Red Irritated Neck

[Tito]

I hate to have two threads going at once but I am trying to recover from the weekend of my first 2 shaves. I have a very red inflamed & irritated neck. I was at the dentist's office this morning and even she said it looked pretty inflamed. Although it does not hurt as bad as the 1st DE shave or other dismal shaves in the past.

1. What gives?
2. Is there a cure?

Thanks,
Tito

 

[crackstar]

Tito, something tells me you're trying to shave too close on your neck, and with a DE at the beginning, that's something you musn't do. I've been using one for a year and some change, and I still don't do more than one pass N-S and then one pass S-N along my neck. A DE is a wonderful razor, and believe me, in the long run you'll be getting super shaves with it, but at first, you must respect it, or it won't respect you. Also, the angle you hold it at is very important. Another factor is, you must be careful not to apply pressure when doing your passses. Try going just once in a N-S direction, and very lightly all over your face and skin for a couple of weeks. Even if you don't turn out baby-butt smooth, it's ok, that'll come with time.
Hope this helps!

Jeff

 

[Austin]

Mr. Tito, it seems to me that you are applying too much pressure to this sensitive area. You fail to mention what type of razor you are using. Let the razor's weight apply the pressure. Good luck.

 

[rtaylor61]

First, if possible, give your neck some time off from shaving. Then, evaluate your technique. How many passes, which direction, and, a biggie, are you stretching the skin? The biggest stride for me in eliminating neck irritation was to develop a good skin stretching system for my neck.

If you would be so kind as to share your entire shaving process maybe we can help figure this out. Also include the tools that you are using.

Randy

 

[Suzuki]

A couple of suggestions - I agree with Jeff that you shouldn't start with a multi-pass approach. The N-S pass followed by clean up at whatever angle works best is a good way to start - I still do this many days when I don't have time for 3 or 4 passes. Make sure you put some water or more soap on your face before re-shaving an area.

Also, you may want to let us know what products you are using - as this may be contributing to the irritation.

You may want to look for neutral products to start and make sure you're using good after shave products (Thayers witch hazel with aloe is good as well as a good moisturizer).

Hope this helps.

 

[crackstar]

Randy, as far as stretching the skin is concerned, it's physically impossible for me to do it. I don't know why, but I find it literally too painful.

Jeff

 

[letterk]

You may also be inadvertantly going against the grain too soon. I know my neck hair grows in all sorts of direction.

 

[Xert]

The biggest mistake I found myself making was keeping my wrist stiff, which really hurt the subtle contours of my neck. Once I relaxed and literally let the blade "glide" around my neck, my shaving experience improved dramatically. Having said that, every other suggestion given in this thread are things that were greatly beneficial as well.

 

[Tito]

Sorry to be a nusiance but here's what I'm dealing with:

Merkur HD, Merkur Blade
V 2234
Taylor's Rose & Proraso Green Tube
Coral Skin Food

1. Heat Up Brush
2. Shower
3. Warm Towel
4. Moisten Face
5. Work Up Lather
6. Swirl and Paint Onto Face
7. Shave N-S very slow light pressure with blade handle perp. to floor
8. Not much stretching, I can get a clean shave w/ stretching but find that irritation normally follows. I could be stretching wrong?
9. Lather up again and try one more N-S.
10. Cold Water Splash followed by Skin Food
That's it!

Here's where I'm at after 2 days shaving. (Sorry I don't understand how to post image directly in the post.)

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=3&userid=644

I have always had a problem with my skin looking like a plucked bird. And I think those little knobby hair bumps just don't stand a chance against anything. If anyone else has this type of skin & beard please enlighten me. I'm looking for a winning solution.

 

[TraderJoe]

Sorry to be a nusiance but here's what I'm dealing with:

Merkur HD, Merkur Blade
V 2234
Taylor's Rose & Proraso Green Tube
Coral Skin Food

1. Heat Up Brush
2. Shower
3. Warm Towel
4. Moisten Face
5. Work Up Lather
6. Swirl and Paint Onto Face
7. Shave N-S very slow light pressure with blade handle perp. to floor
8. Not much stretching, I can get a clean shave w/ stretching but find that irritation normally follows. I could be stretching wrong?
9. Lather up again and try one more N-S.
10. Cold Water Splash followed by Skin Food
That's it!

Here's where I'm at after 2 days shaving. (Sorry I don't understand how to post image directly in the post.)

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=3&userid=644

I have always had a problem with my skin looking like a plucked bird. And I think those little knobby hair bumps just don't stand a chance against anything. If anyone else has this type of skin & beard please enlighten me. I'm looking for a winning solution.

Tito, it could be that your skin is allergic to the taylors. have you tried with other soaps, creams, etc.?

 

[Xert]

From you description of 2 N-S passes, my guess is that John was right in identifying your primary problem of going against the grain too soon. I know on my neck the N-S pass is the last one for me, and if I don't reduce the hair sufficiently before making it I get instant razor burn. Take a few days off to let your neck recover, then take it super slow and gentle, trying to shave with the direction of the hair which is almost certainly not N-S on your neck.

 

[collinarose]

Your hair on the neck seems to grow N-S at the top and then angle more from the center out in a sideways direction at the bottom. Couple of things. First, I would try changing the direction I'm cutting on the first pass of the neck so that I'm going with the grain as much as possible wherever I am on the neck. Easier said than done. Second, I generally try to have my blade more parallel to my skin. This means that I hold my razor handle as perpendicular to the skin surface as possible but still cut. This will obviously change depending on where I'm cutting, but assuming my cheek runs vertically, I start with the razor handle perpendicular to my face, (parallel, not perpendicular to the floor) and then drop the razor handle toward the direction of cutting until I start to feel/hear the blade cut. Your irritation seems more like mine when I try to have the blade too perpendicular to my face (handle perpendicular to the floor if cutting the cheek), rather than a general redness that I get when I press too hard. Good luck.

-Collin

 

[Kyle]

Mr. Tito, it seems to me that you are applying too much pressure to this sensitive area. You fail to mention what type of razor you are using. Let the razor's weight apply the pressure. Good luck.

I'm with Andrew. Angle and Pressure are the usual suspects.

 

[Tito]

Gent's

I'm sorry never was good at geometry. I meant to say handle parallel to the floor perp. to the face... mea culpa.

I'm beginning to understand that my technique is horrible. Right now I am looking for remedies to an angry neck. Any suggestions?

Mr. Collinarose,
Thanks for the insight I noticed looking at the images that my beard grows sideways today also. This is going to make thinks a bit tricky I fear.

Finally. I notice that there seems to be a lot of hair that is somewhat ingrown maybe. What is the work around for that?

I appreciate everyone's kindness and patientence. I really look forward to enjoying a good shave.

 

[Bartelby]

I agree that you should only be using two passes at most for now.

After looking at your photos, here is what I would suggest:

On the neck area, do two N-S passes on the top portion (from chin to top of neck.

On the bottom half of the neck, do two S-N passes.

Make sure you rinse, re-wet and re-lather between passes. This technique (splitting the neck in half [not literally] ) worked for me and I appear to have a similar hair growth.

Also, based on your numerical technique, you might want to switch numbers 4 and 5. If you build the lather in a bowl first, THEN wet your face, THEN applying shave cream, it might make a difference.

Good luck!

 

[collinarose]

Hopefully the ingrowns will take care of themselves once you learn to shave properly and they have time to heal/adjust. As for the short-term remedy for the angry neck, first, I might lay off that area for a while until it heals. If you can even go without shaving the area for a couple of days, that will help. If you can't go without shaving, just do one pass on that area until you can shave that pass without the irritation. Once you have one pass down, try a second (maybe even in the same direction) until you have that down without irritation. Keep building one pass at a time. Remeber, you're trying to cut hair with the first few passes, not shave skin. Other than that, you might try a slightly different aftershave than skin food. Maybe one that is a little more robust in the healing/anti-irritation department. Proraso liquid cream or pre/post cream might work (www.qedusa.com or Target). I'm also a huge fan of the Hydrolast conditioner, but that is a little more expensive. (www.enchanteonline.com) Both come in a peppermint/eucalyptus that has a cooling sensation.

-Collin

 

[collinarose]

Also, forgot to mention that I had a lot more irritation when I used the Merkur blades. You might try a different blade like the Derby or Swedish Gillette. Or maybe even the Feather.

-Collin

 

[blueasajewel]

As Andrew & Kyle have suggested - you are using too great an angle on the blade and are actually scraping the skin instead of cutting hair. Drop the angle of the blade - the head [top] of the razor should be almost flat against your skin. Minimize pressure and only go with the grain until your technique improves.

To deal with your neck - the best thing is not shave if that is possible - and let it heal. Otherwise something like Brave Soldier's Code Blue or an Aloe based balm will also help.

But keep practicing the technique and your reward will come.

 

[moses]

This might be redundant, but I found, at a time when I had a lot of irritation from shaving with a M3 and with bad technique, that moisterizing like anything really helped. People here have suggested a lot of probably better products, but I had really good results with Nivea Sensitive After Shave Balm (unscented, in the white box). I applied it after shaving, but also at least once more during the day (I shaved in the morning, so I applied also before bed), which made a big difference in taming the irritation.

And I am totally unqualified to give DE advice, since I have probably been doing this no longer than you, but here is one thought. I find that while slow and light is key to not irritating myself, a certain degree of authority helps. If I am too cautious, and sort of stutter along with little dinky super careful strokes, I get more irritation than with smooth, confident, slightly longer strokes.

Good luck,

Shane

 

[letterk]

You're right about extra moisturizers during the day for bad burn. At least it works for me. I've found that Cetaphil or SCS ASB works wonders for a second application.