Hello and good day to you all.
I have been using a safety razor for two years now and I cannot get rid of ingrown hair issues. I get them no matter what I try. I have tried lots of products which didnt work and now I no longer feel motivated to keep going and/or buying new gear. I am here to ask for your tips, if you experienced similar situation. Here's my current gear and some background.
Muhle R89 grande (bigger handle)
Proraso (by omega) boar hair brush / Pure badger by Nom (I think Muhle owns Nom which is for more budget oriented products)
OSMA alum block
16 diggerent blades from Derby to Feather. My favourite: Voskhod, Derby extra green, BIC, Shark.
Proraso white line pre, post, soap; Proraso blue line; Muhle Soap and Cream Sandalwood; Nivea sensitive cooling after; shaving oil from local drugstore and many more...
My shave goes something like this:
1. Hot shower, facial cleanser (part of skincare), exfoliate twice a week (more often then that only makes things worse) with scrub/sponge+face soap/wet cloth.
2. Pre-shave: Proraso or oil, desinfecting the head of the razor with a blade in it by spraying it down with 70% alcohol and rinsing it off with hot water
3. Face lather, nicely thick and slick
4. One pass, with the grain, no preassure, not going over one spot multiple times
5. Cold water rinse, alum block, another rinse, gently drying, applying cooling balm for sensitive skin. Often times getting razor burn - applying cooling lotion on top of that for sensitive skin. If the burn is too bad, I go straight to Aloe Vera gel with panthenol - that saved my *** many times.
6. NEXT DAY: INGROWN HAIRS, RED SPOTS, BUMPS - treating them for a week, sometimes more. When my skin is nice and healed, all the hair is properly growing out, I trim to 1mm with an electric trimmer and go through this again.
SHAVING WITH COLD WATER DOES NOT HELP AT ALL... sadly.
BACKSTORY:
Cartridge razors gave me massive breakouts on my neck (at least that's what I thought it was, only later on have I learned that those are razor bumps). I switched to Phillips One Blade, grew a beard and only trimmed, being extra careful on my neck. There was a time, when I could even pull of a sort of clean shave by going against the grain with my OneBlade - DRY. Then, ingrowns came back. I found out about DE shaving so I bought Willkinson premium package with the twist to open razor, which is supposed to be super mild, boar brush which is marketed as synthetic and soap which smells awfull. Then I upgraded to R89, proraso, badger and boar brushes to try out which I like more and so on. Then I made my way through 200€ of products without getting a shave after which I didnt have ingrowns (bumps, red spots).
I feel like I am doing everything I can and the Proraso white line, even though helping with the razor burn a lot - to the point where I think I can shave the next day, was the last thing on my list that was supposed to help. Still, 24 hours after I shave I many hair follickles on my neck start to swell and they become unsightly red spots. Shaving more often resulted in more irritation and worse ingrowns. I have tried stuff like No Bumps Gel by Clubman Pinaud, a product very similar to Tend Skin (I cant get my hands on original tend skin, since it is expensive to ship to middle europe) and a few others. I even tried dissolving Aspirin in some water or aloe gel to act like pure salycilic acid that is supposed to exfoliate the skin, clearing the hair follicles and allowing the hair to grow out correctly.
Sorry for the longest post ever, I'm simply frustrated. If you have made the effort to read through this, please let me know if you have any tips for me. I do not feel like spending antother dollar (euro for me) for new stuff. I swore I will find the way to shave witout ingrown hair/razor bumps and I will enjoy it, but unfortunatelly, I was not able to for two years.
Thank you again and may you have a blessed day.
I have been using a safety razor for two years now and I cannot get rid of ingrown hair issues. I get them no matter what I try. I have tried lots of products which didnt work and now I no longer feel motivated to keep going and/or buying new gear. I am here to ask for your tips, if you experienced similar situation. Here's my current gear and some background.
Muhle R89 grande (bigger handle)
Proraso (by omega) boar hair brush / Pure badger by Nom (I think Muhle owns Nom which is for more budget oriented products)
OSMA alum block
16 diggerent blades from Derby to Feather. My favourite: Voskhod, Derby extra green, BIC, Shark.
Proraso white line pre, post, soap; Proraso blue line; Muhle Soap and Cream Sandalwood; Nivea sensitive cooling after; shaving oil from local drugstore and many more...
My shave goes something like this:
1. Hot shower, facial cleanser (part of skincare), exfoliate twice a week (more often then that only makes things worse) with scrub/sponge+face soap/wet cloth.
2. Pre-shave: Proraso or oil, desinfecting the head of the razor with a blade in it by spraying it down with 70% alcohol and rinsing it off with hot water
3. Face lather, nicely thick and slick
4. One pass, with the grain, no preassure, not going over one spot multiple times
5. Cold water rinse, alum block, another rinse, gently drying, applying cooling balm for sensitive skin. Often times getting razor burn - applying cooling lotion on top of that for sensitive skin. If the burn is too bad, I go straight to Aloe Vera gel with panthenol - that saved my *** many times.
6. NEXT DAY: INGROWN HAIRS, RED SPOTS, BUMPS - treating them for a week, sometimes more. When my skin is nice and healed, all the hair is properly growing out, I trim to 1mm with an electric trimmer and go through this again.
SHAVING WITH COLD WATER DOES NOT HELP AT ALL... sadly.
BACKSTORY:
Cartridge razors gave me massive breakouts on my neck (at least that's what I thought it was, only later on have I learned that those are razor bumps). I switched to Phillips One Blade, grew a beard and only trimmed, being extra careful on my neck. There was a time, when I could even pull of a sort of clean shave by going against the grain with my OneBlade - DRY. Then, ingrowns came back. I found out about DE shaving so I bought Willkinson premium package with the twist to open razor, which is supposed to be super mild, boar brush which is marketed as synthetic and soap which smells awfull. Then I upgraded to R89, proraso, badger and boar brushes to try out which I like more and so on. Then I made my way through 200€ of products without getting a shave after which I didnt have ingrowns (bumps, red spots).
I feel like I am doing everything I can and the Proraso white line, even though helping with the razor burn a lot - to the point where I think I can shave the next day, was the last thing on my list that was supposed to help. Still, 24 hours after I shave I many hair follickles on my neck start to swell and they become unsightly red spots. Shaving more often resulted in more irritation and worse ingrowns. I have tried stuff like No Bumps Gel by Clubman Pinaud, a product very similar to Tend Skin (I cant get my hands on original tend skin, since it is expensive to ship to middle europe) and a few others. I even tried dissolving Aspirin in some water or aloe gel to act like pure salycilic acid that is supposed to exfoliate the skin, clearing the hair follicles and allowing the hair to grow out correctly.
Sorry for the longest post ever, I'm simply frustrated. If you have made the effort to read through this, please let me know if you have any tips for me. I do not feel like spending antother dollar (euro for me) for new stuff. I swore I will find the way to shave witout ingrown hair/razor bumps and I will enjoy it, but unfortunatelly, I was not able to for two years.
Thank you again and may you have a blessed day.
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