What Happened?

[Wgg2017]

With at least one adjustable, dialing it up to 5 actually gives a worse result than 3.5. I think this might have something to do with the blade not having enough support, so it's flexing/vibrating more due to the greater blade gap

My whiskers aren’t white yet, but they are very thick/coarse. I’ve always had much better luck and gotten better shaves from razors that clamp down very securely near the cutting edge of the blade. The Fatip Piccolo on the inexpensive side and the Timeless titanium or Lambda Athena on the expensive side are examples of razors I’ve used that clamp well and shave very smooth for me.

Another thing that might help is the bullfrog technique. It’s basically the opposite of pulling your skin tight. I get better results under my chin on the xtg pass by pointing my chin downwards, causing the skin to kind of puff out.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Have you mapped your beard recently? I wonder if perhaps the direction that your beard grows in may have changed slightly. Can't hurt to go back to basics.

 

[Alex Jr]

I’m going to divert a little bit and say that’s usually because of the skin itself, not the hair.

I’ve had this happen to me. When your skin barrier is damaged, inflamed or over reactive you get that feeling the shave is not great and that the hair appears tougher.

A quick example. Yesterday I did 3 passes with my progress, 5,5,1. I had a great shave but I got that smooth leathery post shave feel that usually indicates that too much skin was removed. The progress is more prone to hurt me than my R41, even on 1, don’t ask me why.

Today, with the progress again (I’m stubborn), I began the shave already feeling that my skin was not so “repaired”, each stroke seemed more aggressive despite the light touch and the whiskers seemed like they were 5x coarser than yesterday.

Results? Not good. Stubble left in some areas, some irritation on my neck and so on…

Bottom line, if your skin barrier is intact, hydrated, free from any mild inflammation, the shave is usually great and comfortable.

Any time your epidermis is not at its best, everything will feel out of place.

The solution? Give it 3 or 4 days, no shaving, apply some cicaplast generously and let the healing begin.

 

[Quaznoid]

Welcome to old age

 

[nav]

This type of thing happens with me when my skin is not in good shape.
Either dry from harsh winters or had a reaction to a product or if I just didn't drink enough water the previous day.

In any case, nothing seems to work until the skin has recovered to better condition, then everything falls back in place.
But until then, the shaves are less comfortable and definitely not as close/smooth.

 

[speedwell]

Have you mapped your beard recently? I wonder if perhaps the direction that your beard grows in may have changed slightly. Can't hurt to go back to basics.

I have and there is some change but not enough to be the culprit.

 

[speedwell]

I’m going to divert a little bit and say that’s usually because of the skin itself, not the hair.

I’ve had this happen to me. When your skin barrier is damaged, inflamed or over reactive you get that feeling the shave is not great and that the hair appears tougher.

A quick example. Yesterday I did 3 passes with my progress, 5,5,1. I had a great shave but I got that smooth leathery post shave feel that usually indicates that too much skin was removed. The progress is more prone to hurt me than my R41, even on 1, don’t ask me why.

Today, with the progress again (I’m stubborn), I began the shave already feeling that my skin was not so “repaired”, each stroke seemed more aggressive despite the light touch and the whiskers seemed like they were 5x coarser than yesterday.

Results? Not good. Stubble left in some areas, some irritation on my neck and so on…

Bottom line, if your skin barrier is intact, hydrated, free from any mild inflammation, the shave is usually great and comfortable.

Any time your epidermis is not at its best, everything will feel out of place.

The solution? Give it 3 or 4 days, no shaving, apply some cicaplast generously and let the healing begin.

Alex - these are good suggestions thanks and I do believe that maintaining a good skin barrier is important. My issue seems to be more stubble remainder than irritation. Sure I get irritation if I do a 5 pass shave. However, the main reason for my rant is that my normal 3 pass doesn't get the results it once did.

 

[speedwell]

Update:
I made a couple of small changes that seem to be yielding better results. A few days back, I swapped out my old bar of glycerine soap for a nice, oily new one from Musgo Real (one of my favorite shaving brands for certain things) and my skin seems to retain moisture better for the duration of the day. I've also stopped rinsing my face before bed with the hope of better maintaining a good skin barrier (thank you Alex) by allowing the natural oils, and whatever else, to build up. It's a little counterintuitive to me, especially since I've never been one to fuss over skin before. Given what I've been going through, however, it made sense to switch things up a little. It's only been a few days but all in all the results are promising. Will update again in a few days.

To really get wild and crazy, I might even implement a better evening face wash regime that involves soap and moisturizer rather than just hot water and a coarse towel. Anybody else doing this?

 

[PintoPlain]

Having read through the thread, I'll add my €0.02.

It is likely not one specific thing that has changed, but a cumulative effect from many small changes. You might have just noticed the non BBS areas a few days ago, but the shave might have been non BBS for a while before you noticed. This could be due to the beard getting more coarse as well as the skin becoming less elastic over time. You're not as young as you were yesterday.

Perhaps you need to adjust your technique to take into account the changes. Perhaps try the skin stretching techniques used by straight shavers to get to the problem areas and smooth out the wisdom lines.

On the plus side, you seem to have found a skincare routine that seems to be working for you, so keep at it.

 

[DrStrange]

My third pass with a straight razor, is with soapy water instead of lather,
and I only raze what I can feel when I apply the water.

My fourth pass: if I can feel anything when I slap on the aftershave,
I grab the Gillette Ranger Tech which I keep handy for such occasions,
and I finish it just wet with aftershave.
That's usually on either side of my Adams apple.

 

[speedwell]

My third pass with a straight razor, is with soapy water instead of lather,
and I only raze what I can feel when I apply the water.

My fourth pass: if I can feel anything when I slap on the aftershave,
I grab the Gillette Ranger Tech which I keep handy for such occasions,
and I finish it just wet with aftershave.
That's usually on either side of my Adams apple.

I've always been bound and determined to finish every shave with the same equipment. Could be a personal liability, for sure, but can't bring myself to do it otherwise.

 

[DrStrange]

I've always been bound and determined to finish every shave with the same equipment. Could be a personal liability, for sure, but can't bring myself to do it otherwise.

I misinterpreted "all the guns in the arsenal ".

I thought you were coming from a results point of view.

 

[speedwell]

I misinterpreted "all the guns in the arsenal ".

I thought you were coming from a results point of view.

I do think it's primarily about the result but not entirely because for me, ritual and routine also enter into it. What was meant by "all the guns in the arsenal" is that I use everything in the cabinet indiscriminately from the 'mild' to the widow makers. Rightly or wrongly, I don't own anything that doesn't get used. My tradition has always been to stick with whatever I'm using for at least the duration of the shave. What I haven't tried, and don't really want to, is switching up equipment mid-shave beyond turning a dial on an adjustable. While using multiple razors or swapping blades may be the best solution from a results only standpoint, that's not how I want to live. The hassle of doing something like this would weigh on me to the point where it would likely diminish my enthusiasm for wet shaving.

 

[speedwell]

Update:
With careful prep and meticulous attention, things have been getting incrementally better up until yesterday. Taking today off for reasons I am not proud off.
What happened you might ask? I got a wild hair to try a new blade/razor combo for me (super platinum with the mergress). The super platinums work very well in the R41, so I figured why not. This should have been the only variable but I made what might have been an OK situation worse by shaving without showering beforehand. I was rushed and thought a good face wash, along with a hot towel soak and some reliable pre-shave oil would give me an equivalent starting point. WRONG. I wound up spending too much time on what amounted to an SAS+ with a lot of irritation. No weepers but 'sunburn' from cheek to chin. Can't blame the blade because of the different prep routine, but it didn't feel right from the get-go with lot's of resistance. Managed three passes but didn't attempt any buffing because I knew it wasn't going to do any good. Will assess tomorrow to see if I'm shave ready again.

 

[Attog]

The super platinums work very well in the R41

It looks like as we aging R41 is no longer that aggressive razor for 3 days stubble but it is more like every day minimum

 

[speedwell]

It looks like as we aging R41 is no longer that aggressive razor for 3 days stubble but it is more like every day minimum

True that. It took a little while after I got it to figure it out, but I've had it almost ten years at this point, and with the right blade, it works just as well for me as the others.

 

[speedwell]

Update:
A few more days in and things have gotten better...but slower. Trusting that my technique has not changed over the years and accepting the likelihood that my whiskers have, I figured that I can do one of four things: nothing, and accept my sad new reality; re-arm with 'newer and better' gear', hoping for a different result, and starting an arms race with myself; or experiment with variations on what I'm doing now to test different hypotheses. I decided to do the latter, and thought to begin at the beginning - with prep.

After taking Sunday off to let my 'sunburn' calm and do some research, with yesterday's shave, some new steps were added. Now I'm not suggesting that these steps are advisable for everyone, but for me, they seemed to make a noticeable difference given the recent changes in my shave results. The bad news-if I can't figure out a way to eliminate steps or otherwise shorten the routine, weekday wake-ups are going to get a whole lot earlier. Here's where I'm at:

Beginning with a shower, I made sure to saturate my face several times at the beginning. Using a washcloth, I gently exfoliated my whole face with special attention to the shave zone. After rinsing thoroughly, I applied a heavy handed application of glycerine soap making sure to really work it into the skin. The soap was left on while I completed the rest of my normal shower ablutions. Then I rinsed the soap, but not so much as to entirely remove the glycerine 'slickness', draped the hot washcloth over my shave zone, and took a seat on the shower bench for a couple of minutes to let time do it's magic. On existing the shower, I did a through face lather (RazoRock XXX), set the brush down and used my finger tips to massage the lather even more thoroughly into my face and neck before taking my second time out to squeegee the shower glass and let the dog outside for his business. On my return, the initial lather was rinsed, and I relathered taking care to add incremental amounts of water as necessary to achieve a good consistency before beginning the first of three passes with the Mergress set on 3.5 and Super Platinum (2nd shave) combo. The result was not perfect, but much better, and the additional prep hydration allowed me to buff the tough spots, with very little discomfort or irritation. I probably should have taken Sunday and Monday off to be certain that the minor irritation wasn't a carry over from the Saturday's shave, but I needed a shave for work.

Going forward I am definitely going to rif on hydration steps in my pre, including experimentation with different steps/durations, and possibly products. In years past I've used Proraso Pre-Shave and a number of pre-shave oils but found their use to be time consuming and unecessary. But that was back when things were going well for me, so it may be worth revisiting. If anyone out there has routine or product recommendations, please share.

 

[Wgg2017]

I’ve heard of some folks using conditioner to soften their beard. You might try washing your face when you first get in the shower, then applying a thin layer of conditioner while you finish the shower, before rinsing it off last. Hopefully that would soften your beard enough without all the other steps.

 

[Sir Lurkalot]

Welcome to the real world, Neo. You are just getting older. LOL. I don't even bother with BBS. One pass and I'm finished.

 

[Buflow]

Maybe I'm a little lost reading all these posts but..
Have you tried doing a cold shave instead of hot or warm?
I have at times been able to solve a problem or two by going cold.
And just because the shave is cold doesn't mean it shouldn't be wet. The shave needs to be very wet and hydrated

Edit:
Let me expound on this for just a second. It is my belief that at times our skin may not hold the hairs up as tightly as it usually does. I think that if and when this happens, a cold shave tightens the skin and holds the hairs more firmly. I've used this in the past and it was short-lived maybe only for a day or two but for whatever reason things got better.