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Neck Irritation & What to Do About It

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
Great post OP! I would add a cold water splash before the shave and after it. Take the heat out. It sounds too simple to be effective, but this helped me. I also shave with cold water to rinse my razor off. I had the same issue early on in my wet shaving journey...irritation on the neck. This was one of those things that I added to my routine that made a difference.
 
have now found the technique and a particular rig that allows me to shave daily with a clear neck. I will still get irritation when experimenting with new razors[...]

"Doc, it only hurts when I do this."
-- "Don't do that."

Thank you. Yours was a helpful post with a nice condensation of quality lessons learned, and it was well augmented by others on a pertinent topic.

The old joke I reference above did occur to me when I read your post, but it seemed inappropriate because you offered such quality content and I offer so little, as now.

The reason I make the joke now, is that in subsequent posts you deflect encouragement to using a SR by saying you "don't want to go down that rabbit hole."

Now. I'm a tea drinker who needs exactly one cup of coffee a day. And I'm wearing it today. You're down the frickin' rabbit hole brother. Which one? No. It's a warren.

Anyway. SR sounds like an excellent possible path, which you may take or leave, now or at another time in your life.

All the best. Enjoy. I'm wearing it.
 
"Doc, it only hurts when I do this."
-- "Don't do that."

Thank you. Yours was a helpful post with a nice condensation of quality lessons learned, and it was well augmented by others on a pertinent topic.

The old joke I reference above did occur to me when I read your post, but it seemed inappropriate because you offered such quality content and I offer so little, as now.

The reason I make the joke now, is that in subsequent posts you deflect encouragement to using a SR by saying you "don't want to go down that rabbit hole."

Now. I'm a tea drinker who needs exactly one cup of coffee a day. And I'm wearing it today. You're down the frickin' rabbit hole brother. Which one? No. It's a warren.

Anyway. SR sounds like an excellent possible path, which you may take or leave, now or at another time in your life.

All the best. Enjoy. I'm wearing it.
The funny thing is I'm one push away from going down the shavette hole but no is enabling that. Not sure if that's because they're less popular or it's a warning.

I am hopeful for my SR future but I have a hard time believing it is the promised land, and there is a lot of buy in involved.

I wasn't exactly asking for advice in this thread although I am open to it. I think the biggest area where I personally need improvement is lather. Despite over a decade of somewhat casually trying to lather I still can't get these super slick protective lathers I see.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
I'm one push away from going down the shavette hole but no is enabling that

Go for it! The “regular” barber razors usually take both half DE blades and Injector-style blades and the schmancy fancy ones take either AC-format blades, hair shaper blades, cabinet blades, or every disposable blade under the son.

Editing to add: The half-DE barber razors should allow the user to shave at a more shallow angle than most DE safety razors, especially with no guard in the way. A high reward/moderate risk activity.

I have a schmancy fancy Mythus barber razor (it’s orange!) and have had my eye all the rest (especially a Turkish-style barber razor sold under the Crispy Linez brand name and a Fromm/Diane hair shaper razor).

With the exception of the hair shapers (Annie, Fromm/Diane, Personna, Weck, and the like), there’s no real temptation to learn stropping and resharpening to save the blades. A bunch of Feather Hi-Stainless or any other DE snapped in half will never be the time/cost rabbit hole of honing.

Do it for your children. Honing a straight razor when that first boy comes by to pick up your daughter has been scientifically proven to be more effective than cleaning a 12 gauge in the same scenario.

Bet you’re right. Seeing my future father-in-law and his brother cleaning AKMs when I showed up didn’t stop me.
 
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many great idea to help the OP with problem irritation. My girlfriend's son has had an on-going problem with irritation so I can share your ideas with him. Many thanks.
 
Now. My ”irritation” is…irritating to say the least. I never get razor burn or bumps or ingrown hairs. My beard sits right between ”medium” and light growth. I need to shave every 3rd day. Sometimes every other day. I also work as an army officer in the swedish army so I need to be clean shaven.

My irritation creeps up the day after the shave. In THAT spot alone. It stings, Itches and becomes red with some red ”streaks” running parallell with the growth. I dont feel it unless I stretch my skin. Looking up or sideways.

Perhaps you should consult a dermatologist. Although I have no experience with this myself, I read another post recently that described similar streaks and they turned out to be ingrowns.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
@pdillon - on AC-format barber razors…. Most of the affordable ones feel like the cap of a regular safety razor only with 50mm cutting surface instead of 32mm wide surface. If you routinely shave with the cap of your safety razor on your skin, it will be mostly familiar. Half DE barber razors are probably better because more variety of blade types for usually much less $$$.

I hauled out my orange Mythus barber razor to give it a whirl, but I’m starting to get better at WTG-only with my Fatip Grande so I’m conflicted.
 
It was a pleasant surprise. I originally learned to use a straight out of curiosity but after a while I realized my neck was perfectly clear with daily use. They are a lot more benign than people make them out to be. Very nice on the skin once you get your technique down. You also mentioned GEM blades and came to the same conclusion. I would have mentioned that too but it slipped my mind haha.
This was the same for me. I tried straight razor shaving as a kind of bucket list challenge. Pretty soon I was getting great shaves without a hint of irritation. My neck cleared up and I was able to shave daily without an issue. It was slow at first but now I’m as quick as anything else.
 
And for those that have tried every step described above and continue to have problems, get a Norelco One Blade and try it....not a very close shave but presentable.....good for those trouble areas and use your favorite mix for the rest.
 
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