A man question about shaving beards:

[PixieofCatan]

When DP shaves off his beard he ends up with lots of spots, ingrown hairs and they stay inflamed for a weekl or two afterwards. He uses soap to wash his face and that's it. No particular shaving routine. Apart from suggesting exfoliating I'm a bit at a loss to work out what he's doing wrong How can he help minimise/prevent the spots? And the ingrown hairs?

No idea, but maybe it might be worth treating him to a hot shave that a lot of hairdressers/barbers are doing now. That way he could get expert advice for the future?

I shall suggest that to him :)

We were talking about it earlier as I was going on about how wonderful coconut oil was again and he revealed that he had no clue what to do apart from shave. So after googling and coming up even more confused I said I'd ask Mumsnet

Id recommend a good goatsmilk soap. I think a lot of the ingrown hairs are caused by dry skin under the beard.

He was the same but started using cowboy comb goatsmilk soap and its great. (I use it on my armpits and legs for shaving as well, not had any razor burn/bumps since.)

Cheapest I have found is here link beards

Should read DP was the same. Not He was the same. Goodness sake!

My husband had this problem for years. The doctor prescribed Oilatum on his face when he showers and he now uses Liz Earle sensitive shave cream which is expensive but coupled with the moisturiser works very well. He uses a Body Shop shaving brush to apply the shaving cream.

Thanks for the tips :)

quiet He uses an electric shaver, even when it's got a brand new blade the same thing happens? Is that just something about electrics?

Yeah, he needs King of shaves gel and razors-expensive but usually on offer so stock up in the sale. Ditch the soap completely.

quiet he does tend to have a beard :) The problem is the aftermath of shaving the beard I think he looks weird without a beard, but it does need shaving every few weeks or it gets a bit too long.

He says he has tried King of Shaves, but I will get to try it again :)

When he shaves does he hack into a week old beard because he really needs to thin it out first with an electric beard trimmer.

In fact it sounds liked he could do with a proper beard trimmer,Dh uses one and it's great apparently

If he likes a short beard then a trimmer is best (you can select the mm length you want).

For a decent shave, use the trimmer to get to stubble then do a wet shave. Brand new blade every few shaves and use a good shaving gel with an after shave balm to calm the skin down. Shave in the direction of growth.

(My husband has to shave every day for work, this is how I know! He gets in growing hairs and irritation if he uses an electric razor)

Apparently he trims it I might just get him on here in a minute on his account!

quiet He doesn't wet shave often, usually uses the electric. I think he's going to try trimming with the electric and then using a proper razor to shave next time, as we've realised that his issues may lie in the fact that he really only ever uses the electric.

X-post scarlett

Is he black? Black men's beard hair is notorious for causing inflammatory skin problems - if so the GP might be able to help with antibiotic lotions or tablets.

No witch, Caucasian. That's interesting though, I never knew that!

Coarse curly hair also has a tendency to grow inwards.

DH uses a beard trimmer on his beardy bits (it took a few goes to find one he liked as some of them are nothing more than badly made, overpriced hair trimmers) and wet shaves the not beardy bits (he doesn't grow a particularly extensive beard, so keeps it as a goatee).

Something else that causes rashes and spots when shaving is a nickel sensitivity. I have to use "sensitive" blades on my legs, or else I get a burning, spotty rash. Electric shavers always leave me sore.

Ah, I'm going to try sensitive blades then as my legs come up horribly after shaving!

If the spots are staying around for 2 weeks after he's shaved I wonder if he might have folliculitis which is quite common. The ingrown hairs in particular can get infected. And then each time he shaves, he maybe aggravating the problem. Might be worth a trip to the GP to see if he could do with a course of antibiotics if the suggestions on here don't do the trick. DP has probs with this. Very heavy, rapid growth of very dark stubbly hair. The rash when he's had it seems to spread beyond the shaved area and head down towards the top of his chest. He says it doesn't itch or hurt but just looks unsightly.

If he is not black does he have very curly hair? The reason for the bumps is when the hair is cut so low it curls back inwards causing the bumps I do not shave with a blade for that reason. Does your DP have a beard trimmer he can use?

monteray Thanks for the info, I'll get him to try out a proper shaving routine and if it doesn't help I'll send him to the GP :)

Grren Not really, but I don't have curly hair either and get nasty shaving bumps though. He does have a trimmer so I'll get him to trim and then shave next time :)

My dh had the same troubles and is face was really sore

he bought an i stubble and it has helped massively - he does it on the shortest setting.

It doesn't do a really close shave, which is what causes the problem. but it's close enough so no one will notice, and because the hairs aren't shaved so ultra close, no more skin irritation and in growing hairs.