Since I began to shave with my DE, I've had irritation on my neck. Just trying to get some opinions on what the best balm or other idea to calm the burn. I'm currently using Sterling Witch Hazel and that works to a point, but I feel I need a little something else.
What's the best stuff for Irritation?
- Thread starter wes1953
- Start date
Prevention, rest, and hydrocortisone; in that order; are best. Due to gravity, the skin from base of neck to jawline will always be more loose than the skin above the jawline and the age, weight loss, muscle loss, and even muscle gain will make it trickier still.
Lucky Tiger Face Tonic - fantastic stuff. Great skin soothing qualities with a light orange scent that's gone in a flash.
well continuing on the responses from people with animal avatars..... even though mine is a cartoon, I'm going to say stretching the skin on the neck while shaving and light pressure are something to consider when shaving. afterwards, witch hazel is a good thing to use but if the Stirling isn't cutting it, try Thayer's No Alcohol WH Toner.
+1 to Thayers No Alcohol WH Toner. Total game changer.
I find Duke Cannon's aftershave balm really soothing. Great stuff!
Right after you are finished shaving, do a cold water rinse, pat towel dry, splash on a non-alcohol witch hazel, allow to dry a minute or two then apply this lotion. Years of testing/experimentation and this works best for me.
You might not be matching the right blade to your skin or you might be using too much pressure. Might you also be using a razor more on the aggressive side verses the mild side?
I think it’s better to establish the root cause of the irritation instead of trying to fix it afterwards. Don’t get me wrong I like to use balms myself but not because of irritation. I like to use because of the skin feel and scent.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
A shave-ready straight razor with good technique should solve the problem.
Put my advice into test :
-Rinse with ice -cold water after shaving.
- Pat softly your face and neck with a soft cotton towel.
Some kitchen towels ,those with that characteristic 3D "waffle" texture are close
to perfect for using as post shaving towels,yes sir !
- Apply any serum or gel that
contains Hyaluronic acid .
- Finish with Haslinger Calendula balsam ,or
any other balsam whatsoever,as long as it contains calendula extract .
-Rinse with ice -cold water after shaving.
- Pat softly your face and neck with a soft cotton towel.
Some kitchen towels ,those with that characteristic 3D "waffle" texture are close
to perfect for using as post shaving towels,yes sir !
- Apply any serum or gel that
contains Hyaluronic acid .
- Finish with Haslinger Calendula balsam ,or
any other balsam whatsoever,as long as it contains calendula extract .
- Thread starter
- #11
I might try changing blades. I'm using Astra SP at the moment but have been thinking about getting a small variety pack and go from there. Several other good suggestions have been offered and I'll consider them all. I know I can improve my technique and might switch razors to see if that helps. Thanks for the opinions, I appreciate it.
That’s what finally worked for me.
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I’d also be wary of the Witch Hazel. I don’t get along well with it. I find it extremely drying to my face and the quality of my shaves goes downhill if I use it daily. General skin condition is very important for shave quality. In my opinion balms don’t fix razor burn, they prevent it by keeping the skin in good shape to start with.
My other recommendation would be to go WTG only on the neck and see if that in combination with skin stretching gives you an acceptably close shave. A SAS / CCS result on neck looks and feels better than red and irritated.
My other recommendation would be to go WTG only on the neck and see if that in combination with skin stretching gives you an acceptably close shave. A SAS / CCS result on neck looks and feels better than red and irritated.
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Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Another great inexpensive gel to try is ALOE Vera gel(clear preferred) is readily available at Walmart or other large stores.
I like to brush wash my face first and then apply the Aloe Vera gel on the cleaned beard area. Aloe is used for burns and skin irritants. You can apply afterwards also if there is skin irritation and will feel better. I also like to use cold water rinse after each pass to calm the skin & have been doing that for years.
Have some great shaves!
It would definitely behoove you to pick up a sample pack of many different de blades. Perhaps an adjustable razor too. One such as Rockwell (example only) that has different base plates so you can adjust the blade reveal from very mild to aggressive. Remember to let the weight of the razor do the work.
However I recommend you only change one thing at a time so you don’t get confused what works or doesn’t work.
I'd +1 to lucky tiger or alcohol-free witch hazel.
I find witch hazel can be a bit drying for me, and the alcohol version can cause some drying/irritation. I typically use a pea-sized dab of Nivea Sensitive balm with an alcohol splash or a witch hazel. Lucky tiger works well for my face.
I'd recommend trying a few items or combinations but only trying one at a tome for several days in a row. Ie nivea balm only for 3 shaves, witch hazel for 3 days and not how they perform.
Also, I'd recommend going WTG only for a few shaves in the irritated locations. On my neck, the grain of growth is weird and I thought I was avoiding ATG but when I went only one direction for a few shaves, I realized I was going partially ATG and causing some irritation.
Enjoy the journey.
I find witch hazel can be a bit drying for me, and the alcohol version can cause some drying/irritation. I typically use a pea-sized dab of Nivea Sensitive balm with an alcohol splash or a witch hazel. Lucky tiger works well for my face.
I'd recommend trying a few items or combinations but only trying one at a tome for several days in a row. Ie nivea balm only for 3 shaves, witch hazel for 3 days and not how they perform.
Also, I'd recommend going WTG only for a few shaves in the irritated locations. On my neck, the grain of growth is weird and I thought I was avoiding ATG but when I went only one direction for a few shaves, I realized I was going partially ATG and causing some irritation.
Enjoy the journey.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
- Thread starter
- #18
I don't shave every day ... maybe every other to 3 days. I saw in another you said I would need to shave everyday to get proficient with the straight. Besides, my hand is too shaky to have that around my ears and throat.
NIVEA It works great.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
You'll never ever know until you give it a go, even with a shaky hand.
If you don't SR shave daily, it just takes much longer to develop a proficient technique.
