Thread: way too many razor bumps-itching and open wounds. need help please.

Hello Pepper125,

I'm very new to the straight razor shaving world myself. I've always hated shaving and always had razor burn and bumps, especially around my neck. I never knew why I'd get these. I had always used multi-bladed cartridge razors. From what I've read, having multi-blade razors is bad for two reasons. First, each pass on your skin is multiplied by the number of blades you have, so you're really kind of abusing it. Secondly, and I know Gillette brags about this, the whole pull and cut thing where one blade pulls up the hair and the second cuts it so it retreats below the skin (for a smooth, close shave, right?) is a recipe for disaster.

Ever since I've gone to straight razor shaving, the bumps have been disappearing and now they're almost gone. Now, I treat my face a bit nicer, too. I use a cream for my lather; I do much more prep, and I use Skin Food as an aftershave treatment. Even so, I don't think any of that will reduce ingrown hairs and razor bumps nearly as much as using a single blade that won't cause ingrown hairs.

I think this is something you can get out of a DE blade, I just decided to make the leap straight to the straight. The learning curve is steep; it's nice to link up with someone who knows his stuff; I got to know Pinklather and I purchased two shave ready straights from him and he and I have emailed quite a bit back and forth. He set me along a very good path. I didn't start buying razors on eBay and I didn't start honing razors myself. I trusted a good member to give me a shave ready blade. It's paid off handsomely so far for me.

The forums and the wiki have also been invaluable to me here. If you don't go to the straight right away, or ever, you can still get plenty of information on prepping and aftershave treatments, and the members here will answer all your questions with great information from their own experiences.

Good luck to you, and welcome to SRP.

-Mark