Thread: Neck irritation?

Hi guys!

I've been shaving with a straight for about 4-5 months now and my shaves keep getting better and better, so is my honing.
However I have a problem area, my neck, on the upper part of my face the shaving is great, cheeks,around lips etc.

I use two passes WTG and ATG, I watch my angles and pressure. My blade passes the HHT and looks pretty good under my 10$ microscope.

A couple of shaves ago I tried to let my face "rest" a little longer then I usually do,normally i go two days between shaves, but that time I did'nt shave for 4-5 days. And the shave was great!No irritation!And really smooth on my neck,almost BBS..

Can you guys help me figure this out?I would love to be able to only go two days between shaves without irritation. What is the problem?Ingrown hairs?Irritation due to technique?Blade sharpness?
I use a Aloe Vera facewash once a day.

The flash from the camera exaggerates the problem quite a bit. The photo is of my neck after my last shave. The big "bump" is a mole of some kind.

//Victor

Dunno, you obviously know what you are doing. I will say that no matter if it is straight or a DE if I do more then 2 passes I begin to get irritation.

Do you always experience these problems or they only happen with one razor? If always, it is probably not the razor, unless all the razors have the same problems. I had similar problem with a full ground razor. I have not used it for awhile. Other reasons could include but are not limited to :-):

Too much pressure, could be a problem and bad angles certainly can cause this. Sometimes the hair in the neck does not grow in the same direction as in the face. Also the way that you are stretching your skin, if you are stretching your skin, could potentially lead to problems. The shaving products that you are using are not good for that area of your face, they do not condition properly and this area is more sensitive than the rest of you face. Lather is not optimal. Start changing things one by one and see if anything changes, hopefully in the right direction ;-). It is hard but not impossible to figure this out.

Al raz.

I'm the same way... too many passes (or too much pressure) and my neck looks like that. Also, the hairs there often grown at different angles. For me, I have to shave up to go WTG on my neck.

I can get my cheeks to look as smooth as yours usually with a WTG and an XTG with no need of an ATG.

However, there is no way even with a Feather AC and a light touch that I can get my neck to look any better (sans red irritation) than yours does there if I look very closely at my neck. With every kind of shaving method and tool there is, including straights, I've never had a true completely stubble free appearance neck shave. Don't get me wrong, I can get a silky smooth BBS sensation on my neck if I touch my shaved neck in a WTG direction, but, nope, no true BBS. Actually I should modify this statement by saying I COULD get a true BBS on my neck, but even with a straight I'd be digging out ingrown hairs with a tweezers by the dozens if I went ATG on most of my neck to get the shave that close.

So, for me, it is what it is and I'm fine with that.

Chris L

That doesn't look too bad. One thing I can think of is the blade angle. On that part, the whiskers usually lie very close to the skin. That calls for a very shallow cutting angle.
There's a drawing in the Wiki that illustrates this: Image:Cutting angles.jpg - Straight Razor Place Wiki

A second thing you can try is to improve your post shaving routine somehow. Plenty cold water, for closing the pores. The good old Alum block. Rinse with luke warm water after that and apply a good balm.

Finally, some razor edges are more prone to causing irritation than others. You might want to experiment with different finishing methods.

You have some experience and it looks like you know what you're doing. Because of that, I don't think you will be able to pinpoint this to just one single problem, with one easy solution. I think improvement is to be found in the combination of fine-tuning various aspects of your shaving.

Best regards,
Bart.

@Alraz: I only use one razor.I always get this kind of irritation if I go WTG/N to S and ATG/ S to N.

Can it be that due to the direction of my beard I go a bit atg on my WTG pass?
When I had my great shave a couple of days ago I was trying out some new shaving directions..


//Victor

Originally Posted by Bart

You have some experience and it looks like you know what you're doing. Because of that, I don't think you will be able to pinpoint this to just one single problem, with one easy solution. I think improvement is to be found in the combination of fine-tuning various aspects of your shaving.

Best regards,
Bart.

Thanks Bart, I think your right, I'll defenetly keep trying new things and techniques. Experience is the sh**zzt.

Originally Posted by woork

@Alraz: I only use one razor.I always get this kind of irritation if I go WTG/N to S and ATG/ S to N.

Can it be that due to the direction of my beard I go a bit atg on my WTG pass?
When I had my great shave a couple of days ago I was trying out some new shaving directions..


//Victor

If you do exactly! what you did for your "great" shave, the one with no irritation, you should be able to get the same results, right? Obviously there is something that you did for that one that you do not do normally. This would rule out the razor and presumable products, technique, sharpness of the razor, etc... As I said before, start changing one thing at the time and record your results.

Al raz.

On my next shave I'll ty to duplicate what I did on my "great shave"..=)

The time I go between shaves should not be an issue?

//Victor