Still getting neck redness/irritation

[Enclave68]

thank you again everyone, I really appreciate all of the advice.

I really don't want to give up on the hobby as (other than the constant redness on the neck) I enjoy it so much, but I feel I am at that cross roads of 'risk v reward' and trying to get a feel as to what can improve it and also how long it may take (and I appreciate it isn't an exact science and everyone's experience is different).

Thanks again and good weekends to everyone when it comes.

 

[Goblin]

thank you again everyone, I really appreciate all of the advice.

I really don't want to give up on the hobby as (other than the constant redness on the neck) I enjoy it so much, but I feel I am at that cross roads of 'risk v reward' and trying to get a feel as to what can improve it and also how long it may take (and I appreciate it isn't an exact science and everyone's experience is different).

Thanks again and good weekends to everyone when it comes.

You didn't answer my question, but I just want to say "Don't give up!"

If all else fails, just go back to WTG passes only on the neck, and check your beard grain really is what you think it is.

That should help, and then you can gradually check off some of the other things on my list. You may find that actually, doing just a WTG means you can shave more frequently, and shaving more frequently means WTG passes are enough to keep things presentable. I do wonder if 3 or 4 days between shaves is too long for a mild razor - it would be for me.

 

[Texchappy]

You’re using a lot of post shave products. I don’t think chemicals are the problem (since it’s only the neck). You should ask yourself, however, if they are doing any good or just aggravating an already sensitive area.

 

[Dtownvino]

Preshave prep - wash your face with cetaphil gentle skin cleanser.

Second - pick a solid soap and make a nice, slick lather.

Third -consider getting a moderate razor with a little more blade exposure. Knowing where that blade is and feeling the pressure helps tremendously. Game changer .68 and graduate to a .76 would not be a bad place to start.

Next - post shave. Pick one alum or witch hazel. I would take witch hazel 8 days a week.

Finally a nice lotion - I use ethos post shave but there are others that nourish.

I think the advice on beard mapping is also beneficial. It’s your skin some things will work and some won’t.

It would be interesting to know if a barber shave results in any irritation like you experience.

No one needs a full bbs a DFS is good enough…

 

[Quaznoid]

Shave WTG, one pass. That was the standard way for hundreds of years. When I started in 1973 no one shaved against the grain, or more than one pass. The three-pass (or even two) is a very recent phenomenon. If you can get a socially acceptable shave in one pass, stop!

I’d also ditch the alum block. In my 50 years of shaving I’ve never used one; I’m not entirely sure what it is or what one is to do with it.

 

[Sam Hanwich]

My neck was always a problem when I first started. What worked for me - well there are a few things but the #1 thing for me was figuring out the direction my beard grows on my neck (WTG on my neck is UP for the bottom half and DOWN for the top half).

I start at the very bottom and shave upwards about two inches while I'm holding the other hand just below my neck pulling the skin down so the neck skin can't bunch up as the razor is moving upwards (tilting your head to raise the jaw helps to stretch the skin too). I do that on both sides of the adam's apple -- but when I'm about to shave the adam's apple I pull the skin left then right so the un-shaved area of skin is no longer over the bump of the apple and I can shave it without the razor going over the adam's apple at all. I shave half the adam's apple skin to the left of the apple and the other half pulled to the right.

At this point I have only shaved the bottom two inches of my neck but it's pretty smooth and not one bit of irritation and no nicks. Then I start at my jawline and shave downwards to meet the already shaved area.

Hope that's useful. I haven't had any neck irritation in a long, long time since I settled into this routine.

 

[BabyBudaNedly]

Shave WTG, one pass. That was the standard way for hundreds of years. When I started in 1973 no one shaved against the grain, or more than one pass. The three-pass (or even two) is a very recent phenomenon. If you can get a socially acceptable shave in one pass, stop!

I’d also ditch the alum block. In my 50 years of shaving I’ve never used one; I’m not entirely sure what it is or what one is to do with it.

Very interesting. Someone on another thread advised me to only shave WTG for one month regardless if it’s BBS or not before even considering ATG.

 

[blade08]

My advice:

1. Ride the cap.
2. Use very short strokes
3. Shave daily.

Riding the cap makes sure you consciously don't dig into your skin at a too steep angle. Using very short strokes avoids dragging and skipping. Shaving daily trains your skin to 'toughen up'.

Start doing this today and I guarantee your issues will be over in two to three weeks at most.

 

[blade08]

The three-pass (or even two) is a very recent phenomenon. If you can get a socially acceptable shave in one pass, stop!

Wise words. A socially acceptable shave is easy to do in one pass. Especially when you use shaving soap instead of cream. For some reason soap always gives me an even closer shave. Don't ask why.

 

[jnk1841]

My advice:

1. Ride the cap.
2. Use very short strokes
3. Shave daily.

Riding the cap makes sure you consciously don't dig into your skin at a too steep angle. Using very short strokes avoids dragging and skipping. Shaving daily trains your skin to 'toughen up'.

Start doing this today and I guarantee your issues will be over in two to three weeks at most

Shaving daily would wreck my face. Oof. But...def not saying it can't work for anyone else.

 

[blade08]

Shaving daily would wreck my face.

They first few days it probably will. But your face will 'toughen up'. After some time your face/skin will tolerate it. I can shave twice within 24hrs. with zero issues. But you have to be persistent and accept a 'wrecked face' for a couple of days when you first start shaving daily. I now only get weepers/irritation when I don't shave daily. I guess my stubble gets too long so it's harder for the blade to cut it cleanly or something. Try it.

 

[kt73]

I had this problem for years
Tried different razors/ blades/ soaps ,you name it I tried it
The only thing that worked for me was to use a shavette for my neck/ throat
Worked for me
I now always do a 2 razor shave

 

[JAHE]

It is difficult to know what you are doing while shaving, so hard to know what you should do differently. Still, as I said on the previous thread, maybe change your primary goal from getting the closest possible shave on the neck to getting an irritation-free shave.

The neck is a more sensitive area for most people and also the whiskers can grow in complex patterns (like whorls). I can get irritation if I use too many passes or too much pressure in an effort to get a close shave. Slick lather helps a lot to avoid irritation.

Shave with the grain, where possible. Use short strokes and very wet lather. Do two passes at most. Try not to go directly against the grain for your second pass. Instead, go in a more diagonal direction. Try not to go over the same area repeatedly, especially without lather. Use only enough pressure to keep the razor in close contact with the skin. Don't "bear down" in the attempt to get close. That leads to "overshaving" and redness.

One slightly off-the-wall suggestion is to watch a few of those ASMR videos of skilled Italian barbers doing straight razor shaves on someone else. Look at how they approach the neck area for their clients.

^^What he said^^
A very sound advice.
I'd suggest one additional point, it's using a very sharp blade. A Feather blade might be a gamechanger. A mild razor with neutral blade exposure (Karve safety bar plate "B" or your Henson) loaded with a sharp blade did the trick for me.

 

[tejolot3]

I started using a DE about a decade ago, and I had a very long learning curve. Like, I didn't get decent shaves for at least a year. And my neck was the biggest problem. Here is my advice:

1. The #1 thing that helped with my neck irritation was . . . time. I'm convinced that my skin simply wasn't used to it back then, but now it is. Nowadays, I do a single pass with touch-ups. But I never re-lather for those touch-ups, nor do I even re-wet my skin. My razor and neck can get completely dry, and I'm still doing touch-up, and I almost never get irritation from it. In the beginning days, that would never have happened: my face would have looked like raw diced chicken gizzards. But nowadays I can just whack at it whatever which-way with the razor, with no ill effects.

2. The #2 thing that helped with my neck irritation was QoL (quality of lather). Here's my advice on this. Stick with one kind of soap for a while, and decide now which one it's going to be. Then take an hour and just make a bunch of practice lather. Add water bit by bit, pay close attention to how it looks as it goes from pasty to creamy to silky to foamy. (The creamy/silky stage is where the best protection is: pasty isn't slick enough, but foamy isn't protective enough.) Listen to how the sound of your brush changes as it lathers soap with different amounts of water. (Eventually, you'll know when your lather is getting to the sweet spot just by the sound of your brush.) Notice where the soap ends up as you swirl your brush, whether it stays in the bottom of the bowl or all sticks to the brush itself or defiantly climbs up into a ring around the top of the bowl. (This probably varies by vessel, but my lather is getting good when most of it climbs up into a ring at the top but there's still a disk that stays in the bottom.) At each stage of lathering, rub the lather between your fingers and note how slick it is. When you've added so much water that it's no longer good for shaving with, pay attention to what it looks like; ask yourself how much water you added to get to that point. You won't have used up the whole hour by this point, so dump it out and start all over again. After several times of doing this, you'll know a lot more about lathering than you every thought necessary, but it will help you avoid irritation. The next day, do it again. QoL is, in my opinion, the most underrated variable in the shaving game.

3. Just do one good pass. Someone else mentioned that you should change your goal from "a great shave" to "an irritation-free shave". That's good advice. Eventually, as you get better, you'll be able to get a better shave. Also, if you're like me, then trying harder only makes for worse irritation. My worst irritation was always (a) in the spots where I kept going over it again and again and/or (b) on days when I focused to intently on every little bit of my technique.

4. Don't be afraid to try a different blade. Try several. Whichever one treats you the best—stick with that for a while. When it comes to blades, my personal advice is to stick with big brands, popular brands. I like obscure things, but obscure blades have tended to give me inconsistent results. Astra, Gillette, these are good choices. Asco, not so much.

5. Try shaving with cold water. I no longer do, but it helped with irritation back in the day.

 

[VerbaVolant]

...still can't crack the redness/irritation problem on the neck...
...still getting constant redness on my neck every single time I DE shave (doesn't really hurt, but within 5 minutes of shaving my neck gets very red and lasts a couple of days).

help!!!

If you don't mind, post a picture/s of your neck irritation.

 

[Umma2gumma]

All necks are different...

In my experience, I would get irritation from the razors that are too mild & I end up doing too many passes and / or applying pressure to compensate for the mildness.

My recipe for not getting irritation is to use a medium aggression razor that isn't awfully sensitive to blade angle, use sharp blades, and pay attention to applying no pressure whatsoever.

I use Maggard V3A or Parker Variant with Feathers or Perma-Sharps and get a comfortable full BBS with zero irritation. But when I try shaving with one of vintage Gillettes, I almost inevitably end up with some itchy spots. One day I may crack the code...

 

[tejolot3]

I would get irritation from the razors that are too mild & I end up doing too many passes and / or applying pressure to compensate for the mildness.

My recipe for not getting irritation is to use a medium aggression razor that isn't awfully sensitive to blade angle, use sharp blades, and pay attention to applying no pressure whatsoever.

This is good insight. In the beginning stages of DE learning, one may have to choose between razor burn and nicks. Learning to master an aggressive razor is its own learning curve, and nicks can be the result. But chasing a close shave with a mild razor can result in razor burn instead.

Perhaps it's best to lean toward aggressive/nicks. The chief advantage is that razor burn should be reduced. But the other advantage is that, once you've more or less mastered the aggressive razor, dropping back down to a milder one should be fairly easy.

Hmm.... Get yourself a styptic pencil and don't get rid of the alum. Yeah.