Shaving Irritation

[jerrybyers]

Okay, I've been shaving for 3 weeks; it's been every day for the last two weeks. I have been concentrating on my shaving and things are going well. However, the last two days, I have had the worse burning sensation on my neck below my chin down to my adam's apple. The rest of my face is fine, but the small strip on my neck burns when I shave. The skin is smooth and isn't red, no other irritation; it just burns when I run the razor across it. It's weird that it doesn't burn when I run the alum block on it, and it's not red.

Is there something that I doing or not doing right? I shave with a light pressure stroke and the razor is sharp. Or, should I just take a couple of days off in that area?

[Birnando]

Sounds a bit odd, I must admit.

Yes, give your skin a couple days off and see what that does.
If that doesn't help, I would try to remove or change one thing at the time, and by doing this hopefully discover what might be causing it.
The area is a place where a lot of guys experience irritation, so it might be that a product you are reacting mildly to, is only felt on that area.

It is hard to pinpoint by your description alone, but try to change prep a bit, maybe a different puck of soap, a slightly different stroke on the affected area or some different post shave treatment.

[richmondesi]

What products are you using?

[jerrybyers]

Warm water, AOS Sandlewood shaving cream, Le Grelot. Most of my neck hair points north. When using a regular razor, I shave up and then down. With the straight, I tend to shave down first and then up.

[richmondesi]

That's a good product, but maybe your skin is sensitive to the sandlewood. Might want to try an unscented product just to see if it makes a difference. My face reacts to Tabac that way except it gets really red too

[jerrybyers]

Sounds like a plan. I look for the lavender or unscented.

[richmondesi]

Sounds like a plan. I look for the lavender or unscented.

Their lavender is very good too, and so is the DR Harris lavender. My wife has extremely sensitive skin, and she used the DR Harris with great success. Let us know how it goes

[Durhampiper]

I had a bit of the same experience early on. You might want to check your angle as you shave that part of your neck. You're shaving down a curve, and in my case it took a few days to get the hang of keeping the angle of the blade to the contour of my throat constant. The places where I let it get above 30 degress were the places that burned.

[jerrybyers]

Their lavender is very good too, and so is the DR Harris lavender.

I ordered some DR Harris last night. I will let you know how it works when I get it.

I never that about the changing angle on the front of the neck from the chin down; I'll keep an eye on that.

[thebigspendur]

That is very bizarre because burn is burn no matter what causes it and being that it's irritation typical products like the alum should make it feel worse. Try dabbing some alcohol on it and see if it burns.

I would guess either your skin is more sensitive there or you are doing something different there without realizing it like more pressure or angle change or just holding the razor differently.