Shaving problems

RandomRetard

Everytime i shave, my neck comes out in lots of little red spots. they go away after a few days and them come back after i shave again. its soo annoying. is there a reason for this?

Cabaal

What are you using to shave?

RandomRetard

Cabaal wrote: »

What are you using to shave?

gillet and then after balm afterwards plus a good razor (not a cheap one)

ive tried a few different foams over time but they all come out the same.

Cabaal

Could be the very fact its a multi-blade gillette razor (I assume), you might be worth your time looking at a Safety Razor. Perhaps have a skim through this thread

What do you mean by a good razor that wasn't cheap, what did you use?

Genghiz Cohen

Are you shaving against the grain?

RandomRetard

Cabaal wrote: »

Could be the very fact its a multi-blade gillette razor (I assume), you might be worth your time looking at a Safety Razor. Perhaps have a skim through this thread

What do you mean by a good razor that wasn't cheap, what did you use?

i meant a good razor as in it wasent the cheapest you could buy. as if i was using a cheap one then the bad quality blades might have been the reason. the one im using has 3 blades and a little button that makes it vibrate.

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Are you shaving against the grain?

i dont think so. For your neck i assume everyone moves the shaver upwards? all the hairs go of fine but then a day later all the little red marks pop up.

would i be safer using an electric one just?

Genghiz Cohen

RandomRetard wrote: »

i dont think so. For your neck i assume everyone moves the shaver upwards? all the hairs go of fine but then a day later all the little red marks pop up.

would i be safer using an electric one just?

Next time make sure to just shave with the grain. If no spots/soreness appears, shave perpendicular to the grain.
If no spots appear again shave against the grain and you'll have eliminated one common cause.

source

RandomRetard wrote: »

i dont think so. For your neck i assume everyone moves the shaver upwards? all the hairs go of fine but then a day later all the little red marks pop up.

would i be safer using an electric one just?

Not necessarily true, the hair on the bottom of my neck, grows in a different direction to the hair on the top part of my neck. you need to check out your hair growth pattern, you could be shaving against the grain without even knowing it. I know i was for years, then when i moved over to a safety razor, I started checking out the hair growth patterns and finally found out i've been shaving arseways for years.

pedantic.pat

In my experience preparation pre shave is imperative to stop this. Try shaving straight after a shower as the hair follicles are will be open and your stubble much softer. Also after the shave use cold water to rinse and soothe. Agree with other replys re sahving against the grain

Cabaal

foinse wrote: »

Not necessarily true, the hair on the bottom of my neck, grows in a different direction to the hair on the top part of my neck. you need to check out your hair growth pattern, you could be shaving against the grain without even knowing it. I know i was for years, then when i moved over to a safety razor, I started checking out the hair growth patterns and finally found out i've been shaving arseways for years.

Fully agree with this,
Same kind of setup to me the hair growth at the top part of my neck is different to the bottom part and infact one side of my neck is also slightly different to the other.

Its annoying but after much experimenting I've finally reduced redness by miles, this was the only issues that kept up after I switched to a DE.

Before a DE when I used fusions or gillette I used to get lots of redness and spots and god knows what else, all due to a ****e (imho) razor/blade.

RandomRetard

cheers for the help. the thing about shaving straight after a shower sounds good. and if all else fails ill go back to an electric razor!

Dord

I used a Mach 3 for a while and found it nothing but problems. I switched to a Gillette Sensor Excel which is an older razor although still available. It has two blades and the cartridges are cheaper. It's possibly one of the best cartridge razors out there IMO. Much easier to shave with and I get less problems and cuts.

MacGyver007

I had the same problem until I read somewhere a few years to shave in the direction from the ear to the chin. Never had any trouble since and I have used several different types of razor (both cheap and expensive). See if that makes a difference.

PCPhoto

sounds like you are going against the grain - but ALSO .... not properly pretreating your skin before shaving.

I shave in the shower - and tidy it up/finish it off - just after shower - but thats me...I know which way to shave my face !

its important to know which direction to shave - I suggest you properly pre-treat your skin, exfoliate, cleanse, shaving foam/gel/oil....lather.... wash off....repeat shaving foam/gel/oil, ....shave ..... then depending on your skin .... exfoliate..... moisturise.... and if necessary cooling after shave gel.

I think Nivea do an after shave cooling gel....as for other products ...I find green tea products to work for me.

Dord

Washing your face with warm/hot (not too hot to burn you!) water before and cold water afterwards helps a lot. It's something very simple that can make quite a difference.

RandomRetard

shaved this morning. god it actually hurt so bad at times. i have soft sensitive skin so thats maybe a reason i tried every direction and it was sore so i think im just going to get an electric one. i assume its impossible for them to hurt/leave rashes

Amalgam

RandomRetard wrote: »

..im just going to get an electric one. i assume its impossible for them to hurt/leave rashes

They can be just as bad, if not worse, for sensitive skin. I used to get awful hive like bumps, the shaver needs to be kept hygienic if you're prone to break outs and you can't expect as close a shave as a blade.

Cabaal

Electric shaver on sensitive skin, not a good idea atleast in my experience.

As bad as a Mach3 was on my skin an electric shaver was 10 times worse

Sniipe

hey RandomRetard you sound like you were the exact same as me. My brother in law told me to use totalshavingsolution - http://www.totalshave.com/

I'm not joking you it made a huge difference for me. No red dots, no little spots later. If you follow the directions it will work guaranteed.

Before this I used nivea sensitive everything, before that it was all the gillett products, before that I had a wet electric shaver thing and before that a very expensive electric shaver.

I couldn't believe the results from such a small bottle. 3 drops no lie!

[edit] by the way they sell this in most shops - not just online [/edit]

Cabaal

Actually totalshave ain't too bad, I used to use it before I switched to DE
Found it better then normal foam and it last agesssssss

I know Tesco stock it

Amalgam

Not all places have the new packaging though. The old stock is just a light blue box with a blister window to one side, showing the bottle.

Shop around, price varies.

Sniipe

Amalgam new packaging, same product tho. Whats DE Cabbal? Is it a razor or the foam, or both?

oscarBravo

Double edge, aka safety razors. We're sort of addicted to them in here...

Sniipe

oscarBravo wrote: »

Double edge, aka safety razors. We're sort of addicted to them in here...

Cool thanks oscarBravo, I mite look into them, not that I'm not happy with what I've got at the moment. I guess I couldn't use it with total shaving solution or would there be no point?

oscarBravo

Sniipe wrote: »

Cool thanks oscarBravo, I mite look into them, not that I'm not happy with what I've got at the moment. I guess I couldn't use it with total shaving solution or would there be no point?

As a rule, we DE addicts tend to go all-out and treat ourselves to pre-shave creams, shaving soap and/or cream, badger-hair brushes, alum blocks, after-shave balms or lotions...

But sure, you could (in theory) use a DE razor with a shaving oil like TSS. I've heard good things about it as a pre-shave prep in conjunction with shaving cream and a badger brush. I've also seen reference to a final "touch-up" shaving pass using oil instead of lather.

Have a look at the safety razors thread in this forum for some ideas, and feel free to ask questions. I'm fairly new to the DE scene, but I ain't never going back.

Amalgam

I've used Total as a pre shave rub, of sorts. Worked fine. I stopped using it to trim down the 'shaving task'. Not because of any problems with the product itself.

junior_apollo

RandomRetard wrote: »

shaved this morning. god it actually hurt so bad at times. i have soft sensitive skin so thats maybe a reason i tried every direction and it was sore so i think im just going to get an electric one. i assume its impossible for them to hurt/leave rashes

If your having issues with a manual shave my advice would be NOT to go after an electric shaver to solve your problems.

You need to learn the direction of your beard growth and how to shave it effectively with manual first. An electric shaver takes a bit of getting used to.. and if you dont know your direction of growth it is even more difficult. Personally I would advise only changing (if you really want to) when you have mastered manual first.

An electric shaver is very expensive (assuming a good brand/quality) and your skin takes at least 1-2 months to get accustomed to the change... but with your skin being sensitive already this would be even worse.

I have a very heavy beard and soft skin and used a Mach3 Turbo and the Mach3 Power (the same as the one you refered to with the button for vibrate)... Christmas I changed to a Panasonic ES8228 Electic shaver and love it.. but it did take a bit of getting used to, and now i will never go back to manual shaving... But I have been shaving for almost 16 years now manual and have it down to a fine art now.. and only now took the leap to electric.

But dont go down the electric road until you are confortable with manual shaving.

Agree with others... shave just after your shower... and rinse with cold water...

Also... put your after-balm into the fridge before your shower... then complete shave and get the balm.. really cold balm is great ... works brilliant

Gran Hermano

I used various shaving oils (including King of Shaves and the Total Shaving stuff) back when I was using a mach3 or Fusion and found it helped. I didn't find them good on their own but did notice an improvement when combined with shaving gel.

I actually found the KoS better than the TSS oil. Since I switched to DE and proper shaving cream/soaps I stopped using them as I found it made very little difference as long as you're using quality shaving soaps/creams.

I also made my own shaving oil, look at the ingredients on the shaving oils and you'll see that you can easily mix up a litre of the stuff by buying the oils on their own (Boots or any aromatherapy shop online will sell the oils). If my skin feels dry, like it did during the snow earlier this month, I find the oil helps with the elasticity of my skin.

RandomRetard

thanks for all the help guys. ill try that stuff sniipe meantioned and let you know how it goes!

yabadabado

I reckon the best thing you could buy is a good shaving brush and use shaving soap.I started using them about september and the difference is huge.i know when i was using gel/foam i just rubbed it in with my hands and it probably doesnt lift the stubble enough.btw the soap i use proraso will last ages

sKepTics_George

I have only started to shave properly this year, and i have the same problem.

Thanks for all the advise.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I used to always break out in those damned spots on my neck after shaving.. it's half the reason I only shaved once every couple of months (that and I look pretty fetching in a beard). I read this thread a week or two ago and the total shaving solution stuck in my head as a product to try out. Then I forgot all about it and went into a pharmacy last week to ask for something to help with the shaving spots and she reccomended total shaving solution. Shaved a few hours ago and it was fantastic. It was the first time that I've shaved and not hated the experience, the hair just fell off at the slightest suggestion of the razor and no spots have appeared at all. It did make me feel a little stupid for buying a new can of shaving foam in tescos today but that's a small price to pay for not having to wait until a friday evening to shave so the spots might be gone by college on monday.

gg all who reccomended it.

Michael G

Just a thought to the OP and others, and sorry if you know this already, but are you pulling the skin tight before you put the razor on it? Any razor, straight, DE or multi-blade, will scrape loose skin and make it sore. Pull the skin fairly taut before each stroke and let the razor run along your skin as lightly as possible. I have heard that one veteran barber, who uses a straight razor, says that you should hold it as if you were only using it to wipe off the soap. Also the blade should be at a very shallow angle to your skin — more like 30 degrees than 45.

goldenwonder

shaving after a shower with the grain and using nivea face scrub stuff works pretty well. took all ideas from this thread. works better now