Shaving Spots.

Hi, I do not shave every day, usually every two or three days, a week perhaps if I'm on vacation. I've noticed the day after I shave, spots (yellow heads mainly), appear on my shaving area. I'm 18, and have a few spots elsewhere, but they seem to be aggrivated on my face the day after I shave. What causes this? I don't eat too many sweets/ sugary foods, so when the spots clear up elsewhere, will they still be on my face whenever I shave? Do older gentlemen still get the occasional spot?
I'm grateful in advance for your advice.
D.

Well, you're young, may have hormonal issues at play, acne as well, and shaving is just adding a bit of irritation to the mix. You might consider a hypo-allergenic soap as an alternative to what you're using and rinsing carefully after shaving might be of some assistance.

You didn't say what you use to shave with however irritation is a possibility. First order of business is make sure you don't have a problem with the soaps or pre shaves or after shaves you are using though if there was an allergy problem you would probably know sooner than the next day. After that you need to look at the way you shave meaning the razor and how you use it.

I had the same prob but I'm 20 years older then you.... I found that an alum block or what I use "Razorock" on my face the day I shave and the day after totally cleared the spots away..

As thebigspendur says, we need to know what you use to shave with. I know that using both an electric razor and a cartridge razor used to cause this problem with me when I was younger.

This was because both the electric razor and the cartridge caused irritation which led to infection, and that the cartridge razors tend to "lift the hair" before cutting, meaning that the cut lies below the surface of the skin. This means that you are more likely to get an ingrown hair. Even if it doesn't stay ingrown, it usually leads to a small infection and a spot.

If this describes your experience, and you haven't started shaving with a straight, then I would recommend first trying to shave with a DE. This will give you a close shave but without the ingrown-hair problem. I found that once my skin got used to the shave (and I got used to blade angles!) that it also helps massively with the irritation.

From your description of frequency of shaving, it doesn't sound like you are desperate to get the closest shave possible. If this is the case, and you don't want to splash out on a DE, then try switching to a cheaper, less "technically advanced" razor like a BIC disposable. Because these won't shave as close, you shouldn't end up with the same irritation or ingrown hair problem.

Failing all that, I'm afraid I can't suggest any potions or lotions that really solved the problem for me.

I in fact use a merkur DE, and to prepare my face I wash it, apply some bulldog facewash, and without washing that off, apply taylor shaving cream with a badger hair brush. I do three or four passes lathering up each time, and am most certainly keen to get as close a shave as possible, just not every day. I then splash my face with cold water, apply some moisturiser, and later, a little bit of aftershave. I also use spot cream every night before I go to bed, yet the spots still appear (mainly) only after shaving.

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Originally Posted by Delgado

I in fact use a merkur DE, and to prepare my face I wash it, apply some bulldog facewash, and without washing that off, apply taylor shaving cream with a badger hair brush. I do three or four passes lathering up each time, and am most certainly keen to get as close a shave as possible, just not every day. I then splash my face with cold water, apply some moisturiser, and later, a little bit of aftershave. I also use spot cream every night before I go to bed, yet the spots still appear (mainly) only after shaving.

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In that case, I'll backtrack. It doesn't sound like its an ingrown hair problem then. I apologise for the comment about aiming for a close shave -- it was the frequency of shaving that led me to believe that stubble wasn't an issue. I used the Merkur 34c until I started learning straights, and use it occasionally still. It will not be your problem.

I would suggest that you "wash" your face gently in cold water with a flannel after shaving, rather than just a "splash" of cold water to ensure that you have got any residue off your face. Pat dry with the flannel and then rub an alum block all over the areas you shave. This will have the effect of closing up all the pores on your face as well as closing any nicks. Together with ensuring you have a clean face first, this will help stop anything getting into your pores to infect them.

I know some people use an ASB first, but I would rather close all the pores first to ensure they don't get clogged before applying any potions. I'd probably then apply aftershave (proper AS or an ASB, not cologne) before any moisturiser. Then cologne last.

There is absoloutley no need to apologise! I love getting a close shave but my face just can't hack it every single day. Thanky for the advice- I'm going for a shave now and I will try and put everything I've learned on here in to practise!

*Thanks- I wrote rather hastily hence the spelling error!