I am new to this organization/blog/group of guys. Here is my question. I have somewhat curly hair and get bad ingrown hairs. I spend hours getting them out. One wa over an inch long last week and curled up 1/8" under the skin and hurt like a mother. I now shave in the shower which has helped. The Aveeno gel seems decent. I use the new Schick Hydra with the 5 blades and for me, it seems to 'pull' the least. However, I see you guys talking about the old 'brush and soap' approach like my father used when I was a wee lad. Is this likely to be a better solution for me? If so, what king of brush and soap? I've nosed around the various blogs and there are a lot of opinions. As mentioned, for me, my main goal is to reduce the amount of painful ingrown hairs. They are getting worse as my facial hair is getting more grey and like wire. Thanks gents. Max
I know that the soap and brush helped me somewhat. But I noticed the most change when I started using DE razor. For a first brush and soap I would say probably pick up a omega or a somewhat cheaper brush. And see if wherever you bought that has some cream or soap for sensitive skin. I would say sensitive because it would be the best for any skin at first then can get some scents if you want. If that works great, but if not I would also try a different razor. Also mentioned in some video (sorry I forget exactly which one) it was mentioned that shaving against the grain with a multi blade system, or over stretching can cause ingrown hairs in some people.
Hi Max! Welcome to the Shave den. I would suggest checking either at Wal-mart or CVS Pharmacy. They have brushes and soap cakes for sale and relatively inexpensive, just so you can try to see if that helps you. There are numerous videos here at the Den you can watch or go to Youtube and search shaving and watch from several vids there. I am solidly hooked on Double edge shaving now, and from all the stuff I have read with others specific problems, DE shaving or at least a brush and soap alleviate alot of those problems. I'm sure there will be others that will offer more advice here soon. Good luck and once again, welcome.
Hi Max, Welcome to the forum! Like you I had really bad ingrowns, especially on my neck, where the skin is sensitive. The only thing I found that helped was shaving with a DE razor. I've been at it for almost 2 years now and I may get 1 ingrown a week (if that) instead of 10-15/day. I'm not too sure about the brush/soap combo...it was the change in razor that did it for me (I used the Quatro before). I remember reading that the new multi-blade razors (Quatro, etc) pull and tug at the hair until it is ultimately cut below the skin level. then the skin heals over the hair resulting in ingrowns. I am not sure if this is completly true/accurate...but I will stand by it form my experience. Good luck with the search and your question. My personal recommendation is to try a DE razor and see if it doesn't clear up your ingrowns after a week or two. It did for me.
I used to have ingrowns and switching to a DE razor, brush, and quality soaps/creams has helped the issue. I still get an occassional ingrown hair, but not nearly as severe. I would recommend it
First, welcome to TSD! I believe you've received some great advice already, so will only say I echo what has been said already.
Welcome to TSD Max! This is the best wet shave board on the planet! The brush and soap alone might not eliminate your problem, but combined with a DE razor and proper prep they should help. Also, you may be among those who just cannot shave against the grain. I know that going ATG on my "soul patch" area produces gnarly ingrowns.
Hi there, in cases like yours the single blade shave is what your after, the soap and brush just make it a complete package. With curly hair you will always want some stubble exposed so that means no against the grain shaving and only a light across the grain if you wish. Bump patrol original strength is something I use everyday and highly recommend. The brush works well at exfoliating and helping to remove dead skin cells and soap and creams hydrate the beard and skin better than anything out of a can. You can shoot me a pm and I'll tell you about some more of this stuff in detail some of it has nothing to do about classic wet shaving.
Hi Max and welcome to the Den. I too experienced ingrown hairs, and dealt with them for about 31 years until I found DE shaving. You will see YMMV, your mileage may vary, quite a bit here. I found that using a very densely packed, scrubby brush helps lift whiskers. I like Simpson brushes in best badger, as they are very scrubby, but expensive. I also found that shaving everyday with a DE razor helped eliminate ingrowns. Skipping days allows the hair to grow out, curl, press against the skin , and grow right back in! Sharp blades seem to be very important, and when things occasionally get bad, I use Merkur Slant Bar with a Feather blade. While YMMV, this combination works on my wiry beard. Lastly, don't overstretch your skin while shaving. Watch all the Mantic59 shaving videos on Youtube. Good luck!
Hi Max, I don't know if you have visited Mantics site or not but he has some excellent vids on the subject of shaving. Among them you'll find one about shaving bumps and ingrown hairs. I have some issues with this from time to time. One of the suggestions that was pointed out on his tutorials was take a simple tooth brush that you are no longer using and after washing in the evening lightly brush your face with it. i feel that this technique has helped me alot. The brush acts as a gentle exfoliant. I realize that this maybe somwhat a preventive measure and may not get rid of the more severe ingrowns that you already have. Also when you shave try keeping it wth the grain and then maybe adding a cross grain pass. Stay away from the AGAINST GRAIN.
welcome to the den, you have had a ton of great advice. I used to had some ingrown hairs, and I have had one since I started DE shaving.
Max, I was also thinking of trying that technique, but I feel my skin is too sensitive to withstand the "brushing".. I am also prone to in-grown hairs, so all these comments are really helping guys, thanks! The toothbrush method seems pretty simple, except I'm slightly worried that it might scrape away dead skin from the face (not sure if that's an urban myth, hehe), thus meddling with any moisturizer I might have on my face. I guess that's why you'd use it in the evenings as oppose to other times of the day.. P.S. I use DE shaving.
