shaving bumps and irritation...

So, I have been at this for a couple of months now, and my neck cannot seem to get adjusted. The rest of my face is great, but when it comes to my neck, it is developing bumps and a lot of irritation. I wait two days between shaving, so that is every third day that I do shave. My razor's edge is fine in that the rest of my face feels great and is close. I continue to re-lather as needed, I use a good shaving oil for prep, and shave after a nice hot shower to get my face ready. I shave with the grain first, then x-grain/against as needed, as I have a nice swirl of growth in one area of my neck.

I use a nice aftershave lotion and some shaving bump lotion every night before I go to bed. I am at a loss as to what to do to correct this. My neck burns and bleeds without nicks, just from follicle pores it seems. Any ideas?

Sorry to hear about this - sounds bad.

The skin on the neck is more sensitive and gentle than say cheeks and upper lip - at least for me. Maybe your edge is not good enough for the neck? Also - do you use very light touch or is there some scraping?

If you go for BBS - I'd recommend to lay off and go for comfort. Maybe in a while you will be able to go for BBS...

Also - the products you are using - maybe there is a reaction?

Did you have the same issues with a DE, Gillettes, electric shavers?

Sorry I cannot help more
Ivo

Thanks for the reply. I do get bumps and irritation with disposables and electric. Though at this point, it doesn't seem as bad, but I never went ATG with them either. I try to use as light a touch as possible, just as I do the rest of my face, but perhaps I am scraping, though I make a conscious effort not to do this. The products are good for my skin, as I tested them before going full straight razor with no probs.

Perhaps I just need more honing and stropping then, or a better technique. I will work it out, I just didn't see anyone else really having this problem, so I thought I would ask. Hopefully someone has experienced similar and can tell me what they found out about technique, razor, etc. that would help me. Thanks!

IIRC, occasionally I used to get some bumps with Gillette - sometimes more, sometimes less or none; DE was better, and electric was not bad either. But the electric still chafed my skin sometimes, and with longer growth it just stalled and chewed sometimes :rant:

Point is, I have had great results since switching to straights. If used well, I think they are the best for the skin

Good luck
Ivo

with my first few shaves, i had lots of irritation for 2 reasons. 1 was not knowing the growth pattern of my neck. mine swirls also. 2 was getting my str8 honed and having a good edge. i stopped shaving with a str8 and went back to my electric just because of my neck. honed my blade and learned the growth, world of difference. check your growth pattern again, hone and just take your time. hopefully you get it straightened out!

My neck used to be a problem in that way, what I've done is pulled the skin down from my collarbone with my chin up, tilt left to get the right side of my neck and vice-versa to keep each area taught and flat as possible.
Note the hair grow and go wtg. Try different engles too. I've found my hands naturally tend to position the blade at a lesser angle when I'm lowered to my neck. You may need to increase the angle, even though that sounds like you'd only be making it worse.

I'll second Friggin Joe's recommendation to play with the blade angle, only my neck tends to like a shallower angle--keeping the spine of the razor closer to the skin. My hairs lay very flat there, so I think that has something to do with it...

Josh

I appreciate the input guys. I will keep at it. Perhaps I am just not honing my blade properly for my sensitive neck(damn woman's neck!) LOL. Anyway, I love my shave everywhere else, so I know I must be doing something wrong.

This will sound crazy but here goes; put a little more pressure on the razor for the neck area and make like a strangle hold with your free hand to tension the skin.

left hand- thumb and 4 fingers on Adams apple with finger tips together. press and pull down with the 4 fingers till they roll over to other side of Apple and thumb stays on shave side. Now press and pull down with the thumb while moving it towards the area above the collar bone. now push the hand flat to the neck and you should have a strangle type hold on the shaving side of the neck. This if my description helped you do it will result in the neck skin being stretched in all directions. with practice and a sore neck later you should figure this out :)
I find firm pressure can make the difference on the neck when those chicken bumps play up.

PuFF