How to heal faster between shaves so I can shave more often?

[catchacoolbreeze]

Edit: oops, I realized I replied to the wrong comment. I meant to reply to the other one about being gentlemanly.

I told myself that I wasn’t going to reply anymore to this thread, but yet here I am again because I wanted to respond to this comment. I can’t speak for anyone else’s motives to their replies, but I can say that I tried to be respectful during our differences of opinion. Others may have grown frustrated with the appearance that you would not accept their advice.

This is my last attempt to explain how you can’t get your post-shave skin to heal faster. Your skin has many layers. On average, your body will completely renew all the skin layers over 28 days. This is normal body maintenance. New skin cells are generated through cell division of stem cells. When you shave, you are removing the top skin layers. Your body will replace new skin cells from the bottom, pushing other skin cells up. This is the only way to recover after shaving—grow new cells. There is literally nothing you can do to speed up your body’s natural rate of skin cell division. Things can slow it down, like infection and poor nutrition, but you can’t use a super lotion or eat a magic food to make it go faster. In fact, if cell division becomes too fast, this may be cancer or a precursor to it.

Post-shave routines matter. They can prevent infection, lower inflammation, and mask symptoms, but they don’t make new skin cells or make skin cells divide faster. Poor post-shave can slow it down if you increase inflammation and do not prevent infection.

That’s how this works. The only way to heal faster is to do less damage to start with and remove fewer layers of skin. You must change something about your shave routine because there isn’t a magic product.

However, if you absolutely insist on shaving the same and want an occasionally used product that makes you feel better in between shaves and masks the irritation, you could try hydrocortisone cream. Take caution that it may have side effects and should not be used long term unless directed by a doctor or dermatologist because it may cause skin atrophy (thinning).

You seem to be expanding on the post you made earlier #33. I responded with post #38. This post doesn't address anything that I stated in post #38.

Re: Advice - Is there somewhere in B&B's guidelines that I am required to accept someone's advice on here? Additionally, as I have stated multiple times earlier, I am not necessarily looking for advice. I am looking to hear about people's experiences and accomplishments with a certain element of shaving and have a discussion on that. I don't understand why a few of you are frustrated with the fact that I disagree with you as I have provided you the reasons why in a respectful manner. The continuance of reiterating your same points and opinion when it doesn't address my points is not a discussion nor does it advance the conversation.

 

[catchacoolbreeze]

Maybe. Probably. I think it's a discussion for a different thread though.

Still wondering what your postshave regimen is, currently.

I don't do anything fancy and have not put much effort into it. My moisturizer is either L'Occitane Aftershave Balm or Gold Bond Daily Body and Face lotion.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I don't do anything fancy and have not put much effort into it. My moisturizer is either L'Occitane Aftershave Balm or Gold Bond Daily Body and Face lotion.

Of the handful of splashes I use regularly, Myrsol seems to be better at healing up any lingering soreness. I was impressed by the Captain's Choice samples too when he was beta testing scents a while back.

Edited to add, balms are fine too but I only use them if my skin is drier, really depends on the season for me.

 

[tejolot3]

I am specifically looking to hear what similar problems you had to mine and how you fixed them.

I am not necessarily looking for advice.

My apologies. I misunderstood your OP, thinking that wanting to hear how others have fixed the same problem you're having is the same thing as wanting advice. I realize now those aren't quite the same thing.

In my experience, nothing done post-shave has ever made much of a dent in the amount of time required for my skin to heal between shaves. Some things have helped it to feel better, but not to actually get better.

 

[ChriWilson]

Maybe I missed it. What is your current post-shave regimen? Might be easier to advise you if we know what you're already doing.

I shave daily, 3.5 to 4 passes, and just use garden variety splashes, and also Nivea balm in the winter months. But all but the last half pass is done with a straight razor... if I was using DEs exclusively I would probably not tolerate that much blade time on my skin.

Typical routine for me (25+days/month) is a 2-pass cold-water approach with the straight and a final ATG using the DE. Not much goes into my pre-shave, but my lather has refined greatly from my DE only use. Less concerned these days with a thicker and creamy structure, as I am more with creating a slick yet thinly-dense concoction. Perhaps applying focus to building a slicker lather will afford the OP with a result requiring less healing and repair. My most used splashes are Speick and Nivea 2-in-1.

Still wondering what your postshave regimen is, currently.

I don't do anything fancy and have not put much effort into it. My moisturizer is either L'Occitane Aftershave Balm or Gold Bond Daily Body and Face lotion.

I prefer to shower after a shave, mostly to aid with alum removal. In the shower I use Kiehl's Energizing Face Wash which I find to really tighten and tone. I also shower before bed and will use a general moisturizer by Sulwasoo or a firming one by Perricone MD. Trumper's Skin food is also a nice to use during the day if you need a moisture boost.

Mederma is your friend for more intense healing needs, btw...

 

[Chickencutlets]

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I am not necessarily looking for advice.

Noted. I guess the thread title threw me off.

 

[Lord NSIC]

I’ve increased both my passes (from 2 to 3) and my shave frequency (from every 2 to 3 days to almost daily). Unfortunately, I think this has resulted in my face not healing as well as before and the in-shave blade feel is rougher and unpleasant compared to my previous frequency.

I was curious if any of you had a similar experience and what you did about it to heal better/faster? What methods or products objectively helped you in this regard?

Please note: a lot of these threads can turn into a de facto, “what is your favorite product?”. This is not that but I realize that the answers may be your favorite products now, which is great. I am specifically looking to hear what similar problems you had to mine and how you fixed them. Thank you!

You've increased your number of passes and the frequency of your shaves, and you are noticing that your face is not healing as well (or quickly) as before and you are experiencing rough and unpleasant in-shave blade feel compared to your previous frequency (2-3 days between shaves). I've also noted that you have been wet shaving for 12+ years, leaving me to surmise that your skin has aged 12 years since beginning your wet shaving journey. You are not seeking advice, you are only asking if readers have had similar experiences and what they did (objectively).

With that said, I can objectively state that yes, I have in deed experienced what you are describing, and I did five different things that helped me heal faster:
1. I decreased my daily passes from 3 to 2 except for Fridays, when I do a 3 pass shave and then don't shave til Monday (lather, rinse, repeat).
2. I kept my 3 pass shave routine and increased the time between shaves.
3. I switched to SRs and vintage carbon DE blades which I found were milder than modern stainless steel blades and gave a nice post shave feel like a SR.
4. I learned to listen to what my body was telling me, work with it and not against it, and accepted/celebrated the fact that I'm rapidly approaching the end of the moving sidewalk and my skin is no longer as youthful and resilient and no amount of before/after or bio-hacking approaches was going to change that.
5. I grew and kept a beard for 8 years and used the same cartridge blade to dry shave my neck every 1 to 2 weeks, and I noted zero razor burn and irritation.

Please excuse previous posters who provided advice, they did so thinking they were helping. I will not provide advice but validation -- you should continue doing what you're doing and expect different results, give no quarter to those who present a different viewpoint; push through until you achieve the results you desire. Please post your progress.

 

[Alex Jr]

3. I switched to SRs and vintage carbon DE blades which I found were milder than modern stainless steel blades and gave a nice post shave feel like a SR.

This!

I love the post shave feel of carbon blades. Remind me of a straight indeed despite my low experience with them.

 

[musicman1951]

I don't see how you can avoid experimenting. We all have different skin and different metabolisms. I read quite a few recommendations for cold water, which is certainly worth trying - but when I tried cold water it made no difference on my skin.

If you're bound and determined to keep all hardware and routines exactly the same and only try post-shave solutions that's at least a place to experiment. I've been a daily shaver for as long as I can remember and the post-shave that works best for my skin is Thayer's toner w/aloe followed by Clinique Moisturizer. You're already using a moisturizer and Thayer's is pretty cheap, so that's worth a try. Alum is worth a try, although that would be a poor solution for my dry skin. Aftershave with plenty of alcohol might be a help depending on what kind of damage your doing during the shave.

Honestly, the thing that helped my skin the most was eliminating the touch-ups after the last pass. I can do a 3 pass BBS with the razor/blade only hitting the same patch of skin once for each pass. But that requires adequate prep, an excellent marriage of razor and blade to your technique, almost no pressure and good lather - things that are verboten in this post. I do think it's possible to find post-shave products that work better than others for your particular skin, but I also suspect it might be trying to lock the door after someone steals your horse.

Good luck with your search.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

3. I switched to SRs and vintage carbon DE blades which I found were milder than modern stainless steel blades and gave a nice post shave feel like a SR.

Very interesting. I myself have found that Durasharps in a New SC results in a much more gentle shave than equally sharp stainless blades. It is a neck irritating razor for me with Stainless blades. One and done as I fear the rust, but maybe more than one shave should be safe enough.

 

[MacBolder]

I am shaving now for more than 30 years daily, and had exactly the same issues, for the first few years. Like almost everybody said already, skip the third pass, until your skin gets used to the punishment. I tried a lot of different combinations, and only in the last years went from mild blades to nacets. For me the choice of aftershave was an important factor. My skin apparently hates balms like nivea etc. and needs alcohol in order to calm down. In case i have a bad day or dull blade, i use some TendSkin, which always does the trick. Using a splash off that, i could shave twice a day.
Good luck on your shaving journey.

PS: I personally disagree with the trend, that razors have to be more and more aggressive, unless you have whiskers made of steal, try a mild razor like a Gillette tech paired with a Voshkod or Nacet.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I am shaving now for more than 30 years daily, and had exactly the same issues, for the first few years. Like almost everybody said already, skip the third pass, until your skin gets used to the punishment. I tried a lot of different combinations, and only in the last years went from mild blades to nacets. For me the choice of aftershave was an important factor. My skin apparently hates balms like nivea etc. and needs alcohol in order to calm down. In case i have a bad day or dull blade, i use some TendSkin, which always does the trick. Using a splash off that, i could shave twice a day.
Good luck on your shaving journey.

PS: I personally disagree with the trend, that razors have to be more and more aggressive, unless you have whiskers made of steal, try a mild razor like a Gillette tech paired with a Voshkod or Nacet.

Since I know I have skin issues, I have a rigorous pre-shave routine to soften up my old man, grey and coarse whiskers. That enables me to use upper mild to lower medium efficiency razors. I gravitate towards the sharper blades as they seem to work well for me. I am a bit partial to the AC format razors, but I have some very fine DE razors as well.

I no longer have to shave every day and that does give my skin time to recover. I have no clue what I’d do if I were forced to shave every day.

 

[tejolot3]

I switched to SRs and vintage carbon DE blades which I found were milder than modern stainless steel blades and gave a nice post shave feel like a SR.

One and done as I fear the rust, but maybe more than one shave should be safe enough.

Rust is the main reason I never bought any more carbon steel blades after trying a tuck once upon a time. The shaves were good enough, but I tired of seeing brown spots after just one or two shaves.

---

I personally disagree with the trend, that razors have to be more and more aggressive, unless you have whiskers made of steal, try a mild razor like a Gillette tech paired with a Voshkod or Nacet.

I regularly use both Voskhod and Nacet blades. But I honestly find them very dissimilar. It surprises me to hear you recommend both in the same breath.