Razor - Related Acne

[rossination]

Hello all - long time no see! School started up and my B&B readership has fallen tremendously due to all my extra work (fun tidbit: I am a music ed major here in Seattle at UW and one of my required readings a few weeks back was an article written by mrob, who is a professor in Michigan! Neat!).

Anyway, I've noticed that when I go a few days without shaving, my light-to-moderate acne clears up considerably. It seems that, then, when I shave again, it flares up and creates new irritations. I realized last week that my Slant Bar had some rust (!) on it, so I cleaned it off, sanitzed all my razors, and put fresh blades in all of them. It hasn't seemed to help. I still am getting zits, especially where my hair grows thicker and/or in weird directions, such as my neck.

My "regimen" right now is pretty simple: a Neutrogena acne cleansing soap in the shower, and spot treatment with a 5% benzyl peroxide cream at night.

Any suggestions on what I can do to clear this up? I'm going to go read up on some other acne threads, but I'm wondering to what extent, if any, mine is due to the way that I'm shaving?

Thanks to all -
Daniel

 

[sparky5693]

It has been my experience that razor burn can cause acne. Try being a little gentler with your shave. Less pressure, less passes.

 

[Jack Bauer]

I have recently started shaving with all Hydrolast products (enchante.com) and my skin has cleared up a considerable amount. These products are all natural. Maybe something in the shave cream or soap you are using is reacting with your skin. I have never had acne caused from a razor blade. My acne is/was light so maybe you should take a look into these hydrolast products. All you will really need to get started is the cube + a paste, which costs $25. But make sure you aren't then using an a/s with a bunch of crap in it. There are plenty of all natural products out there that may be more geared to your skin than the traditional stuff, but I am just preaching about Hydrolast b/c it is what I have used. I don't see myself messing around with other things for now for the simple fact that this has worked. These products combined with method shaving have already made a huge difference and I am only a week into it. I suggest giving Charles at Enchante a call and you can work out a solution.

Chris

 

[vespergo]

that's strange i noticed the same things that you mentioned but that was when i was shaving with a mach 3. a DE has cleared things up for me. plus when shaving, it's doing a ton of exfoliation and that's generally all that's needed. wash your face at night lightly for like 10 seconds massaging then splash warm water to clean it off (maybe 20 splashes to be thorough). use a good olive oil soap in the winter it helps keep dryness away.

in the shower before you shave just wash you t-zone with the same olive oil based soap. no harsh soaps for the face.

also try not to use the BP or any other cleansers. doing a 2 or three pass shave is quite a bit for the face and exfoliates way better than a cart. razor. try eliminating those potentially hazardous things that are causing the skin to flare up. i think it's more than likely the cleansers and meds.

 

[mrob]

Have you tried the Green Tea Face Mask? I've been dying to try it to clean up my face--I wonder if it would help with acne at all?

(and thanks for the plug! )

 

[jmhUT]

Evening Daniel,
I've had similar issues in the past, particularly in the neck area where the grain varies. The skin in this area is just very sensitive for many gents. Anyway, you might try a less aggressive setup. Maybe a SS or Gillette dialed down low. Pair that with a mild blade like an Israeli persona or a Derby. FWIW my skin is so sensitive along the neck that I still do my against-the-grain/T&C pass with a Panasonic wet\dry electric. They don't shave as close but when used just to polish off the missed spots it works quite well. Not as close as the blade but when used wet it virtually eliminates any possibility of razor burn and the acne that tends to follow. These razors are much more expensive than dry electrics, which should be banned. You might also try mixing a little antibiotic cream (cream, NOT ointment) into your aftershave to make sure the area stays clean.
Best of luck.