Have I hit a wall? And where do I go from here?

Ok after nearly a month of DE shaving every other day and in some instances every day and I feel that I have hit a bit of a wall.
My shave normally is as follows:
EJ d89l
Men-U pure bristle brush (I bowl lather)
Soak the brush in sink of hat water while I;
Pre shave wash with Nivea deep cleansing face wash in the bath/shower
Hot towel for at least two minutes
make my lather from real shaving company shave cream
Dampen face with hot water
Lather face with circular motion before painting a little to ensure even coverage
WTG pass, repeat lather
WTG pass, hot towel, repeat lather
XTG pass, repeat lather
ATG pass,
Lather again with fingers to see if any pesky stubble remains and use buffing action to get as close to BBS as i can
Hot water rinse
Witch Hazel application
Cold water rinse and towel
Pat face dry
Second application of witch Hazel
Towel dry face and apply Nivea sensitive aftershave balm

Results have been good and weepers are seldom and nicks are non existent however I seem to have a rash like irritatioaround my chin and lips, not razor burn, but I'm almost thinking allergic reaction to product.
I a most always seem to have a permanent stubble shadow on my neck which i guess will improve when i get more confident.

Im thinking I might give my face a bit of a break for a while and stop DE shaving till the rash goes i just hate to let things beat me.

As always your opinions and suggestions on technique and products to try will be greatly appreciated. Oh and I'm using derby extra blades at the moment.

Cheers all, thanks for reading

JD

Your prep is extensive. Much more so than mine, in fact. You probably don't need to be doing ALL of that (e.g. hot towel between passes, 2 WH applications).

As for your irritation, it could be any of these things:

-your ATG pass. Map your beard and make sure what you think is WTG, XTG, and ATG is actually WTG, XTG, and ATG. Also, you may not need an entire ATG pass. A lot of us get by with WTG, XTG, and touch-ups.

-your products. Allergic reactions are a very real possibility. Maybe, if you've got the spare cash, grab some unscented sensitive skin formula products. People are allergic to all sorts of things. Fragrance oils are often a culprit, but some people can't even use tallow-based soaps!

-your brush. The "scritchiness" of boar hair may not agree with you. There are several cheap badger brush options. I don't know if you have access to the Tweezerman badger brush over there, but it's dirt cheap and of decent quality.

-your technique. I know it gets said over and over and over, but you really have to nail your angle, and you have to be sure you are using NO pressure at all when you shave. Let the weight of the razor do the work for you.

I agree with the previous poster about a possible allergy you might try a different shaving cream(or even a soap).

As for quitting most here recomend a 2-3 day break if you are getting razor burn or other irritation.

I think I'm confident enough with my technique, however I think a back to basics approach may be in order, I'm gonna have a look at a badger brush and re visit in a week or so, the thing is I don't wanna change too many variables in one hit and not be able to isolate the problem

It would be nice to hear from some other uk users as to where they get their software from

You probably shouldn't be "confident enough" in your technique if you've basically only got 15 DE shaves under your belt.

I've been DE shaving off and on since March of 2009 and I still don't think I completely have it down. I'm still looking for ways to improve it.


I think a fair amount of your irritation may come from over-preparation of your face. Try just washing your face with soap and rinsing it off. Then splash some water on your face (lukewarm). Then lather up. Leave the lather in place for about a minute, then begin the shave. Rinse between passes with lukewarm to cool water.

Then come back here and let us know what happened.

Good suggestions above!

It seems to me your irritation may come from too much activity on the skin. You have a lot of prep and a lot of stuff going on during your shave.

Can you simplify? Perhaps drop the ATG and buffing, and simplify the after shave routine? I assume you are not having an allergic reaction to the Nivea or the RSC shaving cream. To test that, you can place a dab of either or both on your face and let it sit there for a while. When you rinse it off look for a reaction to the product ... the start of a rash, or a red mark, etc. If none, then continue to use the products.

Let the idea of a BBS shave go for a while, and work on technic to get an easy DFS.

I think these are good suggestions. I am a noob myself, and getting the skin flat in those areas is sometimes difficult, but important. If you don't flatten that area you might take off some skin. I also have trouble around where my jaw meets my chin. It can cut too much and I will get pimples there the next day.

The Real Shave Co. makes a sensitive cream.
You use that brand, give it a try?

Sounds like you're getting comfortable with your routine.

That's the early warning sign of an AD coming.
We'll help push you into it if you like.

maxman said:

The Real Shave Co. makes a sensitive cream.
You use that brand, give it a try?

Sounds like you're getting comfortable with your routine.

That's the early warning sign of an AD coming.
We'll help push you into it if you like.

Click to expand...

It is the standard cream as sold in boots, yeah I'm getting comfortable with my routine, maybe too comfortable too soon, as I said I intend to have a week or so break, let things settle, and get back to it.

As with the AD my eBay has never been so full and the amount of bookmarks that are appearing on my browser is increasing by the day, I keep trying to convince the wife to take a shopping trip to London, you never know we may 'accidentally' end up walking past a trumpers with a fist full of notes in my pocket

I wouldn't add any more products for now. I would work with what you have. Which razor/soap/aftershave are you using?

Agreed that your prep sounds long. I usually just take a shower and scrub my beard with regular soap. Some use conditioner and get great results.

Make sure you are not applying any pressure at any time.

kingfisher said:

You probably shouldn't be "confident enough" in your technique if you've basically only got 15 DE shaves under your belt.

I've been DE shaving off and on since March of 2009 and I still don't think I completely have it down. I'm still looking for ways to improve it.


I think a fair amount of your irritation may come from over-preparation of your face. Try just washing your face with soap and rinsing it off. Then splash some water on your face (lukewarm). Then lather up. Leave the lather in place for about a minute, then begin the shave. Rinse between passes with lukewarm to cool water.

Then come back here and let us know what happened.

Click to expand...

This is all I do in the morning. It works fine for me. I don't have time to do much more anyway.

I have been de shaving for about 15 months and at times when I am over confident I nick myself or make a pass with my razor when i should have put more lather on and I end up with razor burn and then I have to not shave for several days to let my neck heal then i shave once it heals.

You do have quite the regimen. Like the rest of us I think you may be overdoing a few things and one of them might be the witch hazel. That stuff dries out the skin to a point where 2 applications may really be overkill. For me I'd simply rinse with warm and then cool water before applying the shave balm.
All the best

Don

I've used at least 20 various soaps and creams. Unfortunately, two of the best smelling of the, MB Dublin Tweed and SCS Signature, caused my face to burn. At first, I thought it was the blade/ razor combination but it was the soap. I sent the SCS with Big Box 3 and gave the MB to my son. Good luck!

Holy maird thats alot of work,your shooting for the magic bullit,and there really is none.
Shower,lather,shave,forget the witchazel for now,nivia balm and quit.
Barring being allergic to one of your products,all should be fine.
Keep it simple,it really is.

My razor burn reduced in proportion to the amount that I reduced my prep, to a point. Try a water only soak (30 seconds), and a nice, slow face lather (2-3) minutes, with only a quick rinse in between.

That's an insane amount of prep. Maybe try and shave every other day! And by the way boar brushes are not "stritchy" or "scratchy' or to my knowledge, if properly used, broken in and constructed, cause any skin irritation. Unless you've got some sort of specific allergy to pigs or pigs hair of course. My boar brushes are some of the softest I've got. If you want scritchy try a cheap pure badger.

I agree with the above assessments. I'm a big proponent of witch hazel, but the double application makes no sense to me, I apply it after the cold rinse and before the AS or ASB, I don't rinse it off. YMMV.

Eric V said:

Good suggestions above!

It seems to me your irritation may come from too much activity on the skin. You have a lot of prep and a lot of stuff going on during your shave.

Can you simplify? Perhaps drop the ATG and buffing, and simplify the after shave routine? I assume you are not having an allergic reaction to the Nivea or the RSC shaving cream. To test that, you can place a dab of either or both on your face and let it sit there for a while. When you rinse it off look for a reaction to the product ... the start of a rash, or a red mark, etc. If none, then continue to use the products.

Let the idea of a BBS shave go for a while, and work on technic to get an easy DFS.

Click to expand...

+1...I do a max of 3 passes, WTG, XTG and ATG. Only doing the ATG for those times when I'm planning on "being close" to SWMBO, or when I just want to feel pretty, lol.

I started with a boar brush and it irritated the hell out of my face, so that could be an issue with you as well. It just seems to me that you're doing an awful lot to your face. Strip out some of the prep, and passes and see how that works for you. You'll eventually find your "sweet spot". Good luck bud, and keep us posted on what you discover ;-)

Seriously, stick with it. It took me a few months before I was comfortable. Months of trying new blades, new soaps, creams, after products, methods, etc.

Just be patient and keep at it. In the meantime, get rid of fragrance! Reduce parameters until you start narrowing in on gear and products that meet your face's needs.

After lots of time and money on much fancier and much more expensive products, I settled on a feather loaded ball end tech, tweezerman, and either van der hagen or proraso soap. Minimal prep, minimal after-products.

I apparently have sensitive skin and suffered with the same issues you describe. Get rid of fragrance. Mild soap. Mild razor with sharp blade. No pressure. Mild after-products. No fragrance.