Printable View
I give up, I have been shaving since november and I know since than I have been working on my beard prep and I have done the same for awhile now. So I got my pre routine down pat and I use a hot towel on my face to make my whiskers softer and my technique is down pat but I'm still getting razor bumps. What am I doing wrong do I have the wrong equipment I use a alumi block after every shav. It's just frustrating so any advice would be great
Tyler,
If you're still getting ingrowns aka razor bumps it means that you are cutting hair below skin level. Are you shaving ATG in the problem areas? That's usually the main culprit. If you haven't mapped your beard really well you might even be shaving ATG and not realizing it. So if that's the case you may have to settle for a less-than-close shave to help alleviate the scourge of the bumps.
One product that worked miracles for me when I got razor bumps is called "Bump Patrol." It is available at big box stores in the shaving section/hair product section. It does exactly what it says: After 24 hours razor bumps are gone. I used it for about a week straight. That was two years ago. I haven't had razor bumps since. I think it cost around $8.
I'm still technically a rookie as i have not completed a full year of straight razor shaving.
I was getting the bumps for the first while as well and found out that I was applying too much pressure with the razor.
Lighten up and let the razor do the work. Especially on XTG and ATG passes (if you do do ATG)
Of course, most everyone is different, but I get a ridiculously close shave doing one pass WTG and one pass XTG. I just find no need to go ATG, although I do in some places only because its easier than changing grips.
I really don't know the criteria for all the acronyms like BBS and such, but I do know that after doing my two passes, my skin feels absolutely smooth no matter what direction I pass my hand over it.
I'm really not sure what an alum block actually does as I've never used one, I think its supposed to sooth the skin after shaving? Call me crazy, but if your skin needs soothing, something is not quite right
As I said, by reducing the pressure, I end up with an extremely close shave and no irritation at all, but it took me almost 2 months to figure it out completely. When I'm done shaving, I wash my face with lukewarm water and get on my way.
Oh, by the way, I switched to a straight razor specifically because I was getting bumps, red patches and irritation with a cartridge razor. I was just too stupid and stubborn to try something different for 30 years. (the first number of years I was shaving I used a DE razor and never had an issue, but blades became harder to find and i was sucked in by the promises of the "modern era")
I hope this helps, but in the end, you're going to have to find what works for your skin and beard. Don't give up, try a new technique. Just because you're comfortable with a technique, does not mean its the right one for you. I would hazard a guess that most of the guys here (myself included) have tried a number of different approaches before they found the best one for them.
Tyler,
'Had pretty pronounced bumps for about 5-6 months after switching to a straight. The previous cartridge method was only capable of mowing the tops and leaving me to clean up the carnage. When I started honing for others, I wanted some stubble left or available in the evening so I could test edges. I decided to do a 1 pass shave only - so I'd have some stubble to test on. Two things happened. My one pass got so good there was still nothing to test on in the evening. And a few wks later, the bumps were gone. They have not returned.
try stopping the alum block it closes pores and tightens the skin. as well as closing any nicks or weepersQuote:
Originally Posted by Tylerbrycen
Those bumps are from shaving too close(ATG). The hair is below the skin growing and can't get out so thus it gets infected. Preventing them is key but now that you have them I found the treatment that worked the best for me was exfoliation: manual(exfoliating scrub like St. Ives 2% Salicylic Acid Peach Scrub) and chemical(Neutrogena 2% Salicylic Acid daily moisturizer or any other bump cream would work I guess). Alpha or Beta Hydroxy are chemical exfoliants and salicylic is beta.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tylerbrycen
After adjusting the direction of my pass, using the moisturizer with beta hydroxy and the St. Ives scrub every day it took 2 weeks to get rid of the bumps. Now that they're gone and haven't been back I use the scrub 2-3 times per week but for me it's totally optional now and that tube of moisturizer is collecting dust.
If I was going to keep shaving ATG and creating them then I wouldn't bother with the creams and would just live with them. I was lucky I stepped from Fusion to DE before str8s because my first 2 DE shaves were so bad for my neck area, I figured out pretty quick which direction my pass needed to go to be smooth and I call that 'WTG' for my neck. I tried to map it out before of course but in my neck areas where it's all different directions like a crop circle I just went by trial and error.
If you can live with just WTG for those problem areas but it's all crop circley and hard to tell what 'WTG' is then some trial and error may be in order. Go one direction for at least a week but two is better and see if they get better. If not then go the opposite direction and repeat as necessary.
Good luck! I can tell you it's so nice now to not have razor bumps and I hope you will experience that too!