I can't have a proper shave no matter what I try and it's affecting my mental health

[guitarslinger]

When purchasing my DE from RazorEmporium, I had also purchased a beginner's blade set that included a handful of offerings from each brand:

Lord
Astra Blue
Super Max
Dorco
Treet

I should note, on my first shave I had used Treet, which RazorEmporium designates 2.5 stars in terms of sharpness (Astra Blue is 2 stars in sharpness for comparison) and I cut my face up with it. Now that could have been due to the blade or due to inexperience. Been using Astras since.

There are a few okay blades available from Lord, Super Max, and Dorco. (my opinion of course)
Lord - Platinum Class
Super Max - Diamond anything
Dorco - Prime and Titan.

That said, it's truly a disservice to new shavers to specify the "sharpness" of a blade. It makes no sense. Shavers of all levels need to know that "mild" blades can feel rough depending on the face, and facilitate "over-shaving". This is one of the main reasons I tell people to keep trying new blades until it clicks, and it feels SMOOOOTH. The sharpest blade in the world could also happen to be the smoothest blade for your face. Less passes = less chance for irritation. "sharper" blade, assuming it's compatible with your face = less passes (hopefully).

Every noob owes it to themselves to try:
Feather
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Nacet
Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow
Gillette Silver Blue

 

[FarmerTan]

As @Joshua223 said, I'd give that One Blade by Phillips a chance, IF it's available in your area.

And be sure to use as clean as you can possibly get razors, etc. The skin is your largest organ in (on?) the body, and incredibly well designed, but can become infected, especially when irritated like the area on your neck.

 

[kingfisher]

Another razor to consider is the Gillette Guard. It is a plastic disposable, very cheap, only one blade, very mild, made for the Indian subcontinent but available to all online.

It's about two bucks for the razor and the refills are about 50 cents each. It's about the gentlest razor I've ever found.

I know this goes against forum wisdom, but also consider using something like King of Shaves gel for a while, rather than lathering up a soap or a cream.

Good luck. I hope things get better for you.

 

[Scarry Knight]

If you eat a lot of dairy, reduce it and see if in two weeks things clear up a little.

Wheat as well, if your willing to go that route.

Dairy kept my face and neck broken out. Wheat had given me a red blotchy neck and pronounced strawberry mark at the back of my neck. I found I had celiac disease and left wheat out of my diet and my neck blotchiness cleared up. Having quit dairy over twenty-five years ago, I seldom, if ever get pimples or ingrown hairs from shaving, which were commonplace before I discovered I had the dairy allergy/sensitivity. As stated the skin is your biggest organ, and they are all connected. An inflamed gut can lead to inflamed skin, making shaving more difficult and problematic.

Dairy is full of hormones, and can legally, and often does, contain puss, and with a person’s hormones (sometimes over productive) added to those, can cause over secretion of your skin oils, leading to plugged pores, then acne abscesses and ingrown hairs.

You might moisturize with jojoba oil, and treat the ingrowns with a salicylic acid product, a zinc product, and an astringent scrub.

 

[naughtilus]

My first thought though is to use a pivoting head cartridge with a lube strip, and not shave every single day.

This.

 

[MacBolder]

This is gonna be a long post. I am 21 years old and I never had a father figure growing up. No one taught me how to shave or anything. I tried literally everything I could find on the internet but my neck always turns out be a red mess with ingrown hairs. I put soo much effort and time and money on shaving and the result is always the same. It’s destroying my mental health, I always feel furious right after a shave in the bathroom. I’m having anger issues just because of this. And it’s even hurting me more because after all the experimentation, the result is same.

I used DE safety razors, Mach3 razors and electric shavers. I tried shaving with those after a shower, after a steam bath. Used the hot towel technique. Tried washing my face with really cold water right after a shave. Always used an aftershave lotion-cream, there isn’t one time that I didn’t use an after shave cream. I tried all of the Nivea products and many other brands. I tried using moisturizers before a shave. I tried using a shave soap, shaving cream, shaving gel and even shaving foam for shaving. I tried all those stuff with products below. I literally tried all of the combinations just to see if it would work.

Disposable Razors: Trash.

DE Safety Razors: Tried with many different blades for about 4 months. The problem is my hair grows in all kind of directions on my neck; up-down-left-right etc. so I just can't have a shave where I go against the grain no matter how hard I try. Also, since the head is not moving, it does a terrible job on the contour of my neck. I watched 30+ video and read everything I could find. It doesn’t work. I have already sunk soo much time and effort into this and I won’t waste any more time or money on this.

Mach3 Razors: Best non-electric razor experience and yet it still doesn’t work. Just like the safety razor, mach3 has to go against the grain in some spots around my neck because hair grows in all kinda directions. And the results are no different.

Rotary Electric Shaver(Phillips): By far the best one, but still messes up my neck. Firstly, I passed on foil shavers because people said rotary shavers are better for those who have hair growing all kinda directions. First dry shave is amazing, no nicks-cuts or anything it’s just perfect. But the next day dry shaving is terrible; all my neck red. And when it comes to wet shaving, my neck is red all day. Wet shaving with the electric razor second day is worse, the third day is even worse and the fourth day, well I think you know it. Electric razor was the best one among the products but my neck is still a horrible mess.

My last step is to see a dermatologist. But if I do that I will have to pay a fortune because of insurance related stuff, I won’t discuss it here because it’s a whole different problem. I’m in a really special situation that I will have to pay a lot of money just see a doctor. But if I can’t find any solution I will pay that money and see a doctor. Please, please let's just keep the discussion about shaving.

So, at this point do you have any suggestions for me? I feel desperate.

Start minimal, one pass, with a forgiving cartridge like Harrys , and some Tend Skin as aftershave. Within a week you should be fine, unless there is an underlying medical condition.

 

[Tomo]

There is no shame in defeat if you have given it your best shot. Have you considered a short clipper beard instead of a daily shave?

 

[StewB]

What kind of lather are you using when you use a cartridge or DE manual razor? For me, better lather slickness means better results.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Start minimal, one pass, with a forgiving cartridge like Harrys , and some Tend Skin as aftershave. Within a week you should be fine, unless there is an underlying medical condition.

This is a four year old thread and the op you’re giving advice to hasn’t been back in four years, he’s not going to see this and the advice others are now giving him.

 

[JCarr]

Most people who start down the wet shaving path have problems not entirely dissimilar to yours. My advice is to start slow. You mention that against the grain is generally where the issues begin to show up. So...I wouldn't shave against the grain at all...at least...not until your happy with the results from shaving only downward with the grain. Doing that will make you look presentable for work.

When you've mastered shaving just downward with the grain...then one morning, you can ease yourself into shaving against the grain.

The neck area is always a mish-mosh of hair growth directions...so don't sweat the reality of that too much. Again, just shave downwards and when you're done...rinse and be done with the shave. Start like that and in time, you'll be able to shave in different directions.

 

[MacBolder]

This is a four year old thread and the op you’re giving advice to hasn’t been back in four years, he’s not going to see this and the advice others are now giving him.

Ups