Shaving question

No I'm not talking about down there

I have been dealing with irritation at the corners of my mouth caused by razor stubble or if I don't shave close enough there. And taking extra time to make sure those spots are shaved extra close also causes some irritation.

I'm thinking I'm not the only person this is an issue for. Does anyone have any thoughts on getting rid of this problem or minimizing it?

I have thought about letting my beard grow out for a couple of days then pluck the offending areas. Actually did this a bit once, but this also caused major irritation to the areas. But maybe it's worth the pain involved in plucking those areas if it deals with the issue effectively long term.

Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome.

I have issues with irritation from shaving.
I think you hit it right on the head. The best thing to do
is let your beard grow out for a few days.
By shaving less often you won't experience nearly as much
irritation. If you are working this may not be an option but
if not try shaving every three days or so, it really helps.

If I shave everyday I would have irritation at my neck. But I read once that washing your face with a cold water after shaving can reduce the irritation for some people. I also use a special cream as after shave for irritation.

Finding this thread is a strange coincidence.

Hours ago I used electric shears to removed a grotesquely long beard that made me look like a bum. I had high-quality shaving accessories that I purchased 4 years ago, yet never used, and I'm clean-shaven for the first time in over 17 years.

The freshly-shaven skin is so smooth and I realize that while my body may be ugly and useless, my face is still quite handsome.

I think that I may be entering a manic phase.

Good for you

I won't recommend plucking, I did that on my chest hair and now they are leaving marks.

Maybe you could tell us how you go about shaving, there is an art to it, and only we men can understand what that's like. Is the irritation coming from the products you use, the type of razor blades or is it simply your skin condition?

I'm still growing my beard out so it requires intricate work around my lips, I use this single blade lady's facial razor for that area, and instead of using shaving foam, I've been using facial lotion because I have ton of free samples laying around.

I'd go for stubble look if you think you can rock the look, minimizing the damage to the skin is very important IMO. Good luck!

I use an electric razor, and it's the stubble/5-oclock shadow that rubs against my skin at the corners of my mouth. Going over those areas with my electric razor causes irritation and not having it shaved closely also causes irritation.

I can't offer any suggestions. When I was younger, facial hair caused no issues. I had a mustache through most of my twenties. I could shave or not shave and never suffer any type of irritation. As I've gotten older my facial hair seems to have become toxic. If I go more than two days w/o shaving I get annoying irritation/inflammation.
Is this issue a recent development?

Yes it's fairly recent, past six months or so. I already have an appointment with my Dr next week, might as well ask him about it.

You could try applying some vitamin e and/or aloe oil prior to the shaving and see what happens.

Hi Mike,

My first suggestion is to apply 1% hydrocortisone (Walmart sells it) to the irritated area immediately after shaving. If you don't want to do that you can apply Aloe vera to the irritated area immediately after shaving.

Do you use aftershave and decent shaving cream? I have to use sensitive shaving cream or else my skin feels like it's on fire.

The best I have found is my a business called Alba Botanica. It is a non-aerosol cream and you only need about a pea-sized dab to get a good shave. I buy mine at a local natural foods store. It's a bit more expensive, but the tube lasts up to six months, so I think it's cheaper in the long run

Maybe you're shaving a bit too close, leaving a stubble that barely exits your skin properly.
I shave my stubble down to about 2~3mm so my stubble still has anough length to not be really hard and irritating...

Using an electric razor alone has worked great for me. No irritation. It was the dry shave that caused it for me. Even with the shaving cream, it still was an issue to some degree, unless I used a lot of shaving cream. However, with an electric razor alone I've never had any problems. It does take longer though, unfortunately.

The thing about electric razors is that for me at least they've been no good if I ignored my shaving for a while. A more significant bit of beard or mustache (e.g more than overnight) is difficult for my electric razor to get rid of. If at any point you let it grow for a bit, use the regular razor but use LOTS of shaving cream. Without it, the irritation is inevitable, particularly with multiple shaves.

I all my facial hair grow 3 or 4 days sometimes longer. I have a $20.00 Wahl used for cutting hair and set it at a 1/8 " and am amazed with it. It doesn't shave close and has lots of power.