Thread: Razor burn help needed

One more bit of advice. I also have a neck subject to high irritation, I do not normally have negative reactions to most of whats used in soaps/creams for shaving and soaps for general washing. Recently bought a bar of Shea butter soap. What a disaster. Talk about skin burn before shaving. I now check the ingredients of any soap/cream I am interested in to see if Shea butter was used and how far down on the list of ingredients. The lower on the list = smaller amount used. I can then tolerate if only a small amount used. As for after shave burn, again especially on the neck, I use two things. One: Gold Bond Ultimate Diabetics' dry skin relief and you don't need to be diabetic to use it: gives extra hydration and soothing effect. For my neck I add Aloe gel, a transparent bright green thick gel that is at once cooling and overtime healing. I also "cheat" sometimes and use my DE or SE to shave my neck when I've been having a streak of neck sensitivity. The Aloe gel might be hard to find, generally in the womens' area of creams, lotions and the like. I hope this helps.

This mornings shave was performed with LESS pressure in mind...it was my sole focus.
I backed off to just skimming the shave soap off my face.
What an amazing result!
Where my post shave routine normally 'lights up my face' this morning so notably less of that with still awesome shave results; Subjectively a DFS.

All Newbies, of which I count myself, Slow Down and back off on the pressure.
Second and third order effect MAY BE that your mileage will increase.

Thanks again for this informative thread...GREAT STUFF HERE.

Originally Posted by 75kyle

So I've been at straight razor shaving for a couple of months now and have tried several methods and products, but still seem to have razor burn on my neck that just won't go away. 1st off, the skin on my neck/throat area has always been sensetive to razor burn no matter what I shave with. If I tried to map that area it would almost look like a rose compass with hair growing every which way, so for now I just shave that area in small strokes straight down. I've read through archives and all the articles I can find on here and have not had any success eliminating this problem. I don't use any pressure and I keep the angle about 1-2 spine widths off of my face (about 30 degrees). I have tried wet shaving with hot, warm, and old water.

Pre-shave: I have done everything from water all the way to shower, towels, witch hazel, skin food, soap, rinse, oil, soap, shave. I have added and ommitted each step here and there.

Post-shave: I have done everything from rinse with cold water, apply witch hazel, apply
aftershave - and have added one at at time and mixed and matched the following - skin food, nivea balm, udder cream lotion. I have even used all products after the same shave.

I know you're supposed to wait cor the razor burn to clear up before shaving again, but that would be at least more than 3 days growth and due to work purposes I can't do that. It does get mostly clear, but then I shave and it's back with a vengence. I use small single pass straight down strokes. The razors were honed by Lynn and I know they're sharp. I have used several types of soaps/creams to shave with. I just really don't know what else to try and any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank You,
Kyle

You know, after almost a year, I still get a slight burn on the right side of my lower neck, keep getting lighter and lighter on the pressure, but it still shows up. I'm also starting to think, with 12 razors, two of which are 6/8th, that I'm not liking the larger blades, prefer the 5/8th and 4/8th.

When I use those blades, get a much better shave with almost no redness. Might be due to the fact that I stuck with the 5/8th for so long??

I have a DD Satin Wedge and a W&B Wedge and found those much different as well, even though the forum suggests it shouldn't make that much difference.

Guess it's down to practice, practice, practice!!

This morning was my TI 6/8th Spartacus, and the red came flaming back, and this blade is virtually brand new.

Time and practice will tell....

try dove for men AS balm (sensitive is what I use) instead of the nivea...I've already mentioned this in another post today but I find it less irritating than nivea and less greasy...alcohol free as well.
The proroso pre post shave cream is pretty good to cool down razor burn but once you improve with your technique (pressure, angle, LATHER, and everything else mentioned above) your shaves should start to improve.

It's only been a few months as you said and while you may feel like you have the hang of using a straight, you still a long way to go...this is something that takes 6 months to a year to truly dial in. Keep patient and you should get there.

Originally Posted by kwlfca

try dove for men AS balm (sensitive is what I use) instead of the nivea...I've already mentioned this in another post today but I find it less irritating than nivea and less greasy...alcohol free as well.
The proroso pre post shave cream is pretty good to cool down razor burn but once you improve with your technique (pressure, angle, LATHER, and everything else mentioned above) your shaves should start to improve.

It's only been a few months as you said and while you may feel like you have the hang of using a straight, you still a long way to go...this is something that takes 6 months to a year to truly dial in. Keep patient and you should get there.

Yes, I like and use the proroso pre / post shave - works quite well to cool redness...don't use it all the time, but this morning was one of those times....the shaving gods must not have been in alignment for me this am!

Originally Posted by Phrank

This morning was my TI 6/8th Spartacus, and the red came flaming back, and this blade is virtually brand new.

Phrank, Sounds to me like you need to sell off the TI 6/8 Spartacus immediately. You know what...I'm tight with a guy who wants one ???

Originally Posted by ColonelG

Phrank, Sounds to me like you need to sell off the TI 6/8 Spartacus immediately. You know what...I'm tight with a guy who wants one ???

You probably wouldn't like the Spartacus is have, it's really sharp and only been used a few times!

Skin pulling was mentioned earlier. Another thing to experiment with is how you are pulling your skin when you shave. If I pull the skin on my neck down towards my collar bone, when I shave my neck, I will get irritation. If i shave my cheeks and jaw first and then lightly pull the skin on my neck up, when I shave my neck, I get no irritation on my neck.

One thing I would highly recommend against is shaving over razor burn. Please don't do it! Until you can figure out what is causing the problem, let the burn heal and shave that area with something that doesn't irritate it. I used a Double Edge on my neck until I figured out the right technique with my straight. Comfort over closeness.

Originally Posted by Phrank

You probably wouldn't like the Spartacus is have, it's really sharp and only been used a few times!

Well to help you avoid the 'red flaming razor burn' I'd be willing to take one for the team!

Give cold water a try.

Splash on generously and frequesntly As I've heard it hear, it's called wet shaving for a reason. Also, pressure and angle as mentioned before.