Getting nicks 2+ months , part 3 (now razor burn problems)

[austen33]

You might want to add the other threads as my shave journey continues.

So what I did:

Now getting fewer nicks and wipers. Used non faulty blades. In my cases, better lather (make it creamy with no bubbles) did make a difference. I am now using gillete 0 cream. Getting 2-3 nicks per shave always in lower neck area.

However, lower neck area is still red when shaving. For me, in order to shave the lower area of Neck, I go 1/4 or 1/2 of the blade area instead of full lenght. This allows a bit of pressure to get any stuck whiskers. I also found that Merkur @2 or @3 (i use 3 for most of face besides lower neck) with astra worked decent for my setup. I started 2 or 2.5 on neck now since less irritation (Initially I was at @3 for neck but I found often more razor burn). On neck I go across the grain and then with the grain... it is only way I found to get rid of the whiskers there. Leaving whiskers there tends to cause irritation later sometimes.

I switched to using witch hazel. Worked fine, there was some improvement.. but once after shaving immediately I did gym cardio activities, and my lower neck started getting very red for now reason. I assume no gym immed. after shaving as it increases irritation.

So, next steps for me is to try witch hazel a bit more.. before giving conclusive results if i still have razor burn.


I am fair skin with red spots. I also found that it is hard to differentiate on my skin between razor bumps, razor burn and just red spots. I always had slight reddish spots on face only. I think the latest ones seems to be razor burn with fewer bumps than before.

 

[austen33]

I only have a few red spots on face without shaving.. so its not like freckles. with shaving lower neck is just bad. I am on witch hazel and @2 on lower neck for 4 shaves now.

 

[austen33]

Added how it looks 5 hours after shave today with witch hazel treatment. (the one that starts with t + nivea). With normal after shave i get 9 spots instead of 5. This is right middle lower of neck.

 

[Your Majesty]

The adjustable merkur razors are hardly user friendly. Maybe you need something else like a vintage gillette.

 

[BigJ]

The adjustable merkur razors are hardly user friendly. Maybe you need something else like a vintage gillette.

+1! I agree. Perhaps a 34C or one of the EJ 89 series??

 

[NPK]

I started with arguably the mildest razor out there...the Wilkinson Sword Classic then moved to Techs....I have had maybe 6 weepers since I started shaving in Auguat 2019 with a DE razor. ...and I am a rookie at this... I moved directly from an electric razor for over 30 years to DE shaving...never tried cartridges once.

Try a Tech or even the Wilkinson ~$10 (comes with 5 blades can be your travel razor later if you wish) and see how it goes.

Also...did you map your facial hair pattern?

 

[Ryanshh]

I am far from an expert and am still learning how to get comfortable shaves all the time with all of my equipment. I would echo making sure you map your hair growth, but I would also recommend experimenting and doing things you, "aren't supposed to." I have a place on my neck that gives me trouble regularly. For months I doggedly tried to lighten my pressure and get better results with a three-pass shave starting with a with the grain pass.

I got sick of getting bad shaves so started trying a two-pass shave on my neck. This never got close and I had a lot of unshaved hairs at the end of it and didn't like it. So in a fit of frustration, I decided to spend a week shaving with different combinations of two-pass shaves. WTG + XTG1, WTG + XTG2, WTG + ATG (all of these were similarly worthless for me)....etc. Eventually, I realized that the best, most comfortable way for me to shave is going ATG on the first pass and XTG (in the direction that is slightly more ATG since my hair grows slightly diagonally there.) For no reason I can explain, this seems to consistently give me the best shaves.

I also started paying more attention to "stretching my skin" and making sure that I had a mostly flat surface to shave with each pass.

Good luck figuring things out. I still get suboptimal shaves, but I get uncomfortable shaves with cartridge razors and have a lot more fun with a DE.

 

[GaryTha]

It's unlikely your learning opportunities are gifts from your hardware or software.

• Nicks are almost always caused by too much pressure.
• Irritation is almost always caused by too steep of a shaving angle.

For more information, I recommend clicking on EXCALIBUR in my signature and reading the first few hundred posts.

 

[RayClem]

In examining your facial photo, there are several things I notice. First, your overall skin tone is ruddy. It also looks like your facial hair may be red. Although my hair is now white, when I was younger, my beard and skin were a lot like yours.

If you look at the way the individual hairs are growing out of your face, it appears that on your cheeks, the hairs are protruding at a 45 degree angle from top front to bottom back. That means that when shaving with the grain, you razor should be moving in that same general direction. However, when you get to the jawline, the hairs now seem to be growing from chin to ear. Thus, you should be shaving in that direction when shaving your jawline. Then when you get to your neck, the grain direction changes once again, perhaps more than once. Thus, you will need to adjust your shaving stroke througout the shave to accommodate the grain direction of your beard. That is what is meant by "mapping your beard".

Anyone with sensitive skin has to be careful of their shaving technique. Nicks, cuts and weepers are almost always a sign of poor technique unless you have a nicked blade of something else unusual. Learn to shave with minimal pressure, only enough pressure to maintain the razor blade in contact with your face. Also, be sure you keep the razor blade at the proper angle relative to your skin. That can be difficult when shaving the jawline, chin and neck. If you shave at a blade angle that is too steep, you will be scraping off skin cells along with your beard. Those with sensitive skin cannot afford to do that.

Every razor has a range of blade angles at which it will work most effectively. I have watched shave videos from some with less sensitive skin and they often tend to shave with a steep blade angle. They will often recommend resting the safety bar of the razor against your cheek with the razor handle vertical. Then they raise the handle until they begin to feel against their skin. This works for some folks, but for those with sensitive skin, I recommend the opposite. Start with the cap of the razor flat against your cheek and the razor handle horizontal and then lower the handle until you feel the blade on your skin. At that point, you will have a shallow blade angle that allows the blade to do the job for which it was designed without scraping off skin cells. This method is sometimes called "riding the cap". The difficult part is maintaining this same blade angle as your go around difficult parts of your face such as your chin, jawline and neck. However, over time, you will develop muscle memory that will allow you to maintain this angle without even thinking about it.


I also suggest you get a soap that provides excellent slickness, excellent cushion, and excellent post-shave conditioning. Check out some of the shaving soap and cream threads for recommendations. Getting a soap that works for your beard and skin can make a big difference in the quality of your shave. Even though I have sensitive skin I can shave three full passes plus a clean-up pass with zero irritation. However, that does require the right hardware, the right software and the right technique.

 

[Ryanshh]

Good luck figuring things out. I still get suboptimal shaves, but I get uncomfortable shaves with cartridge razors and have a lot more fun with a DE.

Noticed after I posted this, but I want to be clear, I generally get excellent shaves now. I should have said, "I still get suboptimal shaves from time to time...."

 

[GaryTha]

Noticed after I posted this, but I want to be clear, I generally get excellent shaves now. I should have said, "I still get suboptimal shaves from time to time...."

I always get superoptimal shaves. However, sometimes they are enhanced with learning opportunities.

 

[Rustyshackelford]

From what I have read of this thread and your conditions, I think that grain mapping your beard is going to be key to your success. Get a good slick soap, learn to lather it properly. Go to YouTube and look up Ruds and check out his videos. He also has a good summary of soap characteristics and performance. Maybe break your shave down into smaller areas. I learned my grain direction best by lathering, then moving my finger over the area I was going to make a pass over with a razor and any direction I felt the resistance or more texture of stubble was how I identified against or across the grain.. shave the first pass in the direction that is smoothest with your finger. The second thing you may want to consider and evaluate is the razor and blade combo. Understanding this is a YMMV hardware pairing, but a more efficient or more aggressive combo may be easier on you with 1 with the grain pass and just light touch ups on any major trouble spots. I found the mühle r41 with a medium to mild blade to be my most comfortable shave because it was so efficient in a single pass with the grain and no added pressure. There is little to no need to irritate your skin with additional passes. For instance, I have given myself a wicked case of razor burn with mild vintage Gillette tech and a super crazy sharp blade, despite the shave being comfortable and having a great tabac lather, repeated passes over my skin led to irritation and burn. You may also need to accept that for the current time and maybe indefinitely that you will not be a 3 pass shave kind of guy. I am not, and I learned that the hard way. A day between shaves and an efficient minimal pass setup might be your ticket.

If nicks are an issue and are accurately the result of too much pressure, maybe a stainless handle heavier than your stock handle might help. Or it might make it worse. I find that I like a heavier handle and I just lean/rest the razor head against my skin and let it glide down under its own weight. This was helpful in avoiding pressure when learning a new razor.

 

[austen33]

Ryanshh thanks for your description. Indeed, my lower neck hair is v shaped. I have Higher V interleaving with Lower V. Then It translates to inverted v on the lower right sides of the neck.

I was thinking of other things as well and tried today:
* Using cold or mild water: (I think mild water is beneficial for me, this is combination of lather + water, In my case I found hot water made it worse and had at times hidden the very smooth whisker with the skin. Cold water I only tried on one pass, did not improve irritation but allowed to fetch more whiskers easier. I think mild water makes sense, but I do not have concrete proof. Cold not so sure if had distinct improvement. )
* Shaving more horizontally on neck (THIS is big danger, i actually did not go full horizontal) , so to do something close to this I had to go like horizontal - 30 degrees direction slowly.. I cannot find an explanation of somebody who can actually do horizontal on neck efficiantly , would rather not go there.
* I did do more advanced things than across the grain. No change in irritation amount.

My next things:
* continue this for a bit.. i think I might give up on witch hazel if makes little difference.
* maybe see dermatologist for solution.
* do fusion comparions pass.


Anyways this is anoying for me. For some years I shaved with fusion without cream or aftershave just hot water. Using that, I had no nicks but razor bumps. I hoped that by switching to safety, these would go away. It is also true that they come back for me on 3rd day after shaving. So, I get: first day razor burn, second day almost okay, third day of no shave burn/bumps again.

Does not seem to be presure thing... might be related to angle but not sure. I put cap perpendicular to neck and rotate until it catches hair.. I do not rotate more as I generally found that If I rotated too much it started being really aggressive. Anyways 30 vs 36 degree angle not sure if any difference...

 

[Kevin_K]

I think you have gotten some very good advice.
If you haven't (and if you mentioned it sorry I missed it), try a pre shave oil either by itself or mixed with whatever you use to create your lather.

 

[samhain666]

I think the latest ones seems to be razor burn with fewer bumps than before.

I get red spots on neck a day or 2 after my shower. My hair grows flat to my skin so I assume those are baisicly spots that get scratched by the hair coming out. Similar if you dragged a fingernail across the neck and get a red line that would not hurt/itch

 

[steveclarkus]

You might want to add the other threads as my shave journey continues.

So what I did:

Now getting fewer nicks and wipers. Used non faulty blades. In my cases, better lather (make it creamy with no bubbles) did make a difference. I am now using gillete 0 cream. Getting 2-3 nicks per shave always in lower neck area.

However, lower neck area is still red when shaving. For me, in order to shave the lower area of Neck, I go 1/4 or 1/2 of the blade area instead of full lenght. This allows a bit of pressure to get any stuck whiskers. I also found that Merkur @2 or @3 (i use 3 for most of face besides lower neck) with astra worked decent for my setup. I started 2 or 2.5 on neck now since less irritation (Initially I was at @3 for neck but I found often more razor burn). On neck I go across the grain and then with the grain... it is only way I found to get rid of the whiskers there. Leaving whiskers there tends to cause irritation later sometimes.

I switched to using witch hazel. Worked fine, there was some improvement.. but once after shaving immediately I did gym cardio activities, and my lower neck started getting very red for now reason. I assume no gym immed. after shaving as it increases irritation.

So, next steps for me is to try witch hazel a bit more.. before giving conclusive results if i still have razor burn.


I am fair skin with red spots. I also found that it is hard to differentiate on my skin between razor bumps, razor burn and just red spots. I always had slight reddish spots on face only. I think the latest ones seems to be razor burn with fewer bumps than before.

I was still getting nicks after 55 years. It’s the nature of the beast. Change to straight razors and no more nicks, weepers or razor burn.

 

[Ttd1v1ne]

I am new to de wet shaving. I actually had shaves that look exactly like yours . I kept everything consistent preshave lather and post shave routine wise. I just today achieved my first shave without the negative result. I did so by switching out razors until I found the right fit for me. The razor that did it for me is the timeless bronze oc
Feather asd2 , asd2 with ikon oc base and merkur 34c all caused the irritation you have and the not bbs glass finish. This is literally first time ever I can rub fingers rather hard in circular motion and feel no stubble.
With asd2 (only picture I have from 4 days ago not the worst by any means for my 2 months o):

4 days later with timeless needs improving but much better...)

Added how it looks 5 hours after shave today with witch hazel treatment. (the one that starts with t + nivea). With normal after shave i get 9 spots instead of 5. This is right middle lower of neck.



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