Irritation around my neck

I've been shaving with a straight for about 2-3 weeks now. The blade is ultra sharp and I have no problems on any part of my face. I don't even have problems shaving my neck and under my chin. However, about 15 minutes after I finish shaving, the area under my chin develops razor bumps and is extremely sensitive. Aftershave helps a little but not by much. Any ideas or suggestions.

I don't experience any kind of pulling or discomfort during the shave. I have been resorting to using my Gillette Pro Fusion 5 blade razor on my neck and shaving the rest of my face with the straight but I would like to eventually get to the place where I can toss the Gillette.

Too much pressure is the likely culprit. Lighten up on your pressure and see if that doesn't help. Try to imagine you are only shaving off the lather, just the lightest touch.
Good luck.

Also, give that part of your face a day or two off, let it normalize before you try to shave it again.

Use less pressure, use also on the neck the 30 degrees angle whit the razor.
This will sometimes go wrong because it's an uncomfortable place to shave.(and then you get razor burn)
have fun

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Originally Posted by kalerolf

Use less pressure, use also on the neck the 30 degrees angle whit the razor.
This will sometimes go wrong because it's an uncomfortable place to shave.(and then you get razor burn)
have fun

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Did you mean a 30 degree angle with the grain? Or to keep the angle of the razor at 30 degrees during the shave?

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Originally Posted by JXLT

Did you mean a 30 degree angle with the grain? Or to keep the angle of the razor at 30 degrees during the shave?

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30 degrees with the grain, less when going cross or against the grain. Again like UPD and kalerolf suggest, light pressure. Also, go slow with short strokes (about a 1" or little less). Just take your time, it's your time to slow down, enjoy the shave, smell the lather, and reap the rewards of your "labor".

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Originally Posted by JXLT

I've been shaving with a straight for about 2-3 weeks now. The blade is ultra sharp and I have no problems on any part of my face. I don't even have problems shaving my neck and under my chin. However, about 15 minutes after I finish shaving, the area under my chin develops razor bumps and is extremely sensitive. Aftershave helps a little but not by much. Any ideas or suggestions.

I don't experience any kind of pulling or discomfort during the shave. I have been resorting to using my Gillette Pro Fusion 5 blade razor on my neck and shaving the rest of my face with the straight but I would like to eventually get to the place where I can toss the Gillette.

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Join the club, but here's hoping you melt down that plastic wonder into a kitchen utensil of some sort.

I gave up on an area under my jawline to the bbs and am just happy with what I get.

I can dig at it - ultimately cutting myself - or dragging off 4 layers of epidermus, but nothing I do seems to do any better than anything else I've trowled into that area, so I do a comfortable wtg... then a light xtg... then I rinse and am happy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JXLT

I've been shaving with a straight for about 2-3 weeks now. The blade is ultra sharp and I have no problems on any part of my face. I don't even have problems shaving my neck and under my chin. However, about 15 minutes after I finish shaving, the area under my chin develops razor bumps and is extremely sensitive. Aftershave helps a little but not by much. Any ideas or suggestions.

I don't experience any kind of pulling or discomfort during the shave. I have been resorting to using my Gillette Pro Fusion 5 blade razor on my neck and shaving the rest of my face with the straight but I would like to eventually get to the place where I can toss the Gillette.

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What are you doing for your pre-shave prep? Are you shaving right after you get out of the shower?

I develope those when I go too fast and forget to stretch my skin properly!

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Originally Posted by pmburk

What are you doing for your pre-shave prep? Are you shaving right after you get out of the shower?

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I soak my brush in hot water while I get in the shower. While I'm in the shower I was my face and cover it with a steaming hot towel. I sometimes add a layer of lather and repeat. Then I get out of the shower and apply lather to my still damp face and begin the shaving process.

I had the same problem but the towel fixed it. Have you tried using the hot towel multiple times on that area? While making lather, in between passes, etc.

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Originally Posted by Lane

I had the same problem but the towel fixed it. Have you tried using the hot towel multiple times on that area? While making lather, in between passes, etc.

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I haven't tried that yet but I definitely will. I slowed down a little while shaving today, lightened up the pressure (I had to look in the mirror to assure I was even removing lather) and worked on stretching the skin more taut. Although this didn't completely alleviate the problem, it did help. I have almost no irritation at all on my neck today.

For my next shave I'll throw in a couple of hot towel applications and maybe get the problem solved. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Also one thing that helped with skin stretching for me was to place my whole hand around the front of my neck like a choking motion and pull straight down while looking up. Helps keep the skin tight without bunching up the skin next to it.

Good luck on your shave

I used the multiple hot towel application and tried the skin stretching that you recommended and it worked wonderfully. I'm finally getting a nice smooth shave and no irritation. Thanks guys.

Good to hear JXLT! I've been following hte thread, because I have the same problem on my neck, but only in one spot (right side of neck, under the corner of my jaw). I even tried cold water this summer and that didn't help much. I guess I'll have to try the towel now...

I believe the repeated hot towel applications and the shorter softer strokes also make a difference too. Maybe your experience will be as fortunate as mine, Catalin.