I am having an issue with my upper cheekbone and cheek area. I am getting red bumps with no visible hair in it and no puss showing for most part. Sometimes I can pull a hair out and the hair is not ingrown but the follicle looks rather thick . I have tried numerous products and usually AOS products work great for me but even that is starting to not work and I am consistently getting these bumps. It is very frustrating and it doesn't seem to matter if I go ATG or not. I have tried both ways with same result. Im currently using art of shaving sandalwood pre shave , cream, and aftershave with Gillette silver blue blades. Can anyone please make a recommendation for product, process, or anything that may help with this? PLEASE!?!?
Welcome to TSD. Sorry to hear of these issues. How long since carts? Skip the preshave, avoid against the grain strokes by only shaving with and across. You may need to have an MD look at it to be sure it's shaving related and not a bacterial problem.
By eliminating variables it can become easier to see the issue. I am not a doc, just a redneck who has read some stuff, but the facts that it's been years since carts and the follicular centered irritation point me toward folliculitis or similar. Limited area of irritation would tend to rule out product and possibly routine. Any reason to believe it might be uncomplicated ingrown hair? Pain and redness together sometimes indicate infectious causes.
I had problems with ingrown hair too. When I first started with wet shaving and a DE I reduced but still had some ingrown hairs. I used a product PFB vanish after I shaved and the ingrown problem went away. After a while I did not need the PFB Vanish and just shaved with the DE. Years of cart usage took their toll and it took a while for my skin to adjust. Per @Bama Samurai reduce as many variables as possible so you can isolate the problem.
Just to add my 2 cents worth, while the limited area of the problem does suggest it's not a reaction to a product, that doesn't necessarily mean that your particular products aren't contributing to the problem. People can have reactions to things like sandalwood, for example. To rule that out, I would switch to using an unscented soap or cream for sensitive skin and something like a plain witch hazel as an aftershave, possibly preceded by an alum block. I am touchy to a lot of scents myself but find it doesn't really matter what kind of soap I use or how strongly it's scented as long as I rinse afterwards, rub my wet face with the alum block, rinse that off with cold water and then finish off with Thayers Witch Hazel. My skin is much clearer generally and I have far fewer pimple outbreaks since I started wetshaving instead of electric shaving and then began consistently using the alum block.
Just an addition to the excellent advice given above I would ask you quit wet shaving for a week or so and let the face calm down a bit (maybe keeping yourself presentable with an electric if work requires it). One good remedy for fast relief of razor bumps is grinding up two uncoated asprin in a teaspoonful of warm water and applying the paste with a cotton bud. This exfoliates the area, kills bacteria and reduces inflammation. One other remedy if you have the courage and inclination is to learn how to use a shavette or straight on problem areas. I have done this and the fear factor means you use the lightest of pressures just scraping away the soap. This solved persistent shaving rash on my neck. Alum is great, witch hazel is great as is Aloe Vera gel. A good soothing poduct is Bluebeard's Revenge Post Shave Balm if you can get it in the States.
Wow I can feel your pain. To me it doesn't look like razor burn though or ingrown hairs (ingrowns usually look like actual bumps). When you say it doesnt matter which way you go, it makes me think it has SOMETHING to do with what your putting on your face. After you shave are you only putting on aftershave? Or do you use a balm also? It could be alot of things such as, an ingredient in a product your using. I was having an issue recently with an aftershave balm I was using, and it was isolated to only the right side of my neck so it wont necessarily affect your whole face if thats it. Carbide Mike posed a good question. If your face feels warm then I would say definitely try either a different shave cream or different aftershave because at that point it might be a reaction. It could be a "pressure" problem too. Just try to eliminate things one by one to find out what the culprit is.
Because the oil may be clogging the pores. Which also may be causing you to break out. Again like Bama said, process of elimation.
Seems like trial and error is the solution to find out what is going on. I can suggest a few things you might want to try. Start with a very basic shave: warm water for preshave, use an unscented soap (non-fragrance) and just use witch hazel for a post shave. If you need to use a balm because of dry skin try just plain coconut oil. Coconut has many wonderful skin enhancing qualities. And try only one-pass with the grain for a week. Also ease up on the pressure and let the razor and blade do the work for you. Try that and see if things settle down for you.
I always get this all over the area where I shave. It's painful and I usually notice it a few hours after shaving with the pain lasting well into the next day. I'm still trying to figure it out and I'm leaning more towards it being an allergic reaction. I was having a severe reaction to one of my earlier soaps but once I stop using it, I improved quite a bit. Now I'm thinking that I could just be allergic to one of the metals in the blade or to something in my aftershave balm. It's surprisingly tough for me to tell a minor case of hives apart from folliculitis but ingrown hair tends to remain a problem for several days until harshly dealt with. If your face burns a bit and hurts to touch, then there's a good chance that it's an allergic reaction. Since you mentioned that you're able to pull out hair, then it definitely sounds like ingrown hair. You can still get them even if you shave WTG because unfortunately coarse hair can still have a tendency to grown into the skin after a shave even if you didn't shave too closely.
@Demidog I doubt if it is the blade metal. You have been getting some good shaves in your tests. If I were you I'd stop the testing for now and buy a 100 pack of Voshkods or another blade that works for you. It is more than likely the soap fragrances. Maybe you should try a scent free soap?
I've actually been considering all of these suggestions. Today I was thinking that I never really had a reaction to cartridge blades and I believe that those are made from the same material, so you're probably right. I lent out my camera and I'm just waiting to get it back so that I can take photos of some of my gear like my current blade stock and possibly trade them for Voskhods. I'm actually going to try the old canned stuff during my next shave to see if the culprit really is the fragrance oils in the soaps. Once I pick a blade and stick with it, I'll hit up the 30 day focus and really dial in on the finer details in order to eliminate my issues.
Some soaps I've had make my face itch real bad. Think its the fragrance they ad. Now I use pro shave brushless shave cream as a pre shave small amount. Than lather over that . Face feels great and smooth nick free shave. Been wet shaving close to 40 years. Tried about everything at one time or another. Found some shave oils irritate my face too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Kiss my Face Unscented shave cream. You start using that, and it will eliminate at least one variable. It's been on the market for decades, and I've never heard of anyone reacting to that, even though I have heard of people getting reactions to other unscented/mild formula products. If nothing else, you will wind up with an outstanding shave cream.
