Thread: Terrible neck irration after shave..?..

Been shaving with a straight for awhile.. The razor is shave ready so removes that problem.. Used a pre shave from prosaro as usually.. Mother bear soap lathered in a scuttle.. And a new brush I just re knotted .. I do two passes wtg xtg on face no problems .. Wtg atg on neck... First pass the latherd dried pretty quickly.. Second pass the lather was great.. Horrible razor bumps and red irration on right side of neck.. So what I'm thinking is its possibly the new brush the angle I used to shave atg on neck or the first dry lather pass.. ?? Any comments would be great..

Dry lather is not good IMO. I would relather before it dries up. Is the brush pokey? And I always use a very low angle, the lowest that still cuts when I shave. Watch the pressure. And cold water shaving got rid of any irritation for me so maybe worth a try.

Brush isn't pokey it's a silvertip from tgn.. I'm thinking it could be the dry lather first pass..would dry lather cause that redness.. I'm gonna try a wetter,lather next time same razor same ritual lil by lil play with the variables see what happens

FWIW, the key factors for me have been:
-keeping my lather wet, I rewet and reapply lather often during a pass. Wet hairs are easier to cut. Even a very sharp razor (new razor blade) will tug on dry/drying hair.
-use a low blade angle with a very light touch. I keep the spine as low as I can while still getting cutting action. I am more likely to get a cut or irritation if I lift the spine more than the minimum necessary, or start applying pressure.
-use skin stretching to help the hairs stand up and the razor glide on the skin. Failing to stretch the skin can result in scraping or a facial slice, if the razor pulls up a skin fold..
- shower/shampoo or wash the beard 2x before lathering up. Lather works best on clean hydrated hairs.
-Menthol and strong scented soaps can sometimes be irritating. When I first tried a very popular menthol cream, I had a residual hot feeling on my face. The same soap now causes me no issues. Try a low scented or scentless soap such as MWF.
-Give your face time to heal. Shaving on irritated skin can delay healing.
-the SR must be truely shave ready to get a good shave. Forcing a shave using a dull razor results in skin burn, ingrown hairs, and weepers.
-i am testing whether cold water shaving makes my skin a bit more resistant to irritation. So far cold lather shaves at least as good as warm lather, maybe with less irritation, but warm lather does feel much nicer while shaving. Cold lather dries more slowly, so I need to rehydrate less frequently using cold lather.
-Finish up with a DE or your usual razor if necessary, never force a SR shave that is not going well or rush a SR shave. I shave with a SR every day, and do spot cleanup with a DE. I find that I get a much better shave using a SR than when I use only a DE. I do not try to force a good result with the SR by repeatedly going over the same difficult spot starting to use pressure. I also use the DE rather than try to force an ackward feeling stroke attempting to get to a difficult spot.

when you leave lather on your face for an extended period of time, do you feel irritated. Could be your sensitive to the soap in which you are using. Dry lather does not allow the blade to glide on your skin. You will feel irritation due to the blade not gliding. Could be angle. I would play with the cold water like bill said and try to just lather the spot you are going to shave, or make your lather wetter.

The dry lather will not lubricate for the pass so yes it can leave you with the red irritation.
Never be afraid to re-lather and better safe than sorry IMO.

In your list where was the prep? If I skimp on beard prep I pay for it in razor burn. Of course as the other gents have pointed out, if you have poor or dry lather that can also cause issues.

Hope your shaves get back to great.

Jonathan

I agree with the other post, dry lather is bad. RazorRock AS wax, cures the burn, it's the only thing I've found that quenches the fire effectively, all others seem to fall way short when I've had a bad shave.

Lather helps, pressure is important!! Angle, angle, angle!!! If you lift that spine and get to or near a point that you're not cutting/slicing the whiskers then you are scraping the skin and whiskers!! If you scrape, not usually an acceptable shave, and definitely "razor burn"!! As stated above, low angle. Start flat and if a short pass doesn't shave, increase slightly and try another short stroke. If it shaves, go. If it doesn't increase a little more, but about 2 spine widths is usually sufficient. Also, remember, if you are on the AGT, South to North on the neck, the contour of the neck going up to the jaw line compensates for a flat angle of the blade. If you are basically flat on the blade the contour will compensate and make an angle equivalent to 'spine widths' of blade angle. Hope this makes sense!

Regards,

Howard