First off you need to understand what skin type you have and how to treat it. Just like women, men need to take care of their skin with a good skin care regimen which includes cleansing, toning, exfoliation, and moisturization.
Cleansing the skin not only helps keep your skin clean from the day to day grime, but it can help prior to shaving in reducing the risk of infection from small cuts. If you have dry skin, using a moisturizing cleanser may help the skin from becoming too dry. If you have sensitive skin make sure to use a gentle cleanser for sensitivity. Not only should you keep your face clean but make sure to clean your razor after shaving to keep bacteria from forming. Rubbing alcohol or a razor cleaner will work fine. An unclean blade could be the cause for irritation.
Exfoliating is a good way to help the issue because it helps keep the pores clean from dead skin cells which can cause ingrown hairs.
Moisture is one of the best things to help prevent irritation in your skin, not only after you shave but while shaving as well. Once again it is good to know your skin type to determine what kind of moisturizer you need. Dry skin will need more moisture, whereas oily skin needs a lighter moisturizer.
The first product that I recommend is Aveda Men Pur-Formance Shave Cream.
These products combined make shaving a much more comfortable experience. I have used them myself and highly recommend them.
Always make sure whatever blade you use is sharp and will glide across the hair easily and smoothly. Also try shaving with the grain to prevent cutting your face or razor burn. As wonderful as that baby smooth skin can be, shaving too close can cause ingrown hairs and razor bumps. This may mean that you need to reapply shave cream and go over the area again, but it will reduce the chances of irritation.
When you are finished shaving try rinsing your skin with cold water to help sooth and close pores.
I hope this information is somewhat helpful and please let me know if you feel it worked or how you liked the product.
So, my biggest problem is irritation on my neck. I doesn't seem to be bad if I avoid shaving for 3-4 days at a time, but if I shave every day or every other day, red bumps and irritating definitely abound on the neck. I'll try the "shaving with the grain" technique and see if that helps; usually i shave against the grain. Any recommended razor brand? and where do I get this Aveda shaving cream?
ReplyDeleteAzalea Day Spa and Salon in American Fork has all of the Aveda products. You can ask the girl at the front desk where to find the men's products but they are really easy to find.
DeleteThanks Autumn! This is great info. I like to shave against the grain to get the closer shave, but I think just going over it twice WITH the grain will help out a lot. I'll have to try that Aveda after-shave too.
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