Hi All--
Found this forum, and thought maybe somebody could help me.
I've recently switched to a DE razor, and I'm still getting ingrown hairs like crazy, and can't seem to get a decent shave. I've probably spent hundreds of dollars on products that promise to get rid of razor burn, from specialty shaving gels to products like Tend Skin...with nothing helping.
Here's my current shaving process:
1. The night before I shave I do a scrub--not gritty, more bead-like.
2. In the morning, I wash my face and take a long, hot shower--then get out, and apply pre-shave oil, by Origins (it's called Easy Slider).
3. I put a hot hot towel on my face for two minutes.
4. I put some Geo. F. Trumpers violet shaving cream on my face.
5. I wet my Vulfix #2235 super badger shaving brush, and let some of the water drip out.
6. I create a deep later on my face, until the consistency is pretty thick.
7. I use the Merkur Futur razor with genuine Merkur "Double-Edge" SS Platinum Blades...I take strokes of around 1-2 inches before rinsing in hot water in the sink.
8. I only shave in the direction of the hair growth--North to South on the face, and the opposite on the neck.
9. After shaving, I wet my face and splash with cold water to close the pores.
10. I use C.O. Bigelow Herbal Skin Tonic (non-alcohol) formula--it contains witch hazel and its supposed to 'seal' the shave to keep you from getting ingrown hairs.
11. After that, I use C.O. Bigelow Aftershave lotion which has grapeseed extract in it.
Here's a shot of all the products I use:
After going through all that, I still get red bumps on my face every time like this:
Usually I only shave every 2-3 days because if I shave more often, it just inflames the bumps worse, and if I were to ever shave two days in a row, I would have horrible bumps.
Instead of plucking the ingrown hairs, I heard it was better to try to just removed them from the bump, then shave them off the next day, as I read that plucking them out with tweezers actually made them worse.
The razor bumps have a whitish (zit-like) stuff in them, right above the hair. I guess thats the sebum filling the pore and covering the hair up. It's not acne though. I'm not sure what it is.
I've tried everything possible--from electric razors in the past, to mach 3, to schick quattro, to this new double edge razor (which i read decreases ingrown hairs), and i'm just about to give up and grow a beard...but i'd rather get a decent shave. Seems like all the guys I know in college with me just glide a cheap disposable razor over their skin in about 30 seconds, and they're done and they get the perfect, irritation free shave. I wish it was that easy for me. Does anyone have any suggestions to offer up?
I've tried about every combination of products, razors, etc...but I'm more than open at this point to try something else. I might as well get it right now, since I've got a good 60+ years left of shaving.
Thanks in advance!
Nick
Found this forum, and thought maybe somebody could help me.
I've recently switched to a DE razor, and I'm still getting ingrown hairs like crazy, and can't seem to get a decent shave. I've probably spent hundreds of dollars on products that promise to get rid of razor burn, from specialty shaving gels to products like Tend Skin...with nothing helping.
Here's my current shaving process:
1. The night before I shave I do a scrub--not gritty, more bead-like.
2. In the morning, I wash my face and take a long, hot shower--then get out, and apply pre-shave oil, by Origins (it's called Easy Slider).
3. I put a hot hot towel on my face for two minutes.
4. I put some Geo. F. Trumpers violet shaving cream on my face.
5. I wet my Vulfix #2235 super badger shaving brush, and let some of the water drip out.
6. I create a deep later on my face, until the consistency is pretty thick.
7. I use the Merkur Futur razor with genuine Merkur "Double-Edge" SS Platinum Blades...I take strokes of around 1-2 inches before rinsing in hot water in the sink.
8. I only shave in the direction of the hair growth--North to South on the face, and the opposite on the neck.
9. After shaving, I wet my face and splash with cold water to close the pores.
10. I use C.O. Bigelow Herbal Skin Tonic (non-alcohol) formula--it contains witch hazel and its supposed to 'seal' the shave to keep you from getting ingrown hairs.
11. After that, I use C.O. Bigelow Aftershave lotion which has grapeseed extract in it.
Here's a shot of all the products I use:
After going through all that, I still get red bumps on my face every time like this:
Usually I only shave every 2-3 days because if I shave more often, it just inflames the bumps worse, and if I were to ever shave two days in a row, I would have horrible bumps.
Instead of plucking the ingrown hairs, I heard it was better to try to just removed them from the bump, then shave them off the next day, as I read that plucking them out with tweezers actually made them worse.
The razor bumps have a whitish (zit-like) stuff in them, right above the hair. I guess thats the sebum filling the pore and covering the hair up. It's not acne though. I'm not sure what it is.
I've tried everything possible--from electric razors in the past, to mach 3, to schick quattro, to this new double edge razor (which i read decreases ingrown hairs), and i'm just about to give up and grow a beard...but i'd rather get a decent shave. Seems like all the guys I know in college with me just glide a cheap disposable razor over their skin in about 30 seconds, and they're done and they get the perfect, irritation free shave. I wish it was that easy for me. Does anyone have any suggestions to offer up?
I've tried about every combination of products, razors, etc...but I'm more than open at this point to try something else. I might as well get it right now, since I've got a good 60+ years left of shaving.
Thanks in advance!
Nick
)
