are applying a bit a pressure while shaving. You need to let the razor&blade work for you.

It might be a blade issue, if you have a sample pack, it might help to eliminate the blade variable.

**jiujitsuguy** · 07-10-2009, 04:09 AM

I'm not sure what it is to be exact. I'm applying no pressure (I learned my lesson after me first DE shave back in march). No where else is there razor rash on me. Just on the one particular spot at the bottom of my neck on the left and right side of my adams apple. What I'm thinking is a combo of blade angle and also the direction of growth of my grain. More then likely the blade angle since I don't recall razor rash with a cartridge razor (just pricks of blood every where instead lol). I'm actually thinking about using a bic single blade (or m3) on my neck to just give it a presentable look since I know I can get a BBS with it.

But razor burn/rash has happened to the best of us. Is there anything out there that is worth investing in to get rid of the redness that appears after the shave? I've heard something about icecubes but I would think that rubbing something on the area would irritate it more.

**82R100** · 07-10-2009, 07:35 AM

I found that the hair on my neck lays very flat. If I stroke with the grain with my hand, it feels perfectly smooth. I eliminated a good deal of neck irritation by eliminating passes that arguably aren't doing any beard reduction. I figure if my hand can't feel the whiskers the blade won't be touching them but will still be irritating the skin.

Basically, I eliminated WTG entirely on my neck. For that pass I just leave the lather there while I do my cheeks then rinse it off and relather for the next pass. The improvement in comfort on my neck was immediately noticeable.

Something else to try, if you're feeling adventurous, would be a single edge (Gem blade) razor. I've found that my best shave (closest *and* least irritating) comes from an SE razor. You can pick up a 1912 patent razor for less than $15 and some Personna Gem blades at a pharmacy and give it a try. I strongly recommend this before going back to Bic disposables.

- Chris

**jiujitsuguy** · 07-10-2009, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by 82R100

I found that the hair on my neck lays very flat. If I stroke with the grain with my hand, it feels perfectly smooth. I eliminated a good deal of neck irritation by eliminating passes that arguably aren't doing any beard reduction. I figure if my hand can't feel the whiskers the blade won't be touching them but will still be irritating the skin.

Basically, I eliminated WTG entirely on my neck. For that pass I just leave the lather there while I do my cheeks then rinse it off and relather for the next pass. The improvement in comfort on my neck was immediately noticeable.

Something else to try, if you're feeling adventurous, would be a single edge (Gem blade) razor. I've found that my best shave (closest *and* least irritating) comes from an SE razor. You can pick up a 1912 patent razor for less than $15 and some Personna Gem blades at a pharmacy and give it a try. I strongly recommend this before going back to Bic disposables.

- Chris

Thanks Chris. I'm in the same boat as you I believe. My hair grows E-W (except for under my chin and jaw bone in that area right there) and running my hand over my neck I can feel a tiny bit of hair but mostly soft skin. What kind of passes do you do? I'm thinking maybe just a simple N-S and then S-N might be sufficient. Or maybe I'll go WTG but down on an angle and then ATG but down on an angle (think this one might be a bad idea).

Now these SE... I haven't seen them before. What's different about them over a DE? . (forgive my ignorance!). As for the gem blades...well my pharmacy only carries the Gillette Super Stainless blades sadly.

**Confilo** · 07-10-2009, 08:18 AM

I have come to the conclusion that when I get razor rash (burn) is 99% of the time due to the blade

**82R100** · 07-10-2009, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by jiujitsuguy

Thanks Chris. I'm in the same boat as you I believe. My hair grows E-W (except for under my chin and jaw bone in that area right there) and running my hand over my neck I can feel a tiny bit of hair but mostly soft skin. What kind of passes do you do? I'm thinking maybe just a simple N-S and then S-N might be sufficient. Or maybe I'll go WTG but down on an angle and then ATG but down on an angle (think this one might be a bad idea).

Now these SE... I haven't seen them before. What's different about them over a DE? . (forgive my ignorance!). As for the gem blades...well my pharmacy only carries the Gillette Super Stainless blades sadly.

I do an XTG and an ATG on my neck and that's all. The ATG is actually somewhat complicated, due to the patches on either side of my adams apple that are angled up and outward. The ATG is not perfectly comfortable as I'm doing it but calms down nicely within the first half hour after the shave.

SE razors use the same razor size as what you'd scrape paint from windows with (no joke). Most of us use stainless blades that are intended for shaving or blades from online industrial suppliers that are teflon coated as well. I believe that Walgreens stores carry the Personna stainless Gem blades. If you were to buy an SE razor from someone here, they could probably be persuaded to send a couple of blades along with the razor. People also tend to offer the blades on B/S/T from time to time.

The main differences stem from the acoustics of the razor (the whisker shearing is quite loud and satisfying) and the rigidity of the blade, since the SE blades are easily twice as thick as the DE blades and have a reinforcing spine across the back edge as well.

Since there's only one side to the razor, the head is angled so that you can hold the handle close to parallel to your face as you shave (once you've figured out the actual blade angle) so you're less apt to over rotate as you (I) do with a DE.

Some consider the SE razors less elegant than the DE's, as they use some sheet metal and they're not nicely symmetrical like the DE's. They do seem to last forever though, with no perceptible degradation to their function.

- Chris

**jiujitsuguy** · 07-10-2009, 11:36 AM

Interesting. I'm going to give a look into it after I try some new blades out. It's a shame that I have to order a bunch of blades off the internet and wait for them :(. I'll maybe stop by a barber too and ask him his opinion and maybe even get a shave too. Imo I believe everyone should visit a barber at least once for the experience.