Post Shave Irritation, What Works Best For You?

[BigJ]

After a ‘rough’ shave my approach is:
#1. Cold water rinse
#2. Soothing splash: Lucky Tiger, Speick or Pitralon

Then, figure out what I will do better tomorrow!!

 

[Mark Brandon Read]

If it's really bad which is rare these days (fingers X'd) the thing that cures it immediately is Hydrocortisone cream, as another poster mentioned. But it should only be used sparingly and not often.

 

[MrSpeedy]

I use Speick even when I don't have irritation, but it does a great job when I do get some. If it's still bad I use Nivea Sensitive ASB. You could also consider skipping your next shave to let everything calm down.

 

[gwsmallwood]

An ounce of prevention...

Cold water shaving- it works

I will admit I have been skeptical of using cold water for shaving. I tried it this morning, and it really works :w00t: I skipped Kyle's prep and just splashed my face with some cold water. I had not irritation and my shave was closer. I must say, I will not be endorsing Kyle's prep anymore...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

Cold water rinse
Alum
Cold water rinse
Hyaluronic acid
Moisturizer

 

[Ky K]

Cold water rinse.
Alum.
Cold rinse.
Witch Hazel, aloe, glycerin mix let dry.
AS.
If it’s bad bad Nivea sensitive over it.
The witch Hazel mix really does a great job of calming down the skin without burn and leaves my skin super soft and hydrated without being wet, greasy or sticky feeling at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Benzadmiral]

Cold water rinse, aftershave, moisturizing balm/lotion (I use the $1.00 Assured stuff from Dollar Tree), and Clubman powder.

 

[@ngel]

I do exactly the same as you @South Dakota Guy.

Lucky Tiger is an excellent product and full of skin food ingredients and also love the fact that absorbs quickly and leave the skin supple and fresh.

I personally wouldn't recommend other products after the shave but I definitely share the point some guys have already made: find what caused the irritation and try to change or fix it so you can reduce the irritation in the first place.

I may add that I use balms in the morning after rinsing my face to give it moisture and protection for the day weather I shaved or not (I shave in the evenings) and drink plenty of water to keep my whole body hydrated and that keeps my skin healthy, is hard to accomplish a comfortable shave if the skin is not in good shape in the first place and the skin, even the face, is affected by our overall health.

 

[tcl]

Noticed better healing and sensation with rosehip oil

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The first thing I do is chastise myself for allowing too much pressure to creep into my technique. After the self-flogging subsides I use cold water, followed by WH, followed by moisturizer/balm.

My favorite (and only for about a year now) is Clinique Moisturizer for Men (although I hear it's the same formula as the one for women). It's light, absorbs into the skin almost immediately - one of my favorite parts - and doesn't leave a greasy feel post shave. It also requires very little product, so a tube lasts a long time.

I have used Castle Forbes balm and it is a great product, but I found it hard to get only the two drops required out of the bottle. 3-4 drops and I was left with a greasy face for hours.

⬅ This One?​

The main thing is finding the cause and ridding yourself of it. Generally, there are only a few causes, easy to identify as a group, and not so easy to narrow down, but all can be applied all at once.

Also try...

• Cold water shaving
• ShaveWorks’ The Cool Fix
• A better blade

The Cool Fix is my go to if the shave leaves me in self induced distress which doesn't very quickly go away, but I've fortunately not used the stuff in a long time. It's sitting there ready, just in case. Initially it burns like crazy but it truly helps on a very bad morning.

There's an aspirin mixture (DIY), but The Cool Fix works better for me.

Rave mentioned Hyaluroic Acid. It's a game changer. I use it every day so it's not any sort of rescue remedy for me, but maybe it could be. There's a thread on the stuff telling how to use it.

I need a moisturizer, too, on a regular basis.

Main thing is reducing, maybe eliminating, the contributing issues.

Building a good lather is much of the battle. Technique, most of the rest.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Furex]

If I went overboard, Proraso Pre/Post. Other folks prefer its brother from another mother, Prep.

To avoid going overboard, keep in mind that perfect is the enemy of perfectly good.

And some areas might not seem BBS, but will achieve it after the actual shave itself. It's magic.

 

[NPK]

Just thinking outside the box...have you considered that your blade choice might be contributor?

(In my situation I have sensitive skin so I picked a mild razor Tech, which is far less likely to cause irritation.)

When I was looking for blades, in my ~30 sampler there were probably a handful that caused me to have irritation after the shave. I even tried a blade that I knew caused zero irritation, then went back to the suspect blade and sure enough irritation returned.

 

[annik]

I just accidentally found very good cream, I use my wife's Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream after shave. Soooo good!

 

[Scaramouche]

WH and Trumper's Skin Food. Alternatively, La Toja AS balm.

 

[Kyle89]

On a good shave, and my skin isn't too dry, I'll just use a splash. If my face feels dry, out comes the Nivea Sensitive balm.

If my shave is particularly bad, I'll use witch hazel, then the splash, then the Nivea.

 

[Benoni]

If I get some weepers from no prep, rushing or testing new items; I'll usually apply the leftover lather on the affected area(s). Afterwards I'll rinse with cold water and apply a splash without any synthetic fragrance.

In case I see some redness coming up on my neck, aloe will always take care of that!

 

[xiletero]

Bump patrol
Any alcohol containing AS
Aquavelva 5-1 (great stuff) or get Trader Joes antioxidant facial cream...the bomb

Or move to all Speick (soap, AS and balm) probably the best mix.....

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

In addition to what I posted earlier, sometimes, particularly in very dry weather, or if I've overdone something shaving, I might use my hyaluronic acid + moisturizer again later in the day, or at bedtime, or both.

There's a thread on Noxzema. If you want to find it it's worth looking into. The Equate version is better than the currently available brand.​

On occasion (like this morning) I used hyaluronic acid first and then the Noxzema (Equate) above. I'll shave about an hour after I applied these. I had noticed when waking up my skin felt a tad burned. It's a dry (heated house and office) environment issue.

If things are even worse, shea butter is very helpful.

There are many ways to skin a bird.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Darkknight79]

TOBS Luxury Aftershave Balm, after alum, cold water, Witchhazel and Alcohol based aftershave splash.