Whats best aftershave for razor burn?

[vxnova]

I have always suffered from razor burn and it has started becoming more evident since switching from a Mach3 to a DE (I guess its a tradeoff for getting a close shave). I have samples of Trumpers coral and extract of limes skin food but that does not seem to help that much. I am tempted to buy some Aloe80 gel that I have read from other posts but just wanted to know if anyone knows of something else.

[DavidB]

I find good old Nivea Sensitive aftershave balm to be a good moisturizer and soother, plus it's available everywhere. Em's Place sells an Aftershave Soother that's very good as well. Emily specializes in skin-friendly personal care products.

Dave

[With The Grain]

ive heard good things about this- http://www.tendskin.com/
and almost bought a bottle after giving myself some absurd razor burn with a unshave worthy straight going against the grain. that said in my recovery from that razor burn i dialed back my shaves to very light until my skin could heal, nightly applied some ponds facial cream thing the lady in my life has and worked extra hard on my prep before trying to get close again. i normally dont get razor burn and only use splash aftershaves (proraso) so i havent had to deal with daily razor burn but in the case where i got it VERY bad the light shaving and face cream helped heal it fairly quickly.

[JD]

I use the Anthony Logistics Razor Burn Repair. It is numbing so if you dont like that then I do not suggest it at all. I find that it helps reduce the pain of the razor burn till its almost gone. You can get it at Nordstrom for 22 bucks and trust me when I say a little goes a long way. I would pick some up and ship it to you if you like. You pay for the balm and ill pay the shipping. Let me know I will probebly go out there this weekend.

[nteeman]

Many here have mentioned NATURADE ALOE VERA 80. I would also agree that this is a great product and will help with any razor irritation you experience.

[vxnova]

I use the Anthony Logistics Razor Burn Repair. It is numbing so if you dont like that then I do not suggest it at all. I find that it helps reduce the pain of the razor burn till its almost gone. You can get it at Nordstrom for 22 bucks and trust me when I say a little goes a long way. I would pick some up and ship it to you if you like. You pay for the balm and ill pay the shipping. Let me know I will probebly go out there this weekend.

Thanks for your offer. There is a Nordstroms fairly close to me that sells that same product and ill go check and see if they have any samples to give out. I guess i'll just use my fusion until my razor burns heal since it doesnt give me any razor burn at the expense of a close shave. My burns arent that bad and dont hurt but they are noticeable.

[z]

Just like DavidB, I've been using the Nivea Sensitive Aftershave Balm (only costs about $5 or so, and is pretty nice). However, today I went all Nancy Boy and used their preshave oil, shave cream, and aftershave. My face was smooth and comfortable all day. Got a great shave, even though it was the last day before a blade change.

The Nancy Boy aftershave has aloe as the primary ingredient, with glycerine as the second. It's got a fair amount of peppermint and lavender, and only trace amounts of alcohol.

http://www.nancyboy.com/product.php?pro ... 253&page=1

[din]

when I have nasty razor burn I just rub a big hunk of suet on my mug until it's shiny.

[vontech]

No matter HOW BAD your razor burn is -- even if you manage to make your face look like RAW HAMBURGER -- Tendskin will quench it.

I've used Tendskin EVERY DAY for the last two years of mutilating my face with a Gillette M3 Power and Mach 3, until I found this forum. It stings like hell for a couple of minutes, then the sting fades quickly.

With me, it prevented my burn from lasting through the day. Period.

Worth it's expensive weight in gold, IMHO. Shouldn't be necessary to use this, but nice to have it when you screw up (or go back to old habits).

Tom

[JackieMartling]

I'd like offer a counterpoint on TendSkin, with all due respect to those who tout its virtues. It is an excellent product for what it is. However, I feel it should not be recommended as a regular aftershave. It is designed to help certain skin problems, but due to its very high alcohol content, I feel that with regular use, it would be quite drying and irritating, much like a traditional alcohol-based aftershave; not only that, but it smells pretty funky, too. I would recommend it to treat a short-term problem of razor rash, ingrowns, or what have you, but if you find you are getting these problems consistently, such that you think you would need something like TendSkin on a daily basis, something is very wrong with your approach, and you should seek a change in technique and/or product. Ideally, you treat a problem by addressing its cause and subsequently preventing it, rather than continuing to treat it after it happens. (If you have an allergy to cats, do you continue to hang around cats while dosing up on antihistamines, or do you simply avoid cats?) TendSkin, in my opinion, is an after-the-fact treatment, necessary on those days when something just goes wrong due to some fluke. As the old saying goes, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I simply cannot imagine using TendSkin on a daily basis, or needing to, for that matter.

Vxnova, forgive me if I sound condescending, but you should not be getting razor burn on a daily basis. This whole website is about getting comfortable shaves. The hardcore mavens would insist you can get a glass-smooth shave while also having total comfort. I personally don't find that to be so on my face, and usually have to accept a certain degree of minor roughness to prevent major problems. I am a firm believer that comfort and overall skin health is much preferable to a close shave that results in problems. There has got to be a combination of technique, tool and product out there that will work for you. Just accepting razor burn and treating it as it happens is, well, unacceptable, in my opinion.


Nathan

[Troy]

Vxnova, forgive me if I sound condescending, but you should not be getting razor burn on a daily basis. This whole website is about getting comfortable shaves. The hardcore mavens would insist you can get a glass-smooth shave while also having total comfort. I personally don't find that to be so on my face, and usually have to accept a certain degree of minor roughness to prevent major problems.

That's been my experience as well. For me, that means stopping after two full passes and a touch-up, as well as no skin stretching during the shave and no against-the-grain shaving except for just below the jawline (but not directly under my chin) for some reason. I still get much, much better results than with the electric I used for about 16 years prior.

-Troy

[ScottS]

The hardcore mavens would insist you can get a glass-smooth shave while also having total comfort. I personally don't find that to be so on my face, and usually have to accept a certain degree of minor roughness to prevent major problems.

Nathan

Dead on right. Every face has its own tolerance level, and to go beyond it is asking for trouble.

I find it alot easier to find that tolerance level when I approach it from the stubble side-- that is, find a comfortable shave without worrying about how close it is, and then see if you can get closer without trouble. This way, you're not constantly shaving over irritated skin, which might start to snowball your troubles. When you experiment to see if you can get closer, its best to do it over a healthy face. When you get a hair too close, back of for a week or so, heal up, and try something else if you want.

My own experience is that as my technique got better, by shaves got closer. Still, a little too much and the irritation starts to sneak in. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get much closer than I am right now.

Scott

[vontech]

(If you have an allergy to cats, do you continue to hang around cats while dosing up on antihistamines, or do you simply avoid cats?)

Nathan,

I completely agree that Tendskin should not be used daily. I used it daily myself simply because I thought I was doomed to a life of razor burn after every Mach 3 shave. And I was. The Tendskin allowed me to make it through my day with my dry, scraped, hamburger face, mostly without pain. Now, I use Tendskin and CodeBlue only for emergencies.

Now as for the cats, I was diagnosed with a severe cat allergy when I was a child. 25 years ago, while single and lonely, I adopted a fantastic cat. loved her, sneezed my head off, took allergy shots and pills -- and kept adding more cats. And more cats. And even MORE cats. My allergist said I was personally putting his kids through college.

One day about 10 years ago, the allergy STOPPED!! (I coughed up a giant hairball...). No more cat allergies. No more allergies at all! My allergist figured that my system had simply become ACCUSTOMED to its worst allergy.

Sorry for the OT story ..... your analogy hit a nerve...

I now have 10 indoor cats -- and take no allergy medicine.

BUT, I occasionally use Tendskin...

Thanks!

Tom

[vxnova]

That's been my experience as well. For me, that means stopping after two full passes and a touch-up, as well as no skin stretching during the shave and no against-the-grain shaving except for just below the jawline (but not directly under my chin) for some reason. I still get much, much better results than with the electric I used for about 16 years prior.

-Troy

It is very hard for me to get a close shave after doing only two passes and not going against the grain. I usually make around 6-7 passes and then spend some time doing touch-ups. My first pass is always with the grain and then everything after that is against the grain. When doing this with a DE it results in a super close shave but with a Mach3 or fusion there is still some stubble I cant completely get off. This might seem a little excessive to most of the people in this forum but I have a very thick and rough beard and had to begin shaving at a much younger age than most people and this is just they way I have had to deal with it.

Nathan- I do have those days where I dont get any razor burn and am able to get a close shave in the process. It is only on those days that I get razor burn that I am looking for a product that can help me reduce it and make it less noticeable.

[With The Grain]

id try some ear to nose direction passes, after going with and before going against i always do this. some times i get close enough with the sideways pass that i dont even bother going against the grain.

[JackieMartling]

I usually make around 6-7 passes and then spend some time doing touch-ups.

Well, that's out of my league. I really don't know what to say to that, except that my face hurts just thinking about it.


Nathan

[Troy]

I agree with Nathan, that's crazy, man.

Try experimenting with different (sharper?) blades, make sure your cutting angle is good, maybe try a few different cream/water or soap/water ratios - there's got to be some way you can tweak your routine to get good results with fewer passes.

You're lathering between each of the passes, right?

-Troy

Edit: When I was just starting out with DE shaving, I found pre-shave oil helped to compensate for my not-so-good technique. I recommend Em's version over Pacific, if only because it smells better. Anyway, now I don't need to use pre-shave oil, but it was getting the technique down that allowed me to drop it.

[CRR]

It is very hard for me to get a close shave after doing only two passes and not going against the grain. I usually make around 6-7 passes and then spend some time doing touch-ups.

You are putting a blade in your razor right? That sounds like a lot of passes

[Blue As A Jewel]

I do 5 - 7 passes on a daily basis with no irritation or burn. The "trick" is strictly technique and the process of beard reduction. In doing 1 with the grain pass and 5-6 immediate against the grain passes you are most likely cutting skin on a repeated basis instead of hair...ergo the burn.

Try a reducing strategy - where you minimize the blade angle, use low pressure and focus on a gradual reduction/removal of hair - e.g:

Pass 1 - with the grain. There can be a couple of these passes to really mow down the growth without irritating the skin
Pass 2 - diagonal across the grain
Pass 3 - opposite diagonal across the grain
Pass 4 - A strict S-N pass
Pass 5 - Against the grain final pass. My beard grows in some weird directions so I cut against these grains as I know them on my face.

I don't know if you have an adjustable - but you would use a very low setting for the reduction stages then dial it up a touch for the final against the grain clean up. You should have no irritation.

For your existing situation with razor burn I would recommend either an aloe product as already suggested or Code Blue by Brave Soldier. Code Blue has Lidocaine & Salacylic Acid both of which dramatically deal with the pain and healing respectively.

[vxnova]

Im sorry for making you guys feel uncomfortable with the amount of passes I make but that is how many passes I have to make and some days even more. I am using a Rens pre-shave Nivea Creme idea which seems to help and yes I am lathering between each pass. My shave tomorrow will be no different than any of my current shaves but I will try a reducing strategy and see how that works.