I just keep getting them and I dont know why. I have a rich lather, lots of water and still I get in-grown hairs. What the secret to not getting them. I use primarly MWF as a base variable to simply soaps and a Feather AC-DX the super pros give me horrible burn and the Pro give me fewer. Is it from how I stretch my skin or is it the hot towells because I shower before hand and wash my face with a face wash then face lather with a brush. Any advice because the advice for DE seems to maybe not translate over so well. Help, and oh yeah its just in the small lower neck area of my face. Thanks in advance.
Straight razors and Ingrown hairs
- Thread starter O.G.
- Start date
Exfoliate (and then wash!) your face well every couple of days. Should go a long way towards helping.
I've never used a shavette of any sort, including the Feather AC-DX. But occasionally I'll get a razor a little sharper than I'd like. Until I've used it a few times, I'll get razor burn.
I've never used a shavette of any sort, including the Feather AC-DX. But occasionally I'll get a razor a little sharper than I'd like. Until I've used it a few times, I'll get razor burn.
I get ingrown hairs when I do 2 things;
1. Stretch the skin too much (effectively cutting the hair off below the skin and causing ingrown hairs - same as how a fusion pulls the hair out and cuts it too short).
2. Use too much pressure with a newly honed razor. This is especially an issue with shavettes and feathers, as you have a razor that is way sharper than a normal straight would be (excluding an exceptional honing job and the first use of the razor). I have never used a feather, but from what I have read, if you can use even less pressure than you would for a normal straight, you should get better results.
1. Stretch the skin too much (effectively cutting the hair off below the skin and causing ingrown hairs - same as how a fusion pulls the hair out and cuts it too short).
2. Use too much pressure with a newly honed razor. This is especially an issue with shavettes and feathers, as you have a razor that is way sharper than a normal straight would be (excluding an exceptional honing job and the first use of the razor). I have never used a feather, but from what I have read, if you can use even less pressure than you would for a normal straight, you should get better results.
I really started paying attention to the direction in which my facial hair grows. The hair on my neck grows up toward my chin, so I started shaving WTG, whereas I used shave downward ATG. After that I give my face a good scrub down with some witch hazel and then use Trumpers Skin Food.
Shaving WTG on my neck area and cleaning afterwords really made significant improvement. I have to keep up on the cleansing though or else I'll tend to break out. Keeping the area clean and exfoliated is pretty important IMO.
If you have curly hairs you will want to section off your your whole neck area into shaving quadrants. In each of these quadrants you will need use your straight razor to shave in a swirl pattern to compensate for the curlies.
Shaving WTG on my neck area and cleaning afterwords really made significant improvement. I have to keep up on the cleansing though or else I'll tend to break out. Keeping the area clean and exfoliated is pretty important IMO.
If you have curly hairs you will want to section off your your whole neck area into shaving quadrants. In each of these quadrants you will need use your straight razor to shave in a swirl pattern to compensate for the curlies.
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I'd recommend to minimize stretching. I'll stretch when I'm going with the grain, but that's about it. My chin I don't worry about "over-stretching" because I don't get any ingrowns there. But on my cheeks and my neck I'm careful to only just slightly stretch when going against the grain.
I also use Anthony Logistics Ingrown Hair Treatment, and while it's not a miracle drug it does seem to have significantly reduced the number and severity of ingrown hairs that I get.
I also use Anthony Logistics Ingrown Hair Treatment, and while it's not a miracle drug it does seem to have significantly reduced the number and severity of ingrown hairs that I get.
- Thread starter
- #7
Thank you all for your advice and Im taking it all in to consideration. Im going to let the hair grow out a bit to ensure that they are free. Is this a good idea or should I continue to shave daily or woud you guys recommend taking a break?
I'll second the Anthony suggestion - I've also tried the Baxter version with results, just not as good.
- Thread starter
- #9
Pluck the ingrown hair or dislodge it - then let it heal then cut it right? Whats the best method to eleminate them? I have found that if I shave first and allow my wonderful girlfriend Tiffany to dislodge them my skin is getting better or should I advice her to pull 'em?
Mantic has advised using a toothbrush to lightly abrade an ingrown hair before bed. Says it works like a charm, but I have not had reason to test it
+ 1 - I never really suffer from ingrowns with a straight. The only time period I did was when praticing ATG (which I don't do now). But I feel both of the above reasons could result in the same and may have for me, especially when using DE's.
How dare you use the words shavette and Feather AC-DX in the same sentence!
BLASPHEMER!!!!
BTW, even though it is pricey, AOS ingrown hair treatment is the one that has worked best for me.
I've tried the Anthony Logistics and others with so-so results.
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I did find for a little while that I got some ingrowns with my straight shave.
I'd just gotten proficient at it - I think that it was due to stretching my skin rather tight, and using a good deal of pressure.
I just pop my ingrowns like zits, I've never had to fish out a hair from an ingrown on my face. If I do, I use a needle.
good luck and happy shaves.
And, you know, I keep seeing "exfoliate" mentioned... I'm pretty sure that scraping off the top few layers of skin with a sharp piece of metal exfoliates pretty well.
William
I'd just gotten proficient at it - I think that it was due to stretching my skin rather tight, and using a good deal of pressure.
I just pop my ingrowns like zits, I've never had to fish out a hair from an ingrown on my face. If I do, I use a needle.
good luck and happy shaves.
And, you know, I keep seeing "exfoliate" mentioned... I'm pretty sure that scraping off the top few layers of skin with a sharp piece of metal exfoliates pretty well.
William
- Thread starter
- #14
I just wanted to thank all who responded on here. I dont really get ingrowns anymore and I transitioned to traditional straights, much more forgiving. Take care.
