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Constant ingrown hairs

Absolutely.
Try to restrain the urge to try different things, which haunts most here, me too.
You'll get better and better at what worked.
So don't be tempted to use the Fatip, you hear 😎
Oh, I was looking up to it so much! That's a shame... Well, if I won't be able to resist the urge, maybe I'll try the Fatip when it shows up before the 14 days to return the R41 pass. I don't want to keep a razor I won't use. I would spend the money for that R41 somewhere they would be usefull.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
I always rinse the alum after a minute. For reference, I use the OSMA block. I cannot get Thayer's with hazel, only import it from the USA - and that's just too expensive with the shipping, VAT and customs.

I have seen only a witch hazel (hamamelis virginia) hydrolate available in one online store located in my country. In the ingredients list, it only says "Hamamelis virginiana Leaf Water". It's 5 bucks for 3,3 oz. Do you think I should try it?
That is a lot for 3.5 OZ but it is up to you to decide that one. Drug stores might also have it and Herbal stores. I can buy Dickinson's Witch hazel for around $5 US for 16 fl OZ. It might be harvested in the USA our border country.
OSMA Alum is good quality Alum.
 
Simplify you're routine, stop using alum, do not scrub you're face with a cloth or sponge. Check the ingredients in you're products, you might having reactions to fragrances. Let you're ingrown hairs correct themselves before you shave again. Only shave in the direction you're hair grows and don't do more than one pass. Use a mild blade in you're DE such as a Derby green. Try using Barbasol sensitive version it is actually very good, surprisingly good ingredients with less fragrance. After you're done shaving splash you're face with very cold tap water then try using a combo of Bump Patrol first and then when that dries follow up with Bevel aftershave balm. Within the past few months I've found that Barbasol sensitive is an absolute hidden gem for people who suffer from ingrown hairs or irritation.
 

Hello there!

I think it has been repeated many times in this thread, but yes a dermatologist is what is needed here.

I don't think anything here really has to with the edge of the blade or the shaving technique, well, at most as far as cutting the hairs goes, because some of these things might be triggering an allergy, or spreading bacteria on your skin, or aggravating your skin in general (they are a trigger, but not the real cause).

This is especially the case with skin conditions that seem to get worse days after a shave. I had a simple dermatitis case around my mouth, which would get a bit better right after a shave, and then progressively worse until the next shave, which did not make any sense to me since I moisturized and everything. I put on some cream, did not shave for 2-3 weeks, and the problem was solved.
 
Ultimately doing one detailed, careful pass might be a great help, that way you're hairs will have less chance of getting trapped under you're skin from shaving too close. TheBeast, I think I saw the picture of you're neck and I'm not saying I'm a dermatologist or 100 % correct on this but it looks to me like you were shaving those hairs against the grain or just applying to much pressure.
 
Hello there!

I think it has been repeated many times in this thread, but yes a dermatologist is what is needed here.

I don't think anything here really has to with the edge of the blade or the shaving technique, well, at most as far as cutting the hairs goes, because some of these things might be triggering an allergy, or spreading bacteria on your skin, or aggravating your skin in general (they are a trigger, but not the real cause).

This is especially the case with skin conditions that seem to get worse days after a shave. I had a simple dermatitis case around my mouth, which would get a bit better right after a shave, and then progressively worse until the next shave, which did not make any sense to me since I moisturized and everything. I put on some cream, did not shave for 2-3 weeks, and the problem was solved.
Thank you for your input. That particular shave was catastrophic All the way around, nothing like that has happened ever since. I have gotten some good shaves but those were rare. 90% of the time I had to go in with tweezers and pluck ingrowns. These spots needed a few days to recover after that. I will go see a dermatologist and have a talk.

Ultimately doing one detailed, careful pass might be a great help, that way you're hairs will have less chance of getting trapped under you're skin from shaving too close. TheBeast, I think I saw the picture of you're neck and I'm not saying I'm a dermatologist or 100 % correct on this but it looks to me like you were shaving those hairs against the grain or just applying to much pressure.
That time I did EVERYTHING wrong during the shave. I got a lot better since then. I always do one WTG pass and it's generally OK, but I rarely avoid ingrowns even with spot-on shaves.
 
Sooo... For anyone stumbling upon this post, I had a shave with my trusted R89 + Voskhod with Proraso white which gave me the best shaves I could achieve (worst case scenario - a few bumps). The reason for this shave was to get ready for a christmas party and I didn't want to risk anything. Great slick lather, the razor glided beautifly. Still, terrible irritation and some sort of inflamation. My neck is pink/red after 3 days. Looks like I tried to hang myself...

I guess the skin wasn't healed perfectly after that two pass shave with R41 which didn't go well. But still, this doesn't seem right. Anyway... Seems like a few weeks of no shaving are ahead to let it heal completely, before trying my Fatip, Parker Shavette and getting some experience with the R41. Not what I have hoped for, I'm quite dissapointed.
 
I can and I still do. The sooner you can start working with the Parker, the better. I wouldn't wait three weeks, just try to learn the parker with it flat on your skin. Make sure your skin is stretched and make smooth, short practice swipes. You may only take the top off the hairs, but the key is that the blade isn't even touching your skin. This shouldn't do anything worse to your skin unless you cut yourself. But, that would take a wild uncontrolled hand movement to accomplish. Sometimes these things get frustrating enough that you decide to just push on instead of pull back. Unless it is a diagnosed condition by a dermatologist, then all bets are off.
 
I can and I still do. The sooner you can start working with the Parker, the better. I wouldn't wait three weeks, just try to learn the parker with it flat on your skin. Make sure your skin is stretched and make smooth, short practice swipes. You may only take the top off the hairs, but the key is that the blade isn't even touching your skin. This shouldn't do anything worse to your skin unless you cut yourself. But, that would take a wild uncontrolled hand movement to accomplish. Sometimes these things get frustrating enough that you decide to just push on instead of pull back. Unless it is a diagnosed condition by a dermatologist, then all bets are off.
I like your enthusiasm! I did some practice with the shavette without the blade. I even tried a few strokes with a blade where my skin doesn't get irritated before the safety razor shave. If felt nice, I was going as flat as possible while removing hair, feather light touch. Still, not ideal result. It was the first try though.
When I don't let the skin heal 100% (some slight discoloration, few lightly pink areas) shaving tends to mess me up, that was the case the last time. So I think I will make sure just for the sake of it and hold off any hair removal. Then I'll go really carefull on every piece of hardware I own and always let the skin rest enough to determine exactly what is causing this issues. I started a little diary to write down some of my thoughts of what went and felt right/wrong in the shave, maybe that will help.
 
I may sound like a broken record, but having red skin 3 days after anything from a super comfortable to a super bad shave, is simply not how the skin should react, especially for a young person, and is reason enough to see a dermatologist. It may be an allergy, a bacterial infection, some autoimmune response, or some skin condition.
 
I was getting razor bumps initially when I started. Never got them again after I'm certain I found the culprit. I was using a dab of olive oil. Stopped doing it, and the issue ceased.
 
I was getting razor bumps initially when I started. Never got them again after I'm certain I found the culprit. I was using a dab of olive oil. Stopped doing it, and the issue ceased.
That is another important issue with comedogenic (pore-clogging) ingredients in general, they may (on sensitive skins) clog and inflame the pores and hair follicles, and can make it very hard for the hair to break through and contribute towards folliculitis.

In the end, everybody's face is different, that is why it is important to know of any allergies, infections, or ingredients that simply don't work for one's face.
 
Have you considered different shaving creams and or other shave products?
It may be that your skin does not like some of the ingredients in the products you use.
Many have preservatives, or other ingredients that your skin just might not work with.

Just because a product claims to be for sensitive skin, does not mean it will actually work for you.
Other products may not make that claim, but instead make their products of a higher quality that is just better overall for skin.

Have you tried the PAA scentless CK6 shaving soap?
Pretty sure they offer a sample for about $4 - but you'd need to pay the shipping (unless you spend over 65)
 
Have you considered different shaving creams and or other shave products?
It may be that your skin does not like some of the ingredients in the products you use.
Many have preservatives, or other ingredients that your skin just might not work with.

Just because a product claims to be for sensitive skin, does not mean it will actually work for you.
Other products may not make that claim, but instead make their products of a higher quality that is just better overall for skin.

Have you tried the PAA scentless CK6 shaving soap?
Pretty sure they offer a sample for about $4 - but you'd need to pay the shipping (unless you spend over 65)
Yes I did try many, I have over 10 different soaps and about 5 different aftershaves. Now it seems quite frustrating to go buy a product, try it once only to find out it doesn't work. I mean I spent a good 200€ already on all the gear and I still can't get a shave I'm trully happy about.
Also, ordering stuff that's popular in the States means 20-50 dollars shipping since I live in Europe, so I only have access to stuff you guys over seas don't really use that much since it is the same the other way around.
 
Just a little update on my current situation. Today I decided to pick up my boar brush and proraso white soap just to lather up, rinse, use some aftershave and see how my skin would react to find out if the razor/blade is doing all the damage, or it might be ingredients of the products that I use.

I face lathered for about 5-7 minutes, adding water drop by drop and I was picking up some lather every minute or so and rubbing my fingers together with it to get a feell for how the lather is performing. Then I rinsed it all of and boom - quite a lot of irritation on the areas which are "the most sensitive". Just to be clear, my skin was still not perfect after the last shave which caused a lot of irritation. But it was at the stage when I would shave otherwise.

Hopefully, hydrocortisone will help out to bring the redness and itch down. This is quite an important discovery for me, as I feel I can now try bowl/palm lathering and only paint it on the face gently. Also this lets me try out different soaps in my collection and compare them, as well as my cheap badger (7€) and synthetic (11€) brush. This way I can be certain if I was just pressing too hard with my boar brush on already unhappy skin as I have countless times when I then proceeded to a shave which was very uncomfortable or I'm having a reaction to natural hair or soap.
 
I believe the white proraso may contain menthol, which is a major source of irritation for me
No menthol in the Proraso White. Altough it is meant for sensitive skin, it could be said that it contains certain ingredients that could irritate the skin - now I'm no expert but I think this highly varies from person to person.

Also, by bowl lathering and gently applaying to the skin with "painting" strokes even with a boar brush that isn't fully broken in, no further irritation occured. The vigorous action of swirling and applying preassure to the brush is almost the certainly the cause for the discomfort my neck is showing. This situation escelates if the skin didn't have enough time to fully recover.

Next step is to keep the skin happy and away from any further harm for a few more days/weeks. Meanwhile I'll keep gently applying lather from the bowl while using different soaps with all kinds of possible iritating ingredients to determine for sure, if I can get some sort of reaction when using other products.
 
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