It was with a new blade as well.

That sounds like technique trouble. Angle problems. Your not slicing your scrapeing. Your facial hair sounds pretty light. There should be no problems with slicing it clean. Is your lather slick and dense. Or is it light and airy? Have you read the thread suggested on what is called riding the cap? It sounds like you might need a technique tune up.

I don't know, I always find it impossible to answer these types of questions without being able to show people. Is there some way of being able to quantify what is a good lather and what is bad lather?

I tried reading the riding the cap suggestion but I found it contradictory to the other things that have been suggested in other places (unless I have misunderstood what the technique is). Does it means holding the shaver at a right angle to the face, and slowly rotating it until it cuts the hairs? Wouldn't that mean that it would not end up being at a 30 degree angle to the face?

That angle is about where the blade will start to cut. Riding the cap helps you find the angle to start with then maintain it.
Good lather is slick and dense. You can always post a picture of it.

I had the same problems as the OP, but in the "soul patch" area. The solution that finally worked was to pluck all the hairs out. After the hairs grew back, they were plucked again, and again. After the third plucking, I have had no problems with ingrown hairs in the soul patch area.

I dunno if the solution was a coincidence, or voodoo, or what, but it surely worked for me.

Have you ever tried a Bump Fighter cart razor? They are supposed to help with ingrown hairs.

Good Lord, every single hair? Wouldn't that take hours?

Also, do you mean that after the third plucking you went back to regular shaving? Or do you only pluck the hairs now? Also, does that affect how the hairs grow back? I don't want to do something that affects the hair growth.

Thanks for the suggestion, but from what I have just read I don't think they are available in Australia. I would have to ship from America which is crazy expensive for razors that would not last very long.

OK, but wouldn't it make sense to hold the blade parallel to your face and then move the blade at an angle, rather than starting it of at a right angle to the face? If you start it off at a right angle, wouldn't you need to move it a greater distance each time?

Good point, I will take a picture next time I shave, although I have noticed that the consistency often seems to be vary when I shave sometimes, so am not sure if the picture I take will be completely representative of how it looks when I have a bad shave.

Every single hair was plucked with tweezers, and yes I went back to regular shaving after the third grow/pluck cycle.

AFAIK, you cannot change your hair growth pattern.

Take the razor. Set the cap against your arm, but lift your arm to where you can see the cap. Slowly tilt the razor until the blade touches your skin. That's riding the cap. 'No pressure' is actually a misnomer, but it's the easiest way to to say 'Let the razor do the work. Don't try to shove it into your face' to counteract how people have had to use cartridges for so long. Once the razor is tilted, all you should have to do is lightly drag the razor, maintaining that angle. Under the nose is one of the most difficult places to do.

You may have mentioned this but do you shave XTG or ATG on your mustache area ? I have a similar reaction on my neck, I can only shave WTG on my neck otherwise I suffer many ingrown hairs.

Hello. Let me make clear that i am a doctor, but not a dermatologist. Reading your OP, i would say this. If you were really happy with your dermatologist, you wouldn't be asking help in a forum. Second, let me say, that a patient, is hopelessly incapable of judging a doctor's knowledge. He only judges a doctor from a "external manners" (the so called "bedside manners", about which every doctor is informed about, but not all are as good in performance) and "confidence". But, at the end, the patient, must always look at the result, not at whether the doctor seemed confident or pleasant. No 2 doctors are the same. When you don't solve a situation with a doctor, the best thing to do, is ask a 2nd opinion. If you still don't get a better result, ok, accept reality and live with it. Nobody will diagnose you through internet. What i know, is that there are some general ways of treatment, but, this is choice made case by case, by the dermatologist. Forgive the maybe not exact english terms, as i am not a native speaker.
- Cortisone creams with possible topical antibiotic: They don't solve the root of the problem (there is genetical predisposition), they serve to keep inflammation down or fight possible bacterial infection.
- Chemical peeling: Glicolic acid. Trying to liberate the pore's opening to leave the hair come out.
- Tretinoine-benzoil peroxide creams: These try to prevent the reformation of keratine that seals the pore and traps the hair below. They act as keratolytics in practice. The concept is, that if the pore isn't sealed by the keratine, the ingrown hair might find its way up and escape.
- Finally, i know that there is "the final option", which is laser treatment, which burns the follicules, with the purpose of simply not having hair growing there any more, ever. As you understand, this is very drastic, but leads to aesthetic problems.

The other options, may also have important side effects, so please don't attempt anything on your own (for example, the retinoids, cause skin irritation themselves and become even worse if exposed to sun). The glicolic acid, is for me, the most benign, but like all others aside the laser, they are not definite cures, they are symptomatic treatments, which must be endured in time. Only the laser is "once and for all". But, you might want to ask another dermatologist. If you want to search more about this more scientifically, search for "pseudofolliculitis barbae".

Thank you @Shave Fu ! Your English/American is very sufficient to make the points well understood. I hope it's easily understood in Australian as well.

The method of finding the angle is only for that; finding the angle. After you get the angle of attack keep that same angle of the cap, and adjusting as you follow the contours of your face.
It's about letting the blade slice the hair instead of scraping the skin.

Hey doc, it hurts when I do this....
(Too much?)

Do what?

Then don't do that....pay the bill on the way out!

Funny. I was going to say something like that.

On the serious side. I haven't heard or seen anyone with ingrown hairs in the mustache area. @SlaveShaver , could you please post a pic of this?? Sounds like an interesting condition that I would like to see.

Great minds think alike Scott

You have a point.

Sounds like blade angle problem in all probability


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