A good shave turned bad

[misterrachel]

Went for my third DE shave today. I've been using a Red IP blade.

Started with a hot shower, using Neutragena pre-shave scrub on my face. Lathered up and ran a wtg pass. This went really well. I felt like I was starting to catch on to the angles of my face and finding that magic 30 degrees with the blade.

Relathered and went in for the second pass. Before I go further, I'll mention that I was planning on three passes. This pass was AGT. At first, it went pretty well. I got both sides of my face with no problems, but I irritated my neck to no end. When I went to hit my goatee area in front, the blade started skipping on my face. Gave myself a nice nick and decided to stop.

I thought I was going to die when I applied the aftershave. It stung so badly that I was dancing aroud the room like a maniac! :cursing:

Sooo...I do feel like perhaps I got overconfident and started making longer strokes than I should. I also feel like my lather starts drying out by the time I get to my neck area. Should I be reapplying lather before I hit the neck? Seems silly to have to do that.

I also discarded the blade that I was using. With the skipping I feel like I'd better move on to the next blade. I have a sampler pack from West Coast Shaving. Should I try a different blade brand next go-around? Besides the Red IPs, I have Feather, Derby, Merkur & Crystal.

Also, should I wait a day or two to try again?

[Nitrocloud]

You probably don't want to try to use the Merkur blades. They're, not terribly sharp.

[Calvin]

tip from one of Mantic's videos:

after shaving: first rinse your face with cold water for 30 seconds before applying after shave. This will close your open pores and hopefully won't sting as much.
HTH!

[skiddyrow]

I would also suggest an across the grain pass before hitting that ATG. The longer the stubble is the more likely you are going to have skipping while going against the grain, so that XTG pass definitely helps. Also making very short strokes definitely helps me, and even after 3 passes and touch ups, I get virtually no sting while applying AS.

[funkyb]

Taking two WTG and one XTG (no ATG) for the first couple weeks made a big difference for me.

It gave my skin time to heal from all the bumps and irritation I had using cartridges, and at the same time my technique improved significantly. I'm about 10-12 weeks in, and I even though I've had many great DFS and BBS shaves, I still find myself learning new ways to 'handle' each area of my face. With each improvement comes faster closer shaves, and it has made tackling that final ATG pass much easier and more comfortable.

[Coma]

Today I'll go for my second DE shave, also with a Red IP. Even on my first shave I noticed that some of my passes were so seemingly effortless that I may have made them a bit too long. With less than perfect lather and just learning proper blade angle that can be a recipe for bumps and irritation. Parts of my neck got irritated after I decided to do some spot touch ups after two WTG passes.

At least for me, the head of these DE razors is HUGE compared to the cartridge razors I have been using and just trying to see what angle I was getting gave me pause and so I skipped trying the ATG pass.

I'd give the Red IPs another try and maybe do a WTG and a XTG pass (ear to nose) That's my next step although when I get to the edge of the goatee I'm sure I'll be a tad bit concerned about blade skipping.

Haven't tried the TOBs Avocado yet but it does taunt me from the countertop. Just using Musgo Real but they both should provide a slick base to shave upon. It is possible that the Red IP you used was already in need of a change to a new blade? I'm trying to do my shaves so I alternate sides of the razor from my first pass to my second so I'm not dulling one half down way more than the other and end up getting uneven results.

Since it's the weekend maybe taking the day off and going in for the fourth shave tomorrow would help alleviate some skin irritation?

Just my 2 cents... and I'm a total noob so please take with several grains of salt.

[jcav01]

Taking two WTG and one XTG (no ATG) for the first couple weeks made a big difference for me.

It gave my skin time to heal from all the bumps and irritation I had using cartridges, and at the same time my technique improved significantly. I'm about 10-12 weeks in, and I even though I've had many great DFS and BBS shaves, I still find myself learning new ways to 'handle' each area of my face. With each improvement comes faster closer shaves, and it has made tackling that final ATG pass much easier and more comfortable.

Right on. That is the Exact approach that I took. I am impatient by nature, but DE shaving taught me to slow things down a bit. I see improvement in technique daily.

[JPM]

Right on. That is the Exact approach that I took. I am impatient by nature, but DE shaving taught me to slow things down a bit. I see improvement in technique daily.

+1. I don't have alot of patience either and I jumped into trying a 4 pass shave in the first week. Not such a wise move. Once I backed off to 2 passes and taking my time, things got much better.

If your lather is drying out, it may need more water. On the other hand, if you are going slowly it could dry out before you get to the last spot. Consider only lathering the section of your face you are about to shave.

[curtis909]

Today I'll go for my second DE shave, also with a Red IP. Even on my first shave I noticed that some of my passes were so seemingly effortless that I may have made them a bit too long. With less than perfect lather and just learning proper blade angle that can be a recipe for bumps and irritation. Parts of my neck got irritated after I decided to do some spot touch ups after two WTG passes.

At least for me, the head of these DE razors is HUGE compared to the cartridge razors I have been using and just trying to see what angle I was getting gave me pause and so I skipped trying the ATG pass.

I'd give the Red IPs another try and maybe do a WTG and a XTG pass (ear to nose) That's my next step although when I get to the edge of the goatee I'm sure I'll be a tad bit concerned about blade skipping.

Haven't tried the TOBs Avocado yet but it does taunt me from the countertop. Just using Musgo Real but they both should provide a slick base to shave upon. It is possible that the Red IP you used was already in need of a change to a new blade? I'm trying to do my shaves so I alternate sides of the razor from my first pass to my second so I'm not dulling one half down way more than the other and end up getting uneven results.

Since it's the weekend maybe taking the day off and going in for the fourth shave tomorrow would help alleviate some skin irritation?

Just my 2 cents... and I'm a total noob so please take with several grains of salt.

Sounds like a plan.:001_smile

[Tom Ford]

I would also suggest an across the grain pass before hitting that ATG. The longer the stubble is the more likely you are going to have skipping while going against the grain, so that XTG pass definitely helps. Also making very short strokes definitely helps me, and even after 3 passes and touch ups, I get virtually no sting while applying AS.

+1. XTG then ATG. Going ATG too early will lead to irritation and your share of nicks and cuts

[SideshowB]

+1 everything already said.

I always leave 2 days between shaves, but that's because my beard grows that slowly. My 5 o'clock shadow is delayed for 24 hours, and a BBS shave in the morning is still BBS when I go to bed. However, if you get a particularly bad shave one day, and your workplace allows it (or it's the weekend), then add another day to help recovery.

It sounds like the blade is blunt, so you probably get 2 good shaves out of an IP Red (from memory, that's how many I get too). Have you only used 1 IP Red from the pack? If so, use another one, if not then move along with your sample pack. I think 2 from every pack in a sampler is a good indication of whether a given blade is good or not, and it gives you some left over to come back to once your technique improves.

I had the exact same problem with the lather as well, it would dry out before I finished a pass by the end (and the end of my pass used to be my top lip - much pain). It is probably too dry, add a bit more water and see how things go. Also, if you keep the lather warm (in a scuttle, floating in a sink of hot water, etc), it tends to dry out faster. My lather now lasts the full 3.5 passes that I do.

We've all been there, read my newbie shaving diary to see that you're not alone.

[Mr. O]

What I have learned is it will get worse before it gets better. As you progress, you'll learn better technique and find your niche in shaving. I say your because every has their own routine and most of the time each routine will be different. The only advice I can offer is continue reading about techniques and try them to find one suitable to you. For me, I've found that using alum actually makes my face red after I shave and this redness is present for a few hours. But today, finishing my shave with MB Frankensence & Myrrth with a dab of Bigelow, I threw some witch hazel on and no redness. The pucker factor was when I applied my aftershave-today was a Skin Bracer day. It gave me the ever slight but incredibly quick sting. It felt like a pinch. After that, a nice cooling sensation. My face looked great, no red blotches, nothing. So read up on the various techniques members here do and find something that works for you.

And if this wasn't already said, use absolutely no pressure! You might think it's easy but I think we all have got ourselves trying to apply more pressure that we needed. Just sort of let the razor flow over the contours of your face.

One other trick that has helped me (and this simply might be a placebo effect) is adding a small amount of baby oil to my face as a pre-shave. I rub it in the beard really good and forcefully. This combined with adding lather between passes and not wiping my face off with a wet towel has helped my shave. This might not work for you but it does for me. Feel free to try it.

If you have a Shark Super Chrome, try it. Most here sing praises for the Feather and one day I might be among the chorus. But for now, it yields me too much irritation but the Shark SC has become my daily shave blade. The yellow Gillette, Super Iridiums are good too. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Drubbing]

I would also suggest an across the grain pass before hitting that ATG. The longer the stubble is the more likely you are going to have skipping while going against the grain, so that XTG pass definitely helps. Also making very short strokes definitely helps me, and even after 3 passes and touch ups, I get virtually no sting while applying AS.

+1.

Also, if your lather is drying on your face, that is something you need to work on. You might want to skip the face scrub as it might assist with irritation - shaving already exfoliates, so it's not really necessary.

When your AS gives a warming hum afterwards instead of a sting, you know you've fashioned a very good shave. And AS isn't a necessity either. I did fine without it for 20 years. You could try Proraso pre/post. As the name says, you can use it as a pre shave and after shave cream. No sting, just nice moisturising, cooling menthol.

[misterrachel]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement all! It's 9:30 at night now and my face is still on fire.

To make matters worse, I was picking my one-year-old up today and he jabbed his finger into my face and dragged downwards. He cut a pretty deep and long gash in my cheek. It was kind of like adding insult to injury to my bad shave! Now I'm going to be forced to wait a few days to shave again. I think his fingernails were probably sharper than a pack of Feathers!

I did try to pamper my face a little bit tonight. I lathered up my face and dropped a hot towel on it for a few minutes. After, I used some of my wife's moisturizing face cream. Didn't help my face stop burning, but probably helped the healing a little.

Oh well, I will look at this as an opportunity to practice my lathering technique for a few days.

As suggested, I'll give the Red IP's another go on the next shave. I have a pretty thick beard, so I'm guessing that 2-3 shaves per blade will be about par for the course for me.