Ow ow flippin' OW

[kickaha]

I have this bizarre thing where I get ingrown hairs on the edge of my lip after shaving. Shaving oil has helped a lot, but every so often, one goes apeshit on me.

So now I have this... *THING* on my lip that is, for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from a cold sore. It also hurts like fuck. :P

No, it's not *actually* a cold sore, I nicked the spot a week ago shaving, and when it was healing, a follicle got covered and started the process. Last night I managed to get the core out, and I was hoping that would do it, but overnight it decided to regroup, and this morning it did a full frontal attack. Whimper.

Comments

Suggestions

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

I used to get such ingrown hairs a LOT. Things that I've found help tremendously:

1) Shaving in the shower... hot steamy air seems to help.
2) Using a shaving brush and a good shaving soap... the mechanical action seems to be a great preventative.
3) Using the shaving brush and soap to wash my face immediately after shaving.

Re: Suggestions

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

1) Yup. That definitely does.
2) Been thinking about the shaving brush approach - any recommendations? I've seen cheap $5 brushes that look like they'd either fall apart in the first week, or take to my face like steel wool... up to *$400* brushes, no joke.
3) Yeah, I always exfoliate afterwards, and that definitely helps. Have to follow up with a moisturizer though. Kiss My Face Oil Free w/ NaPCA works well for me, and is dirt cheap compared to the Aveda moisturizer I was using previously. I've found that the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash (with salicylic acid) is a great all-face follow-up wash. It exfoliates the tender tissues around the mouth very nicely.

For some reason, this one has resisted all assaults however. Time to break out the tea tree oil, I think.

Re: Suggestions

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

I'm still using a cheap brush, but I have been coveting a silver tip badger brush for some time now.

Here is a really good series on wet shaving. Watch all three.

There's always the shaving blog... in particular I've been eyeing the scuttlebut as a shaving mug.

[franktheavenger.livejournal.com]

Well gee, THANKS FOR SHARING. :p

[ladykalana.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you. Kickaha, you manage to tweak my nasty-skin-thing ick meter more regularly than anyone I've ever known. I salute you.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

I am but a pustulant boil in the face of humanity.

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

I still have a vivid recollection of the first time he did it to me.

In 1987.

The word "pus-pocket" featured heavily.

Why my brain, which can only remember one thing per year, chose this highlight of 1987 for posterity is beyond me.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Wait, was this the 3rd degree sunburned feet incident? Or another one?

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

It was another one, one oddly similar to th original post--you'd thought you'd gotten the core out of a zit, only to have it blow up on you overnight.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

LOL Who says history doesn't repeat itself?

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, conversations like this make it _much_ harder to divorce myself from the "M" word.

I'm just sayin'. :)

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

Two words: Grow a beard.

(Yeah, I know that's three words. What can I say? I'm a generous tipper.)

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do that as an interim until it heals up, but I prefer the clean-shaven look these days. *shrug* I'll probably go full beard again at some point though. :)

[badger.livejournal.com]

It's your scalp complaining about the missing ponytail: repressed, it's trying to reassert elsewhere.

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

I made the mistake of going too long between shaves once early in my marriage, and now I am not allowed to go clean-shaven at all.