What causes redness/inflammation?

[BigJ]

Great advice above!

For me, it is all about technique these days! Key issues are no (or as little as possible) pressure and razor angle.

 

[TheBeast]

From my experience, the most important points have Been mentioned. But anyway, since I battle redness and inflamation still, after 2 years, here's what I find helped me best.

Below is my neck when I managed to do everything terribly wrong. It took weeks to fully heal.

I May get a close and comfortable shave, no issues for 12 hours after shaving. But after 24 hours I would get redness, irritation, swelling etc. That's due to my hair laying flat and being curly. As it starts to grow out, it irritates the skin by digging into it, or being trapped underneath it and not being able to grow out properly. That's why I don't go ATG on my neck. Too close of a shave will punish me 24 hours later and the problems will last about a week.

Here's what helped me the most to avoid such results.

1. NO PRESSURE. Think about it as hovering the razor above the skin. You don't want to touch the skin at all. The hair is not being removed at this point and it is important that you don't put the razor against the skin, you just find that sweetspot where the razor is held by your hand and is not resting on the skin, yet it making contact with the skin and removing hair. This way I get the best shaves.

2. Slicker lather and better prep. Hot shower/steaming towel. Pre-shave cream or oil doesn't do much for me. Load the soap/cream with a brush that has been shaken out and squeezed, just slightly damp. Load heavy, more than you need. Add water by drops while building lather. When you have enough volume of the lather, you no longer need to splay the brush or press it against the skin, just paint it wetter and wetter until it is really shiny and wants to start dripping from the brush. That's where it glides best for me.

3. Aggressive razor and a sharp blade. Try the R41, paired with a Feather, Astra SP, Gillette 7o clock yellow etc. Keep it in the sharp spectrum. Try the Fatip open comb. These are REALLY effective, Zero buffing needed even WTG.

4. Don't buff. Really, just don't. My beard is thick and tough like wire. Really sharp/aggressive/effective razor and blade will not require buffing and this buffing is making my face really upset, especially because I will Press down on the razor if it doesn't make the hair dissapear with 3 or 4 buffs. So I avoid such razors. One stroke with R41 loaded with Astra SP is All I need for a very close and comfortable shave.

5. First focus on comfort. Closeness will come with it. You get a closer shave with a proper technique, as Well as more comfortable one. But if you focus on getting ultra close, your technique will go out the Window and there will be irritation. If you focus on comfort, the closeness will come. At first you might leave behind some rougher patches and have some really close areas. Find out why you get some places really close but not others. One thing May be:

6. Stretch the skin more than you need. I found that the more I stretch, the better the shave. Might not work for you. I had some luck with not stretching at all, I just pressed my chin down and shaved like that. It Can Also work, but here too much pressure will punish you more.

7. Try a shavette/straight razor. After not being successfull with safety razors for a few years, I switched to a shavette, then to a Straight razor. I Made more progress with a straight in a week than with a safety in two years.

 

[TheBeast]

Also I forgot to mention.

If your face is tingling before you even picked Up a razor, you are either face lathering and using too much pressure and are getting 'brush burn' or some ingredients in the soap are irritating the skin.

I experienced it. If that is a case for you, try a soft synthetic brush like Razorock Plissoft or AP cashmere. And Proraso white soap.

I never had luck with cold water shaves, but you should give it a try, since it seems to help a lot of necks out here.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Question 1: who's going to notice that your shave doesn't completely meet the arbitrary standards of your internet friends?

Question 2: who's going to notice after a half day of regrowth that your shave doesn't completely meet the arbitrary standards of your internet friends?

Question 3: Who's going to notice the angry red welts all over your neck?

Shave accordingly!

 

[know1special]

Try cold water shave...

Can definitely confirm.

When I first started DE shaving years ago my results were decent but I'd usually end up red and irritated afterwards no matter what.

I tried a lot of different things including:

1-being super mindful of pressure
2-riding cap
3-switching to fragrance-free soap
4-using sharper blade
5-using more aggresive razor

All of these gave some incremental relief but I didn't fully banish irritation until I tried shaving with cold water.

Why did this work? Probably a combination of things but here's my guess:

Shaving with hot water was too comfortable. My prep was always very good. So good in fact that I couldn't really feel how sloppy my technique truly was. I believe that the full-tilt hot water prep was keeping me from feeling my mistakes until after my shave.

Shaving with cold basically gives my technique, equipment, lather, etc. absolutely no where to hide. If anything is off, the angle, pressure, slickness...anything...I get that feedback right away and can make an adjustment before spending an entire shave doing the wrong thing.

YMMV and all that.

Good luck!

 

[abershaver]

Irritation and redness happen sometimes to me. For the past few months I have been shaving with the same set up and have had almost zero irritation. Then on Thursday last week I had a lot of redness and irritation after a shave. The point is that I suspect there was an environmental or background cause - maybe I was dehydrated or had been in contact with allergens etc. I did not shave over the weekend and I am now almost healed up.

 

[ButterfaceX]

You just really have to keep try different things, until you find the right combination that works for you. You also may want to consider a slant once you are confident that your technique is not an issue. I have very sensitive skin but have not had any issues ever since I have been shaving ( @ 18 - started with a straight ) . I am a daily shaver, I stick to 2 passes and light touch up around the mouth. When I use DE's, I always use two razors. One Starter, One Closer...Normally it is a slant and sloc. Once you have the right combo, your buffing should just about or should go away. One big tip is to use a good pre-shave. If you have to, use for every pass...This will help protect your skin. Go slow, very light pressure, short strokes, map out your face so you know which way your hair grows. Try one with the grain, last is across the grain, have fun, be methodical and patient. Also make sure you doing everything you can post shave. Big Rinse, Alum for a min or two, Big Rinse cold water, wipe down, now apply a witch hazel "toner"(i add a few drops of tea tree oil to it) , do not use any witch hazel astringents ( they have alcohol in them - 14%) , once the toner dries in, apply a good straight clean aloe product ( main ingredient aloe) . Once that sets in and absorbs, follow up with a good face moisturizer (dry/sensitive skin).....So in a nutshell, it is a full scope process. It is a combination of everything, not just razor. They all have to work in concert for you and your face. You will get there and keep us posted ... Cheers BFX....

 

[Ckmaui]

For me took a lot of trying various razors/blades/soaps/post product and I found the more aggressive razors were worse for me than a more mellow and finding the correct blades could make or break the shave ! So yeah my best razor bad blade can make the whole thing go south !

yes technique matters but the hardware/software does also

Along with the soap was a HUGE part of comfort in that post feel and was amazed at how much that changed things for me but again I am still testing but have narrowed it down and plan to find the one that works best

and of course what I used for aftershave the alcohol ones I do like but do bug me more if the shave is not perfect so maybe the toner style splash ? Avoid the alcohol ones or try balms as said
for me the Pinaud while I love it started to irritate my face big time sadly and a few others bugged me right away while others are so so nice !

I can say using Neutrogena Hydro gel dry has been a game changer for healing and post comfort a few threads on it here and if you have super sensitive skin like I do might be worth trying

so yeah I am not one that buys one size fits all its just your technique and your gear/soap/blade does not matter any gear can work
The GEAR DOES MATTER and SOAP MATTERS BLADES MATTER POST MATTERS !

IMHO those folks can use anything so they are correct for THEM !
but folks with really sensitive skin have to dial in the hardware and software of shaving and again from my own experience they all have to work together the razor the blade the cream/soap and the post product and one of those off I really notice

it takes a while but WOW for once in my life I am finding shaves I am comfortable with and shaving daily which I never used to do because of irritation wish I found this 40+ yrs ago

One thing about buffing or going over a spot ATG I have to put some soap/cream back on and if I go over without that extra soap/cream back on its a huge negative ( I can get away with a couple WTG) so just use my hand and push some back on and go over so truly cant go over the same spot without more product on my face ATG which is also something to make sure you could try if not

best of luck

 

[purecro]

I have been wet shaving the past 7 months, I wish I knew about it years ago.

When I first started I was thinking more so of "Oh this product or that product will magically make things go away" such as my irritation under my neck area after shaving. After doing this for some time, nope technique was a huge part of it. The other factors involved as others have stated quite well is also there and true but technique was a huge part as my prep was generally good, especially once I figured out how to lather correctly and not be afraid to relather touch up spots or anywhere as needed since my shaves would take a long time and the lather would start to dry on my face, that is not the case now of course. Mentioned alot in this thread was pressure, also which is part of technique and so true.

I also stopped chasing a BBS every time I shaved, that was my expectation when I started, a nice DFS and I am happy, with improved technique I can get a BBS now. I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it but also as was mentioned earlier in this thread about neck irritation by @TheBeast , I can BBS my neck area without or with very very little redness or irritation but 24 hours later as the hair starts to grow back in it will start to come in for a day or two, just depends as that part of my face is prone to it, meaning ingrown hairs so now I just try to get a nice wtg pass there with touch ups, occassionally xtg or dtg.

My prep is to take a shower prior to shaving (I use to do it the other way around prior to wet shaving but rather enjoy this now). I do use preshave, I also only use cold water. I know cold water was mentioned earlier in this thread but to me the cold water will help tighten your skin so that your hairs are more above the skin and ready to be shaven. I even would use ice cubes to get my face colder meaning just taking a few ice cubes and moving them around my face to help get my face colder before using cold water then putting on preshave. I really do think cold water in itself tightens the skin because after like 1 hour or so when your done shaving, I notice that my shave is closer than I thought it was meaning after my skin warms back up my face is smoother than when I finished.

I have thick, coarse facial hair that is prone to being ingrown, really under the neck area, particularly under my adam's apple line and on a couple of spots on my neck above there. With this area I do a one pass wtg, and in my case, the hair grows up so with wtg means I have to have the razor upside down in order to go wtg. For me, to be able to do this took some time as the cause of my irritation was ingrown hairs (below my adams apple line). I made sure I did a grain map, followed it, and that my first pass was wtg always. I would sometimes not even do a proper touch up just because I was so adamant about not causing any irritation or as little as possible. Once I get the hang of this my whole shaving experience improved dramatically but it took time, I mean months.

I would also try to make sure that I did not irritate myself so badly that I would need to take so much time off from shaving so that I could shave more frequently and improve my technique. This meant not trying to do a 3 pass, wtg, xtg/dtg, atg chasing that BBS. My goal was to have a shave where I did not have nicks, cuts, weeper and irritation and to feel good afterwards. I did go one time over 2 weeks without shaving to try and get my skin to calm from being overly irrritated since my technique was still not the best but since then the longest I would take is a week or so but I try to shave more frequently than that.

I would take an excel spreadsheet, put down the razor, blade, what pre shave, soap, post, made some comments on how I was in general, I would then make other notes on a word document on how my shave went, was my technique better, worse, how was my face afterwards. I did this so that I would not get discouraged and also to see what else I could better.

I figured if spent this much time into this I should be able to get it right. I would try cold water, it did help me and I do enjoy it. I hope this helps.

 

[xyz_ro]

Too much pressure + passing the blade too many times over an area.
I just got an almost BBS and irritation-free shave today with a Rockwell 6S and plate #2 only, with an Astra SS blade. Just two passes, one WTG and the second a combination of XTG and ATG (on the neck). I never buffed too much on a single spot.

 

[Dobric]

Map your beard, you think you are going WTG, but you are not...also cold water shave is better for skin

 

[musicman1951]

". . .several rounds of ATG-buffing" may just be the worst, most frightening thing I've ever read on the forum. Even if I hated you I would not suggest this torture, and I think you're a fine human.

I agree that it's going to take some experimentation as there are several possibilities.

The razor is probably fine. It might or might not be the perfect razor for your face/beard, but you can get a pretty nice, irritation free shave from just about any functional razor. It could be the wrong blade for your needs (too sharp, not sharp enough, etc.). But I do suspect the razor angle might need to be adjusted. I'd try a little more and a little less steepness to the razor angle to see if either worked better.

It could be prep or lather quality, but there is no indication it is. Both are important.

I'm willing to bet money you could use less pressure. Virtually all of us start with too much pressure, think it's light enough and eventually have an aha moment. Use less. Use a lot less, just don't drop the razor in the sink.

I use short strokes, almost no pressure and as much skin stretching as I can muster on my neck (my face looks a bit like I'm trying to kiss the ceiling and I pull down with my left hand). My neck is my easiest area for BBS, but that's not true for every face. My upper lip will not tolerate ATG. I can do it, but I know some irritation will follow. So I do blade buffing ATG on that part of the face. ONE (third) pass of blade buffing, please. That works well for me and is very close to BBS. It's possible you will need to find an alternative to ATG on your neck, but you have many things to try before you reach that conclusion.

Less pressure is easy and immediately available. Perfect razor/blade angle will take more work, but you'll get there. And for crying out loud, don't do anything that requires multiple days to heal. Be nice to yourself, hair grows back and you're going to need to be ready tomorrow morning.