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I think my facial hair is too thick for how sensitive my skin is.

Okay, so I'm 19, I have a very thick beard that grows relatively fast.

I just jumped into the world of doing a more "high class" wet shave -- properly using a brush and high quality cream, a double-edged safety razor, quality aftershave, etc.

I am using a Merkur double-edged safety razor (set to about 2), a Vulfix Super Badger brush, and Taylor of Old Bond Street cream and aftershave.

Mind you, when I let my beard grow out well past the stubble stage, this gives me the closest, least irritating, best shave of my life. The problem lies in when I try to shave more often -- to maintain a clean appearance and smoothness.

This is getting ridiculous. I shaved Friday, right? One with a full, normally growing beard, should be able to shave every day if one wants to. I can barely shave three times a fortnight.

I just jumped in the shower, figuring I've got to do this sooner or later with stubble rather than soft "hair", and I'll try a few more pre-shave techniques.

So I'm in the shower, hot as it can be, and I rub some lather on my face just with my hands, just to start moisturizing the hair right? I rinse it off, alright.

I get out, work up a hot, good lather, get it nice on my face, etc, and then lay a hot damp towel over that and let it sit two minutes. I take it off and rinse off my face with hot water, then relather and do the first run.

Mind you, I use almost NO pressure, like.. might as well be holding it at the base, and on the first run my neck starts bleeding. No nicks, just such bad razor burn or whatever that it's bleeding.

I rinse off with hot water, relather, and do another run because I have to for a decent shave. My upper lip and chin start bleeding. Mind you not a lot, but enough to say, "what the heck?". And I am following every technique guideline I can think of.

I rinsed with cold water and dabbed it dry, then used alcohol-based splash aftershave.

My face is absolutely torn up. I am convinced that I simply have far too thick of facial hair for how sensitive my skin is. It's truly ridiculous. I may give up and just start shaving once a week, saying screw it to keeping smooth.

When my hair is long enough to be slightly soft, I can get the best shave of my life with this stuff, but it seems no matter what if I don't let it grow out well past the stubble stage, mess up my face.

Have any of you guys experienced this before and is there anything I can do? It's frustrating! I can barely shave three times a fortnight!
 
Welcome to B&B. I hoe some other guys here can help you out of your predicament. Sounds like you have some nice 'hardware/software'. I'm thinking technique? I always slice my face up when I try too hard, I shave better when I am not paying much attention and let the razor do the work. If you are new to using a DE razor I'd suggest you shave less often to start with so that your skin has time to adjust. I've been DE shaving for 6-9 months now and I still have at least one day off shaving per week. I never considered my skin sensitive either, but it does appreciate the break.

Good luck.
 
Welcome to B&B. I hoe some other guys here can help you out of your predicament. Sounds like you have some nice 'hardware/software'. I'm thinking technique? I always slice my face up when I try too hard, I shave better when I am not paying much attention and let the razor do the work. If you are new to using a DE razor I'd suggest you shave less often to start with so that your skin has time to adjust. I've been DE shaving for 6-9 months now and I still have at least one day off shaving per week. I never considered my skin sensitive either, but it does appreciate the break.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply and thanks for the welcome.

It probably is my technique. Is the key to all this setting the safety bar against my face, using no more weight than the weight of the razor, and turning the blade to an angle in which it cuts the hairs but does not press against my face? That's why I try to do, but maybe I'm just not doing it right?
 
Welcome to the B&B

Many men including myself have wiry tough beards and can get a close comfortable and pleasant shave, it will take time- weeks and maybe months, but it can be done. So relax do some more reading and try to enjoy the ride.
Try Kyle's post Here for a start.
 
I'd say it's the same for any change in shaving method. I've gone from disposable to electric, from electric to mach3, from fusion to DE, and I even just tried a bakelite handled injector.

Your face needs to get used to the shaving method. When I first started, I was a bloody mess for a week. Then that eased to razor burn the next week. Then finally to acceptable shaves after that.

Don't try to get too aggressive with your razor settings . Don't start right away with multiple passes. You don't need a glass smooth shave the first time. You need to slowly work up to that. So you have a stubble for a few weeks.

My biggest recommendation is start again. Lowest setting, one pass. Next week bump the setting up one. Most guys do the first and maybe second pass on a low setting anyway, then the final ATG on high. Start a second across-the-grain pass on the third week. On the fourth, drop the settings DOWN one notch and try three passes...

Meaning, work slowly, get your face used to the change. It's physically a completely different process from a multiblade razor. If you've had good shaves by waiting a few days, that means you CAN DE shave - you just need to let your face get used to it.
 
I'm in almost the exact same boat. I have fairly dense facial hair, each hair is thicker than average, my facial hairs grow very slowly. I wish they would grow faster because, like you, I get a much better shave after more growth.

Waiting is the most helpful thing for me if I want a close shave, but because I want to be clean shaven every day (not every other or eveyr third day), I've had to improvise a bit. I'm a novice at this though, so hopefully someone who has some more experience can chime in.

I use a gillette fusion -- there's a review of it on this site and I think it is truly a very good razor (worlds better than my M3). There's a money back guarantee on it, so you might as well try it out. (I'm waiting on my first DE).

I've been using several different soaps and creams. Recently I tried the mentholated Kiehls cream and have got very good day-2 shaves as a result. I think the menthol might help us with more sensitive skin and tough beards. Other guys on this board don't like menthol -- get a sample and give it a try. Using hot lather can also helps. I now microwave my lather.

My day two technique, I use my left hand to hold my cheek or chin more taut. This helps consideably.
 
Cig,

Welcome to B&B. We can help you figure this out. First, do you fully understand the growth pattern of your beard? Be sure that you are truly shaving with the grain on all areas of your face. You'll find that different areas may require different strokes. For example, my with the grain pass is downward to the cheek bone, then upward from the neckline to the cheekbone. Your facial hair won't all grow the same direction. Start out with making two with the grain passes for a week. No, your shaves won't be perfect, but you will have time to work on technique and blade angle. Keep the razor set to no more than three. After a week, make a with the grain pass followed by an across the grain pass. Do this for a week. Finally, add a third pass, the final pass being against the grain. If you have issues doing this, back of for a few days and then try adding the third pass again. And be sure to read this thread by Kyle.

One last thought. Something I got from Scotto and found it to be most helpful. Don't shave with your wrist. Hold your wrist rigid, and shave from the elbow down, as though your arm is in a cast.

Keep it up and let us know how it is going.

Randy
 
I started out shaving with a Merkur Futur, Merkur blades, badger brush, and Proraso in the green tube. I would try one pass WTG on my face & neck. Then as my skin got used to DE shaving, I tried shaving sideways on my face,(L to R on left & (R to L) on right side.
After awhile, I would start shaving every other time ATG on my face & DOWN to UP on my neck.. I learned to shave in front of the sink using the mirror. I wet my face & even used hot & damp towels to soften my beard. Then I got some Proraso Pre-shave; which really helps to soften my beard. I also got the Merkur HD razor & started using it with light strokes. Then, I switched to Feather blades; which are great for me with the HD razor.
I had to put up with some razor burn or shave irritation off & on. (Especially when trying to shave ATG at 1st or on my neck.)
I got a tube of Fresh Citrus body butter made by www.Badgerbalm.com & used it when my skin got real irritated. It's best to use this body butter while overnight.
The Proraso shave balm works well for me & the Nivea cream lotion also.
The best tip is to go at what pace feels comfortable, preparation, shave with light strokes, take your time, & do not worry if you skip some whiskers at first.
It seemed harder for me since I had been using a Braun electric shaver for many years & have a wiry beard & sensitive skin. As time went by, my shaves are closer & do not take as long as first. It depends on how many passes with the razor. I do not shave ATG on my neck! Hope this helps!
Scotty
 
I think I have a similar problem as you - though not as bad.

Under the old regime (canned goo, Mach 3), I could only shave every third day. End of story. Well, I could do every day, but only a WTG shave, which for me looks like not shaving.

The switch to DE brought improvement, but not all at once. I gained the ability to shave every day, but there was still significant irritation and on the ATG passes on the neck, bleeding.

The big change - and this is going to be controversial - was using the feather blade. This is not going to be the solution for everyone, but for me it made quite a difference. I can now shave every day with only mild to moderate irritation.

I'll take that over looking scruffy 2 out of 3 days.

Alex
 
It probably is my technique. Is the key to all this setting the safety bar against my face, using no more weight than the weight of the razor, and turning the blade to an angle in which it cuts the hairs but does not press against my face? That's why I try to do, but maybe I'm just not doing it right?

No, and that's probably why you're getting scraped up. Place the razor's head flat against your face and tilt it forward until it starts shaving hairs. Both ways will get you to a shaving angle, but starting with the safety bar and tilting backwards gives you a much steeper angle on the blade and a much more scraping type of shave than starting flat and tilting forwards.
 
welcome to B&B. I too found that starting slow seemed to work best. If you see irritation, try just one WTG pass (if only on that area) for a week or so and you will see little or no irritation (at least i don't). One thing I really didn't get at first was how different areas of your face can grow hair so differently. I truly assumed from chin straight down was WTG on my neck, only to look closer and see that from the center to me ears was WTG on my neck...so i had actually been shaving ATG when I thought I was shaving WTG...noticing this has helped INCREDIBLY to reduce irritation. Again, with WTG passes only, you wont be BBS, but it will look BBS to everyone else and your face will be pleased.

I used to shave once a week only and now can shave every day without irritation.
 
Place the razor's head flat against your face and tilt it forward until it starts shaving hairs. Both ways will get you to a shaving angle, but starting with the safety bar and tilting backwards gives you a much steeper angle on the blade and a much more scraping type of shave than starting flat and tilting forwards.

great tip.

and welcome to the forum. You'lll be surprised at how quickly a forum about shaving can move. It's defintitely more proper than HCAF. I can't bring myself to even swear among these folks.:biggrin:
 
I urge you to get a DE blade sampler pack from user letterk.

It may be the blade that's also your problem, although I agree with other people here that you should lay the razor with its topside to your cheek and then tilt it "forward" to dial in the angle. If the angle is too sharp, the razor will dig, and that is especially detrimental on the against-the-grain passes, as I've found out.

With-the-grain passes have never made me bleed, but I find that they do almost nothing for me, and I always have to make other passes for a presentable look.

Also, for sensitive skin, two creams you might love to try are Crabtree & Evelyn Sweet Almond Oil - it is absolutely superb and gives a rich, luxurious lather than smells amazingly fresh - and Taylor's Avocado.

For aftershave, I find that it's hard to beat Taylor's Luxury Herbal Aftershave Cream. For sensitive skin, it absolutely works wonders, and it will salvage your face even if it looks like you just used a lawnmower blade for shaving.
 
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