Neck Irritation Question

[JStreck6748]

Hey guys,

This is my first time posting on B&B and I hope I will learn a lot from the members here. I just started wet shaving with a DE razor a month ago. What made me switch initially was the bad neck irritation I always got from cartridge razors. Now I'm still getting irritation on my neck from shaving. I attached a few pictures so you can see exactly what I'm talking about. This is the best its looked post shaving with an Astra SP blade.

My current regime is showering with clearisil face wash, pat face dry. Immediately after showering splash a little warm water on my face and apply either proraso sandalwood or c.o. bigelow cream with a AOS pure badger brush. Shaving with a Slim Adjustable set at 3 and just doing one pass WTG. I have a layed back job, so I dont have to be BBS and 1 pass is good enough until I can avoid irritation. Post shave I use Thayers witch hazel and Niveas post shave balm. I have a sample blade pack and so far I have tried Merkur, Astra SP, and Wilkinson Sword, so far the Astras have been the best. I still have some Personna Reds, Feathers, Gilette Yellows, and Polsilver blades. My neck hair tends to grow out from my adams apple so I try to go east to west and west to east depending on the side. These past 2 weeks my skin always feels fine, it never burns and is not sensitive to touch post shaving, but the irritation is still there. You can see from the pictures the area I get irritation is actually the least dense area out of my whole beard. Maybe I just need to take a week off and make sure everything is fully healed, then try again?

Any help would be greatly appreciated and have a nice Monday.

 

[Wingnut]

Hi JStreck6748! First, welcome to B&B!

Looking at your pictures, two things come to mind:

Have you mapped your beard growth and are you SURE that you're shaving WTG in that area? For me, the top part of my neck grows from N-S, but the bottom actually grows S-N, so if that's the case for you as well, you actually may be shaving ATG in that area inadvertently, leading to some irritation.

Barring that, it looks like a blade angle problem to me. It's hard to maintain the proper angle as you transition down your neck. Time and practice will make things better if you concentrate on maintaining the lowest possible blade angle that still provides beard reduction. Of course, all of the above assumes that you're shaving with no pressure. If not, lighten up as well!

When you get a chance, please head over to our Hall of Fame and tell us all a bit more about yourself. There are links in my signature to areas of B&B of special interest to beginning shavers--perhaps you might like to have a look at them. If you ever have questions or run into problems, don't hesitate to post them up. We're a welcoming and friendly group here, and there's always someone around to offer advice or lend a hand.

Enjoy your time here, happy shaving, and once again, WELCOME!!

 

[SamF]

Yeah, firstly, definitely take some time off and let that heal. Even if you shave perfectly over an already irritated area, you're likely to end up aggravating it further. As for what's causing the irritation, particularly you've got a nick/weeper or two there, seems you're probably using a bit too much pressure or your angle is off.

Do you stretch your skin when you shave your neck? I find I have to. Obviously your neck isn't as flat as your face which makes it harder to keep consistent blade contact without using pressure, the way around this, for me anyway, is to stretch the skin. Where you've got that irritation on the right-upper bit below the jawline, I pull my skin up from the cheek to keep that as flat as possible., then where you've got the irritation around your adams apple, I pull my skin to the side of it.

The most important thing though is no pressure on the blade. I always used to get neck irritation like yours and thought I wasn't using any pressure, but now I almost pull the razor away from contact with neck and it still cuts the same, but the lack of pressure means I don't usually get any irritation, apart from a bit I have where the grain doesn't grow in a single direction.

 

[JStreck6748]

I do stretch the skin around my neck when shaving. I'm a pretty fit guy so my adams apple pertrudes quite a bit, so I've found if I dont I will cut myself on my adams apple. I pull from the bottom towards each side, depending on what side im doing. I have grown my beard out and around my neck it pretty much does a J. Thanks guys for the quick responses.

 

[Big_OC]

+1 to letting it heal. I had some of the same issues when I first started as I'm sure most noobs do. It just takes a bit of time to get your technique down. Once that happens you'll be enjoying your shaves.

 

[MFNEWYEARAMDG]

I switched to de shaving for the same reason! i'm pretty new to his still, but my irritation has decreased by 80%. So, dont give up! It will get better!
Let me start this with YMMV.
That is what my neck looks like when i try to go ATG. If that is truely what you get after only one with the grain pass, then you may be having an allergic reaction to something. Most of my irritation went away when I stopped using my Nivea ASB. Also, as wingnut says, focus in blade angle. If you can feel scratching on you're face, then you need to fix your blade angle...
Try an all natural after shave moisturizer instead of a balm from a major company. I use unrefined Shea butter with witch hazel and it really helps my skin bounce back after a bad shave... Which I still get every couple shaves because I get too confident with my developing technique. Good luck and keep working at it! Experiment with stuff... If something doesn't work for you, then hold on to it and try to sell it on the BST, you won't get all your money back, but you can recoup some losses.
Finally, let all hat irritation heal... I've tried shaving over irritation, it doesn't turn out well. Keep on keepin on.

 

[Neg8iveZero]

I am a newbie to the DE shaving thing, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I have had similar issues, in fact, I am on a shave hiatus due to a ill-timed moment of brevado in which I determined my DE skills were good enough to try for an ATG BBS. Needless to say, a humbled, red marked, man sits before this keyboard, typing to you. I am echoing what the above posters have said and I am also recommending that you pick up some Aloe, wash your face 2 times a day, and look into those feathers. I am sure it isn't common to recommend a sharper blade to someone with face irritation, but hear me out. You seem to have a thicker beard and sensitive skin (like me). I have found that I need an incredibly sharp blade and 0... Z E R O pressure to get a good shave without irritation. Of course blade angle is essential as well but if you put any pressure at all on the blade, you're gonna have a bad time. I kept unwittingly applying minute pressure because my blade wasn't sharp enough. The feathers allow me to slice through my whiskers with zero pressure and they just pop right off. Just my two cents, hope it helps and happy shaving!

 

[JStreck6748]

@ Neg8iveZero & MFNEWYEARAMDG,

Thanks for the input guys, I'll give the feather blades I have a try when I shave next. I'll be sure to let this fully heal and be 100% sure of hair direction before trying again. For this problem should I keep the setting on my adjustable low or try something more aggressive? It almost seems a more aggresive blade, assuming blade angle is correct, would cause better hair removal then a mild setting.

 

[Neg8iveZero]

Again, newb here. I haven't gotten my slim adjustable yet (shipped on Friday!) but from what I understand about them, the lower the setting, the less aggressive the angle and vice versa. I can't imagine a more aggressive angle could help in any way with razor irritation. A sharper blade could reduce pulling but a more aggressive angle may be too much for sensitive skin to handle, especially using feathers. I would try one at a time. Try the feathers out (be sure to use a LIGHT touch and be careful) and if that improves your shave and you're feeling extra brave, maybe kick up the adjustment dial one notch and try it out but I wouldn't expect it to improve irritation. Typically more aggressive angle + sensitive skin = irritation.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

I have the same growth pattern and the same sensitivity. Of the blades you mentioned I find the Astra SP, Red Personna, and Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellows to be the least irritating. Feathers dont' hurt but leave me with the same red dots. Merkur just tears me up. I also really like the Proraso Sensitive soap right now, super slick and cushioning lather. Taking a few days off should let things settle down and that's a good place to start. With the Astra SP and Proraso Sensitive I can get BBS with no irritation using 4 passes: from throat out to the sides (WTG), south to north (XTG), north to south (GTX), and then finally ATG. If you don't need to be that close then just do one or two WTG passes and call it good. Get a good, slick lather and the lightest of touches.

Sandalwood oil can be an irritant, as can benzoil peroxide and other things in Clearsil. Maybe leave that for evening face washes. You're soaping up your face with your brush at least once when you shave, call that good enough for the morning.

Good luck!

Scott

 

[JStreck6748]

I took some of the advice and grew my beard out for a few days and made sure everything was mapped out correctly. I also tried to use the least amount of pressure possible and the correct blade angle. But, to save my life I cant get rid of this irritation. The thing thats strange is it is never painful both during the shave or afterwards, but roughly 24 hours later I'll get this neck irritation that again is not painful or sensitive to the touch. If I wasn't looking in the mirror I wouldn't think I had any. I've tried different blades, and creams the only thing I haven't tried is making my slim adjustable more aggressive. I've always had it set at a 3. If theres any advice you guys could give me it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mastershake]

okay when i started this is what i looked like but probably worse. it was a mess honestly. i have VERY VERY thick hair and i was not cutting them easily enough. so another pass. more pressure different angle etc etc.. would not go away. a few things slowly happened. first i got i learned what no pressure meant. i thought i was not applying any but i was actually still using to much even though i thought i was literally barely touching my skin. second thing was a better blade angle. this made ALL the different. i was trying to feel the blade cutting the hair and was trying to keep the blade on the skin in a way. not working. i had to straighten up the razor. i know it may sound weird but i was angling it to much from 90deg of the skin. i actually had to keep it straighter. last thing was to follow my hair better. my hair on my neck is NUTS its all sorts of weird directions. for me i cant do any kind of one type of "grain" pattern because the hair is all different directions. so i now have to very carefully try somehow to follow this. for me the razor and / blade did make a bit of difference but not as much as the above.

i get VERY little irritation most of the time. also changing to shave soap make a big difference. if i try to fast or try to get every last hair i will get some redness and a bit of fire. for me to have a nice bbs shave i know ill be a small bit irritated after but it doesnt last long and it goes away fairly quickly now.

i also believe your skin needs to adjust. just like if someone switches from a cart to a electric it take some time for the skin to adjust imo. i feel its the same with de.

one last thing i know everyone is preaching feather. didnt work for me. for me a but LESS sharp blade at first was very helpful. since i was sometimes not realizing using a bit to much pressure this was more gentle and not cutting me up like the super sharp types were not good at first. i wanted to work on technique and angle. if i could do a nice dfs with a duller blade i knew i could do it with a sharper one later.

not sure if any of this helps but hope it does.

edit: also have you checked any of those red spots for ingrowns?? i had some of those also at first and got red bumps just like those from them also.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

+1. Feather gets me a close shave but always some neck irritation. I'm having much better luck with Astra SP and Gillette 7 O'Clock yellow.

Scott

 

[Joey]

Bump stopper (5.99 @ Walgreens) saved me while learning to DE shave. Now I never really use it since my technique is perfect (okay, near perfect.. I cut myself bad today.)

 

[Texas]

Try a "half" swallow to move your adam's apple upwards. It will go up about an inch. Hold it there; it might help to hold your breath for a few seconds. Now shave where your adam's apple was. maybe that will help that area. As for the rest of your neck, I can't help.

 

[sharpen]

I also have this problem : irritation that is not stinging, or painful to the touch, but you still have that red bump around your adam's apple.

I have given up : i simply go for a DFS in the area. WTG or XTG, but I don't go ATG anymore.
This has reduced the redness. Also, cold water shaving helped a bit.

 

[mastershake]

yep cold water on my neck works much better than warm. even after more than half a year im still learning every time i shave. i almost have it down to where i can get a bbs with any blade BUT at the cost of some irritation with many blades. this is why i tested and or am testing near every blade out there as i go. for me the best blade for irritation has been the voskhod, and second the super iridium. many others are good but with those 2 i have very little irritation. it even took a while to learn to shave over the small bumps from previous ingrowns without opening them up. so stay with it i think you will get it. personally i dont like to wait to long between even with some small irritation the reason is its gets far worse for me after 3-5 days growth when i shave that off. i would rather shave at the most every 2 days if possible even with mild irritation. it will go away imo once you get it right even if you shave the area. i did this today actually from my last shave with a certain blade i had some wicked irritation that has slowly been going away over the last week or so and i still shave it and its still going away even after being shaved. i just have been doing a very decent dfs on that area and a bbs everywhere else int he meantime. sorry to post so much but i went through this at first and i hate to see someone quite because of it. it will get better.

lastly i also discovered a much more wet lather helped. when its irritated i dont go for a crazy thick lather but a bit more wet / slick one and it helps a LOT.

 

[bemiller]

I, for the most part have stopped going ATG on the neck due to neck irritation. Even a year in and I still get patches of irritation due to (what I have to believe) is still too much pressure. My hair growth pattern is the same as yours but even more complicated. 1" line N-S down the adam's apple and E-W towards left ear and W-E towards right ear. Very complicated and difficult to do proper passes on. The most important thing if you get razor burn and bumps like that is to let it heal 100%. I always think I can go a day without shaving and it will heal 100% and it never does. Also, as said by others - use more natural products which will reduce the chance of irritants. I use JASON 84% aloe moisturizer and alcohol free witch hazel post shave. Keep practicing, it will get better.

 

[JStreck6748]

I usually wait at least 2 day before shaving again but the thing is it will take 3-4 days to fully go away sometimes. My acne prone skin will break out if I don't shave often enough. It looks like I'm just going to have to try and change one thing at a time until it improve.

 

[tm3]

I'd give it a week to heal, then N-S pass only with adjustable on lowest setting, very very careful of angle. Witch hazel only on neck post shave.