Serious Help

[adamp1]

Right, well I have been DE shaving for 2 years now. I'm 20 almost 21 and I still haven't figured it out. I Shower and use a brush before. Take my time. I believe I have the blade angle right (see below). But I never have a good shave. It always looks like I have a 5 o'clock shadow. I have some stubble left which is 0.5mm after a WTG and XTG passes. I can't do any more because I look like a bit of meet. When I run my hand over after its very rough. After I think I haven't even shaved. Near my Adams Apple the skin is very sensitive, if I just run the blade over it, it hurts and bleeds. I have let my beard grow and try to see the direction, but this doesn't help my neck issue and after shaving WTG and XTG on one side, my beard looks like it hasn't even been cut.

http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/34727/2001407337005626851_rs.jpg

My beard is quite tough and seems to lie very flat. I do have a slant bar but it always nicks me. I use feather blades since nothering else seems to cut my beard, just pulls at it. If I do let my beard grow then cut it, I get red irritated spots due to the beard rubbing.

I'm at the end of my tether. I keep thinking will an electric one work better, what about a 4 blade monster? Each time I think abut it, I just remember how much worse it used to be. I don't want a BS shave I just want to shave and not feel like I haven't.

So does anyone have any way I can get the hairs to stand up more? Some creme or something to make my skin around my neck shaveable?

Any help would be great.

[Must Dash]

Not sure that I have much to contribute, but maybe you need to experiment with your prep. I wasn't easily convinced, but I find that proraso pre plus a hot towel (fairly close to King Kyle's method) makes a big enough difference to justify the extra time that it takes.

Lathering on your face rather than in a bowl - if that's what you do - may also help you resolve the problem.

Good luck. Hope it all comes good.

[Izzy]

I know you have most likely tried this, but spend more time on your pre-shave, try 2 x WTG passes and 1 x XTG pass, and if required 1 x ATG (GENTLE) pass, but make sure you are well lathered before each pass.

With your pre-shave I would recommend a facial wash followed by plenty of hot water (I have started prepping my face with Aloe Vera gel )
(see attached thread link http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29424o) to really soften the beard area, lather your beard area, allow to soak in then rinse off, re-lather and shave.

Just my 2 pennies worth, but do whats best for you, best of luck.

Kind regards
NIGEL

[Suzuki]

If a Feather is the only blade that can cut your beard, I think there's an issue with either your prep or technique. The fact that you use a Feather and a Slant and still have significant stubble means things aren't right - at least to this observer.

I have a very coarse beard and I can't use Feathers that often because they cause me too much irritation.

If you're getting this much irritation, I would move to a LESS aggressive combination - try a Merkur classic (the long-handle is particularly good and pretty cheap) and/or a less aggressive blade (Gillette Swedes, Dorko, Derby, Crystals - you can get a sampler pack with a bunch of different blades from westcoastshaving.com). I think that lots of folks with heavy beards think that the most aggressive razor/blade combo is the best way to go, but I disagree and think that sometimes less is more in this regard.

Also, if you're getting this much irritation around the adam's apple, it suggests a couple of possibilities - first that you're holding your razor at too steep an angle - the blade should skim the surface of the skin and not bite in. Try flattening the angle slightly by tilting the razor back on its head just a tad. Second, you may not be stretching your skin properly - this is important on the neck in particular - take the hand not holding the razor and put it at the base or your neck to hold the skin in place - at the same time, tilt your chin up. This should make the skin on your neck nice and tight - thereby providing a nice smooth, flat surface for the razor. You'll need to play around for a bit to figure out the best way to stretch the skin for you.

Make sure you know which way the hair on your face grows - that's important to determine the best way to go after it.

You haven't mentioned what shaving soap/cream you use - some lubricate better, others are particularly good at softening the hair - if you let us know what you're using, we can possibly make some sugestions.

Pressure - you shouldn't use much pressure at all, if you are, you're just going to get nicks, cuts and irritation.

You mentioned that you go XTG - is this against or across the grain?

I do one N - S, and one across the grain and one S - N pass plus some touch up. I don't go for BBS every day - sometimes it happens - sometimes it doesn't - I consistently get very close, smooth, irritation free shaves.

The best thing for you to do is look at the tutorials in this forum and find Mantic's excellent series of youtube videos - they will definitely help.

Most important, don't hesitate to ask lots of questions and try new stuff - you've come to the right place. I'm sure the collective B&B wetshaving brain trust can help you get a handle on this.

Hope this helps.

[Mr. Gillette]

I can only chime in that it's probably in the prep. I would suggest the Kyle's Pre-Shave Challenge or whatever it is...the full on Prep listed at the head of the board...DO EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS, no matter how counter-intuitive it seems to you-- just try it, do what it says, and don't think about it.

Yesterday I had a somewhat rushed prep, and the result was a sad shave. Do it by the book for a few days and see if it helps.

Angle issues as in previous post, around Adam's apple seems like a problem, and be sure not to try to "compensate" by using pressure, because this will take your face from "meet" to hamburger quicker than anything.

[jlander]

Just a thought, but as an addendum to what Suzuki says (+1 BTW) have you tried an adjustable? Changing the the aggressiveness in areas that are sensitive might help. The adjustable also lets you increase or decrease the aggressiveness of each type of blade allowing for more variations. Kyle's prep is a very good preshave method if you're not using one, and while not a big fan of pre-shave oils, I have used plain extra-virgin olive oil worked into the beard with the hot towel treatment to really soften my beard when the skin was extremely tender (sunburn, windburn, etc.).

Prior to switching to straights, I found a slim or Fat Boy with it's adjustability to give m the closest no irritation shave. Once I learned a good technique, the GEMS (single edged) worked wonderfully.

[Suzuki]

While lots of folks like adjustable razors, I generally suggest that newbies or people who are having problems getting a good shave NOT get an adjustable.

The temptation will be to fiddle with the adjustment, as opposed to technique.

An adjustable razor is not a crutch for bad prep or technique.

If an adjustable seems like something you'd like, I would keep it at a medium to mild setting until you are getting consistent results before playing too much with settings.

[adamp1]

Lots of great tips, thanks a lot guys. I will have to maybe get a less aggressive blade/razor combo. I will definitively try the prep thing. I never get to do an ATG since I just go bright red so I think that one is out of the question for a while. I will have to try the following over the next several weeks and see how they go.

Thank you again.

[adamp1]

One other question. I just read the prep guide. How important is it that you have a warm lather. I normally soak my bowl in hot water while I shower and then leave it in the sink with hot water running around it. With the two minutes with the brush and the towl soak does it matter if the lather goes cold???

[Haiku]

Lots of good tips indeed and all of them should be tried until you get good results.

For what it's worth my $.02 is this:

Try an extensive prep that includes lots of hot water, but be prepared to find that may not work for you.

Frankly, if you are shaving after you shower, you may already have as good a prep as you need. You may be over-prepping. First, try doing your prep and your shave BEFORE you shower and not after. That was the best thing I ever did.

What I'm really suggesting here is that you may have a very tough beard, but you may have soft or sensitive skin as well. At your age by the way that's quite possible. If that's the case, you may find that the more hot water you use, the more the skin absorbs the water and the more delicate it is. And when skin becomes waterlogged, in addition to becoming more sensitive and apt to become irritated, the pores actually swell shut in other words, the pores actually close up. The ultimate result of this is that you get razor burn plus a not very close shave.

Try using less water rather than more. But first, I would try shaving before the shower, the shower before the shave may be the culprit here.

Best of luck and let us know how you make out.

[Suzuki]

Keep the bowl with the lather in the sink of hot water - that should do it.

[Haiku]

One other question. I just read the prep guide. How important is it that you have a warm lather. I normally soak my bowl in hot water while I shower and then leave it in the sink with hot water running around it. With the two minutes with the brush and the towl soak does it matter if the lather goes cold???

Hot or warm lather never made a bit of difference to me. I suspect the lather temperature is more a matter of personal preference, but who knows, it may make a difference to you.

[michaelskar]

One other question. I just read the prep guide. How important is it that you have a warm lather. I normally soak my bowl in hot water while I shower and then leave it in the sink with hot water running around it. With the two minutes with the brush and the towl soak does it matter if the lather goes cold???

I don't think the temperature of the lather is as important as the temperature of the towel. the twowel's water should be warm. Also, I have found that the 2 mins or so of rubbing the lather into my face before applying the hot towel really helps soften the hairs.

[Haiku]

I don't think the temperature of the lather is as important as the temperature of the towel. the twowel's water should be warm. Also, I have found that the 2 mins or so of rubbing the lather into my face before applying the hot towel really helps soften the hairs.


+1

In my case, never more than one minute for the towel and never more than one minute for the rubbing of the lather.

[OCDshaver]

I can second the recommendation to use a tamer blade. I too have a heavy beard and find the Feather blades a real irritant to my skin. Derbys work well...sharp enough and very forgiving.

Good prep is also key. I skimped on this for a long time, but now that I am a convert, I can't emphasize it enough.

Good luck!

Jim

[Barbelus maximus]

Plenty of good advice above. If you have the sharpest blade (feather) in a slant, there is nothing that it cannot cut! It sounds that either your prep or technique is wrong. Is your lather too dry perhaps? A Merkur HD is certainly an excellent razor to start with - very forgiving. I personally use nothing but feathers and find them excellent, I got more problems from using less sharp blades than anything else although a middle of the road blade such as a Derby may help, although if you have a coarse beard you could well end up going back to the feather. I'm not a big fan of hot this and hot that, I found that it didn't give me enough benefits for the time and effort involved. I lather on my face for a couple of minutes using plenty of soap and hot water and generally do 3-4 passes with the slant feather combo and achieve a 99% bbs shave every day with absolutely no irritation. I'm not suggesting following my example, but I would suggest keeping things simple ie. HD, good blade, quality soap/cream and brush, quality asb - simple. Don't try to run before walking, learn a sound technique first, it is possible to achieve bbs with no irritation with an HD and a good blade but it is down to technique, end of story. Keep practicing, keep it simple and good luck.