When I discuss neck problems with new traditional shavers, I often discover that while their products and shaving technique may work fine, their shave preparation needs some work. Some just splash water on their face for a few seconds to wet their beard and think that’s enough. Then they wonder why they get nicks and cuts on their neck. The fact is very little water is even getting to the neck.
To make matters worse, cleaning the neck properly is often overlooked. Water by itself is not enough, the skin must be properly cleaned with a gentle soap to get rid of all the little nasties that are getting in the way of a good shave. So use a gentle soap or some other cleaning product meant for the face. There are a lot of fine products to choose from. A few of the products I have tried sucessfully include Musgo Real Glycerin Lime Oil (“MR GLO”) soap, Lucky Tiger face wash, Proraso Pre-Post, Neutrogena Razor Defense Daily Scrub, Clinique face wash, various “Marseille” soaps and even Cetaphil. I also have great luck with glycerin shaving soaps as a face soap. But avoid a deodorant or body soaps if you can; some are too strong and strip too much of the skin’s natural oil off, resulting in a poor shave.
A pre-shave oil won’t do any good. Pre-shave oils just help lubricate the skin, not clean it.
After you have shaved, another problem with the neck often raises its ugly head, literally. Its those little white bumps you sometimes see. I often see shavers splashing on a little cold water then going on to apply their aftershave. Unfortunately that is often not enough to thoroughly rinse off residue from shaving lather. The lather then clogs the skin’s pores and you get those little white bumps. So take some time to really rinse the area well, with warm water, to wash away that residue. Some people take the additional step of using a cotton pad soaked with witch hazel to provide some added cleansing. If you don’t want to use witch hazel, try a hydrosol like rose water or even an aftershave splash. Then rinse with cold water and apply your aftershave of choice.
After the shave I rinse thoroughly, including under the neck, then apply an Alum bar on all the wet shaved areas. After a couple of minutes I rinse again with cool water, then apply witch hazel with a pad, and my after shave splash of the day. The final thing is some unscented aloe gel. This keeps me whitehead free.
Thanks, mantic, for all your videos and hints. They have helped me much.
Is noxema good enough to clean your neck before shaving? I'm African American and I'm about 6 mos. into wet shaving. The right side of my neck is my main problem area w/ regards to razor bumps. My skin also looks uneven. I was hoping that 6 mos. in my skin would be looking better than it does.
Mantic,
I have the same problem with the little white bumps but mine occur on my chin area and can often be seen/felt when they are still under the skin. So I'm thinking it's just acne. However it's like clockwork 1-2 days post shave the white bumps appear…
I only shave after a shower so I know that my face is plenty hydrated and am sure to add plenty of water to the face pre shave. I have even been using witch hazel after my shave.
Fantastic video by the way and I like the poll to the right of the page.
Comments are closed.