Thread: The Catch-22 of closeness

Originally Posted by Hirlau

If you only had a 90 day learning curve, then God bless you, it took me a year & a half to get good comfortable shaves with a straight.

Maybe I'm just a slow learner.

Naw. It took me same amount of time to really get the processes (lather, hone, strop, skin care, etc.) tuned.

Moreover, the same amount of time was needed to really appreciate the differences between razors. Razors came into the rotation and went out. But, the blades that gave the consistently good shave have stayed in use and are more appreciated with time.

Being observant of the total procedure and the results achieved with minor adjustments have been my stepping stone to a good shave. YMMV.

Dave

Russ, I think I'm doing as you used to, obsessing over my neck shave and getting the Plague (nice expression btw). How do you go about your neck shave now? Do you try your best to go WTG, do a single pass in a single direction, multiple passes? Thanks!

I use a product called Bump Patrol, I get it at CVS or Walmart in the shaving section...it's like a blue liquid, thicker than water....you just smooth it all over your face after shaving, and every night after washing your face before going to sleep.

it's a salicylic acid based lotion that absolutely ELIMINATES razor Rash, ingrown hairs, razor bumps and irritation...i didn't believe it would work myself until i asked my wife...she is an Esthetician (skin care)

apparently there is another product called (TendSkin) you can get on the SRD website...i had the worst razor bumps, ingrown hairs and irritation/redness on both sides of my neck for as long as i can remember...

i washed my face every night, and used the TendSkin twice per day and after 2 weeks the redness, bumps and irritation completely disappeared and has never returned! no lie

i smooth a little BumpPatrol or TendSkin on at night...and after shaving and my skin had been absolutely prefect for the past 6 months

only warning though is the tendskin and bump patrol will burn Like hell when you put it on after shaving...i usually shave at night for that reason...when you apply it your skin will burn for a few second and even sometimes get very red and even make the bumps worse....but every time...i wake up in the morning with a perfectly smooth face and no redness whatsoever

just me im new but I get all of my face as smooth as I want but my neck im satisfied one pass WTG and call it quits SWMBO never rubs my neck to see if im ready@

Originally Posted by flares2

So I've been DE shaving for a month now. I've been working on getting a close shave on my neck without irritating/nicking the skin. Like many others, my neck hair grows in every direction imaginable so getting a close shave on my neck has been difficult. Normally after two passes there's still trouble spots.

So I've been trying 1 pass up and then a 2nd pass specific to the trouble spots. The other day I finally got it. Nice smooth shave on my neck. No nicks, no redness, no irritation. Problem happened later that evening, about the time the 5 o'clock shadow should be pushing through. My neck was a red speckled mess, like a bunch of minor ingrown hairs.

Makes me wonder what the point of trying to get a close shave is if the skin is going to become irritated hours later when the hair starts to grow back out. Is there a way to avoid this or am I best to stick just WTG, give up on closeness to avoid eventual irritation?

Also ofcourse try the cold shave, caused the skin to contract and makes the whiskers stand up more to the blade. I also find the cold water results in far less irritation. For me, I notice the difference still if I cold shave vs hot shave...much more redness for me if my beard and skin are warm / hot.

Also, reduce the passes, I usually just aim for a DFS, two passes, one WTG all over and a XTG on the cheeks, and if I'm ambitious, a ATG on the neck only. Also, if you don't have one already, I found the alum block went a long way to soothing the skin and providing feedback on your shave. If you get a ton of stinging with the alum block, it's telling you something, whether about your technique or blade state IME. Most of my shaves result in just a nice, mild tingling feeling from the alum block, as opposed to some of the old days of eye watering, wincing stinging!!! haha

Good luck, YMMV as they say...

I agree with Phrank, give cold water shaving a try.

Feather blades are the pinnacle of sharpness and you have to be careful with them. You might try a more tame blade and see what happens.

flares2,

I usually do an upward angled stroke on my neck for the first pass; this seems to lessen the misery of razor rash in this area

As 'thebigspendur' has suggested, try a variety of blades (a sampler pack). I have found the Russian Gillette 7 O'Clock (yellow pack) and Iridium Super blades to be a good combination (for me) of sharpness and smoothness).

The choice of blade for DEs is incredibly personal - one persons good blade is another's nightmare !

I now use GEM/Ever-Ready SE (single edge) razors when I use safety razors, and again, for me, these shave more comfortably than my DEs.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ