Kitschkraft
Member
This is sort of a long post, but this is one of the bigger grooming issues for black men and I would like to share what I've done. Excuse me if this looks like some big sales pitch, really isn't, these products just happen to work for me. I had razor bumps pretty bad, but I've finally been able to clear up in the past couple of months, and I can go from baby smooth to five o'clock with pretty much no issues.
I pretty much had to change my entire grooming habits, but I've a nice little routine that I would like to share.
1)
This is the Wahl Bump Free Razor. It SUCKS, lol. You absolutely will not get a very close shave with this. None of that "shave on my way to work" stuff you will be dead in the water. It actually serves a purpose though. The shaving powder can be a pain to deal with, and if you don't leave it on long enough, or keep it wet and plastery enough (It dries extremely fast), it actually won't work as well as it should, especially on thicker patches of hair. I tend to use this shaver first. It doesn't get a close enough cut, but it it does a lot of the work, and it's extremely sensitive so you hardly even notice it on your skin (Probably why it sucks so bad). After this, just a light bit of the powder takes care of the rest. Was very disappointed when I first got this, but it is advertised as extremely sensitive, and that's exactly what it is. I don't know if I would buy this, especially if you don't have the money to spare, maybe you'd want to look to alternatives like Remington brand, or just go straight to the magic powder. But if you think that your skin is ultra sensitive, and you want to just get close enough before using the powder, I might consider it.
After this, I move onto...
2)
Magic Shaving Powder After I use the Wahl, I don't need to use that much of this, and thank goodness because it is kind of a pain in the ass. You put it on and have to find some way to keep it wet while not rinsing it off, for like five minutes. After that, you scrape it off. I use a spoon (If anyone can recommend something better, I'd like to know). If you have a lot of bumps, scraping this stuff off can be somewhat painful and...bloody. But it works like a charm, leaves you baby smooth, and I notice that hair doesn't grow back with bumps. Once you take care of most of the bumps, it becomes easier and less painful to use.
BTW, the smell is a little overstated. Once it's all rinsed off and down the sink, the smell is gone. It's not like, something that lingers in the home. Just rinse it all off and try not to get too much in places that may be difficult to wipe up.
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Okay so, the actual shaving part seems to be more personal and trial and error. I sort of lucked out and found this combo that works for me, but I think you may just need to experiment a bit for yourself. There are also some shaving creams that I've seen before but never used. Some people use regular electric razors, those kinds with the three circular disk (I used to use those and they were one of the main things messing my face up, but they may work fine for others). I'd definitely get a jar of magic shave because it's like 2 dollars, but I couldn't guarantee that it will have the same results.
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I think that what I do after shaving is faaar more important to keeping the "crunch bar" off my face.
3)
Clinique Exfoliating Scrub I'm not sure if this is necessarily the "most responsible" for clearing my face up, but it certainly leaves me with the best feeling.Exfoliating washes clean your face, but more importantly, they remove dead skin cells and open up your pores. I've used the cheaper exfoliating washes before and have never felt as good as I do after this. In fact, in general, and I'm not an expert, but I find that anything marketed towards being scented or that has some sort of fruit or some shit on it is going to be bad for you if you have sensitive skin. This scrub has a nice minty smell, and leaves a menthol type tingly feeling on your face, but it's not like those "Apricot Freesia" type face scrubs. The texture of it is really creamy, almost clay like, but you can really feel the beads when scrubbing it in your face. Just make sure that you actively massage your beard and neck area with it, obviously you want to wash your entire face, but make sure that you really work the beads into the areas where your skin is most irritated.
I started out using this every day, for maybe a week or two. Now though, I only use it a couple of times a week, and it's a must have directly after shaving. It's kind of expensive, like 18 bucks for a bottle (And that's in a store at the mall close to me that I just happened to find, it's more expensive on amazon), but I really think it's worth it especially if you want to step up from those cheaper fruit brands or (shudders) noxzema.
If you are going to look into one thing I've written, I would highly recommend this. Honestly, just can't believe how fresh it makes my face heel. It's good for your overall skin health anyways, bumps or not.
4)
Tweezerman - Ingrown Hair Splintertweeze Perfect tweezers for ingrown hairs. The ends are extremely sharp, and you can really dig in and pull those hairs out/pop bumps/whatever it is you feel you need to do. I like to use them after washing my face, but before I use tend skin or lotion, but it's really up to you, and you will probably want to maintain your skin care throughout the week anyways so they are handy to have in the cabinet. I used to be the type always picking and squeezing at the bumps with my fingers, so these tweezers are helpful for two reasons 1) They actually can dig in and pull hairs out 2) Using your fingers is dirty anyways, and having these around seemed to have sort of weaned me off that habit. Now, if I notice the odd bump, I just wait till I get home for these instead of torturing myself throughout the day uselessly picking at my face.
5)
Tend Skin Really opens up your pores, I consider it my after shave I guess. I'd be careful with this, the goal is to NOT irritate and dry out your skin. This stuff just feels strong, and after shaving it can burn quite a bit. It is definitely no magic bullet, it's not going to clear you up in a day and if you don't change other habits it's not going to work at all. When I first got it, I was using it every day but I wasn't exfoliating or changing my shaving, it seemed like this would well for the day but by bed time I noticed I was breaking out again.
I've stopped using the tend skin now except for right after shaving. Every day seemed like it was getting redundant, and may have actually been causing unnecessary irritation. Also, as with the clinique, it's kind of expensive considering the size of the bottle you get. I've heard some say that they've had more success with this, I think it's okay in a small doses, and maybe for those who don't have sensitive skin, but I found this to be kind of overrated as a product.
6)
Finally, I'd recommend a good lotion. This is Nivea for sensitive skin. I really like this lotion because it's for sensitive skin, and doesn't have any of the extra shit like scents and alcohols etc. Like I was alluding to earlier, just browsing around the net a bit, I seem to notice a common theme that that products containing those things are not going to be helpful in curbing bumps. This feels like a very nice and light, non-oily, lotion. I put some on in the morning, and at night before I go to bad.
Related point : STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE with dirty and oily hands!!!! I think that as black men, many of us don't have to deal with acne, so we never really grew that fear of touching our own faces like many lighter complexioned people do. What I've found is that any sort of irritation, dirt, or oil can really be a catalyst for razor bumps, the same way they can be a catalyst for acne. Maybe this is self explanatory, but wash your hands before you put lotion on your face.
So....there is my little routine. Sorry if that's too long winded.
TLDR : Experiment with shaving until you find a routine that works for you. Exfoliate because it feels damn good and actually helps. Avoid scented and fruity products if you can. Don't touch you face or pick at bumps, get a good tweezer. Wash your hands before applying lotion, and hopefully it's not baby lotion or coco butter because god help your skin.
