Okay, so i'm not usually one to shave my beard area, so I may not have to worry about this anymore for awhile unless I start really liking the clean shaven look.. Decided to clean it all off one more time since I had shaped it too short while letting the beard grow back out.. Dumb I know, but it just seems like the hair would grow differently if I tried to let what I trimmed catch up to the small stubbly beard I had so far.. So if I grow the beard back out im not touching that area until I get some good long length, will shave my sideburns and have a neckbeard if I have to but i'm not going to try shaping it again until it gets some good length lol..
Anyway, this is a big enough problem to warrant a post. Everytime I do go for the clean shave, this happens. Now, my chin is kind of pointy and I have a skinny face, so keep that in mind too.. I will lather up good, and shave downward with the grain from my chin down my neck... Get that area good and then re wet, lather up, and shave upwards, against the grain, you know, trying to get it close and slick like everyone does.. Every single time I do this, I get a million little nicks like right below my chin.. They stop bleeding fairly quick but at first, they bleed enough to notice something is wrong. Not to mention, once that happens, I can't exactly do more passes and keep shaving over the nicks... So when that happens i'm pretty much stuck with the little stubbles that the first pass against the grain did not take care of. Not a big deal, maybe I could just go with the grain especially since I rarely shave all the way, but if I ever wanted to keep with this look I couldn't just shave it every other day and nick myself like that lol. I've even tried touching it up before when the nicks close up good, but that only leads to more trouble, obviously.. And I'm careful too, no digging or pressure.. I let the razor glide up my neck and curve up my chin and all that, doing passes and no digging at areas.. So hard to get that area close when you nick it so badly and can't just go over it again.
Now this has always happened with me. With every razor that I have ever tried it with. Lately it's been a Gillette Mach 3 and Barbasol since I haven't been able to afford stocking up on those good creams & oils you all told me about. BUT, it's NOT the Barbasol, because it has happened with Gillette Gel before, too. I've used the Fusion, Fusion Proglide, Mach 3, Schick Hydro 5, and of course disposables when I started out years ago. I use to think it was just razor burn, but I mean what i'm getting is nicks right off the bat, to the point where my upper neck/chin looks bloody at first, but the nicks close up quickly usually. That area seems sensitive too.. So much so that sometimes 1 good pass is all I can get, unless I want to fight through the pain of how sensitive the area is for a 2nd or 3rd pass. So even if I wanted to stick with this look and shave daily like some do, I couldn't.. Even if I could stand the sensitiveness, I couldn't keep opening all those nicks up.
Now again, i'm not someone who shaves like that often, I prefer growing a beard out and keeping it, so it's no big deal.. But I kind of like this look and it sucks to know I couldn't exactly stay with it and nick myself like that everytime, if I chose to later on.
One thing too.. Past couple of times I have shaven that area clean shaven, has been while I was either shaving my beard off, or while I had some thick stubble grown.. I couldn't find the electric razor to shorten the stubble first so I just went with the grain to clear all of that off before I went against. Maybe that's why? I mean it didn't cut it while going with the grain and clearing the thick stubble off, and that's what my dad does when his is grown out a little and he shaves.. It seems like if that were the problem it would have bled while going downward. But this has always happened, ever since I started shaving years ago. I just can not for the life of me take my razor and get a good clean shave in that are without leaving some prickly spots, unless I start going back over the nicks and i'm not that dumb lol.
Sometimes too it seems like the razor just does not go short enough. Which causes me to have to take more passes, especially on my sideburn/chin area. I would think a razor like that would do a little better or last a little longer.. I've been using it on my head first, though, so maybe it is dull by the time it gets to my chin? Do they dull that quickly? I still don't think that is the problem, because it used to happen to me before I even shaved my head, with brand new razors. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain it the best I could. If you guys saw my chin after my 1st upward pass you'd understand why I just wrote a book out of it LOL. Absolutely ridiculous.
Maybe it has something to do with using the shave gel or cream like Barbasol cream? I need to try some of the cream/gel you guys have mentioned to me before, on my face, whenever I shave it again ( IF I do, I want a beard! ). Or maybe my skin right there is just not the type to allow me to shave it..
When you use a safety razor on your face, do those cut close enough so that you don't have to make a 2nd pass, against the grain? Or do you still have to do that even with those, to achieve the "close, slick" feeling? Hopefully I stick with the plan of growing the beard back out so I don't have to worry about that anymore. Now with my sideburns, I never have a nick problem. Never. Only right below my chin.
I answered part of your question on your other post regarding shaving the mustache, so check that response out.
As far as the cream goes, I've never tried Barbasol, so can't give you an opinion on that cream. Personally, I have used AVEENO® POSITIVELY SMOOTH® Shave Gel on my face for years and it's what I use on my head also. It gives me a very smooth shave and the blades do glide very well on them. You might want to try using some shave oil as well. I use Shave Secret, which you'll find many use here. It's inexpensive and can be bought at Walmart. Just a few drops of it on your shave cream/gel makes a world of difference.
Also, even though you might be using light pressure, for your face, I don't take such long strokes. Taking a long stroke tends to make you shave a little quicker and it's that little bit of quickness that might cause you to nick yourself. Take short strokes, short and methodical. You'll find you can still get your shave done rather quickly but without all the little nicks that come with the long strokes.
As for razors, like I mentioned on my comment to your mustache post, I use the ProGlide and use a separate razor for my face than I do for my head.
I've used Barbasol a few times. It's okay but other creams are better. Barbasol dries up very quickly in comparison to others. I'd try some other cream/gel if I were you. Also like DOC said, use an oil as a pre-shave. Many on here use Shave Secret but I use baby oil. The oil minimizes nicks and razor burn.
I usually sport a goatee, recently I grew a full beard, and then went back to a goatee... and noticed some razor burn on my neck, which has always been an issue.... I tried shaving while in the bath, got my skin nice and hot, lathered up with a good shaving cream and had no burn... So now I shave in the bath or shower... give it a go
A contributing issue may be that the area is not shaved frequently, and the skin is more sensitive. If you were a daily beard shaver, it would like toughen up a bit.