World's Worst Shave Recovery: Day 1 (Video)

Hey guys, I promised after a day of resting up and healing, I'd post a video of my progress. For those that missed it, and want to see the damage, this was my shave yesterday:

The Slaughtering


It has been one day, full of witch hazel, after shave, healing balm, and rest for my face. While irritation is still everywhere (Again, my face is naturally acne free), the cuts don't look as bad as they did. And this is only 24 hours after the shave, so I feel in a week I will have made serious progress.

24 Hours After The Slaughter


I think I may hold off on shaving until every bit of irritation disappears (I've had it since I started DE, probably my skin just wasn't used to it at first. It slowly was improving until my recent disaster shave, and now its worse than ever.). Once it completely disappears, I'm going to take the most slow, analytical shaves ever to try and isolate the cause of irritation. This means:

- No ATG passes anywhere on the face.
- No fast shaving, slow medium sized passes.
- Paranoid Angle Practice: I'm going to try whatever it takes to keep it at 30 Degrees. (Right now, I have the Merkur HD without a blade in it, trying to practice what 30 degrees is.)
- Being insanely careful over sensitive areas (Neck, Chin).
- NEW SHAVING CREAM. The Neutrogena for men cream as it turns out, was non-lathering, so it now sits in blown up pieces in my dumpster.

I'm hoping I'll be able to isolate, and then get rid of the irritation. I can't thank you all enough for the support. Like I said, it has to be difficult to sympathize with someone who looks like they just took a hacksaw to their own face. However, you all have been really really helpful with everything. Any advice from this point forward is still greatly appreciated, as I have (at minimum) a week to rest up and review my technique.


Thanks Again!

That 30º thing is probably a large part of your problem right there. I'm not sure where you got 30º from, but it's got nothing to do with the angle you hold the handle at, it's all about the angle of the blade against the dace, and the correct angle is built into the head of your razor. if you rest your razor on a flat surface so both the cap and the bar are touching the surface, THAT'S the right angle. Once you've seen that angle, try to do the sem thing on your face, but again pay less attention to the handle, and more attention to the head, keep both the cap and the guard riding over your face and you'll have the right angle. Also It's more about feel than look. If you're trying to maintain a 30º angle you're over thinking it. Put the cap on your face, then roll it downwards until the guard contacts your face. stop. close your eyes. feel what that feels like, then stop letting your eyes guide your hands and actually just feel for the input that tells you the razor is resting on your face at the correct angle. soon you'll begin to feel what it feels like if the blade is cutting correctly instead of scraping. Once you get the feel for that you'll be there.

Definitely let those cuts heal 100% before trying again. The best way for me to find the correct angle is to hold the razor against my face horizontally and drop it down till you can see the blade on your face. Also remember to let the weight of the razor cut the hair. Don't use any pressure. Shaving shouldn't be a painful experience. If you feel pain, you need to make some adjustments.

Looking much better!

I like your careful and analytical approach. The 30% ballpark is tricky. The best place on your face to learn this is on your cheeks down to the jawline, since they are broader surfaces than anywhere else.

Keep in mind you should hear the razor cutting your whiskers. This can guide your angle and pressure also.

+1 on the 30 degree angle. Although the number is close, it may not be exactly what that particular razor needs. IMO the 30 degree angle applies more so to TTO, not 3 piece razors.

This page ought to help a lot, especially the last series of pictures.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Blade_Angle

Best of luck.

I would try some pretty "standard" items for your shave routine. I suggest Proraso Cream as the baseline. Simply because it is a very known item. It is high quality, widely available and seems to be very well liked across the board.

When your face is healed you should make up a lather with the proraso and apply it, let set, and then wash it off of your face. Keep a close eye on your face and make sure that the Proraso causes NO irritation. Then the next day actually shave with it. Try to introduce the fewest variable at a time.

Just MHO.

kehern said:

+1 on the 30 degree angle. Although the number is close, it may not be exactly what that particular razor needs. IMO the 30 degree angle applies more so to TTO, not 3 piece razors.

This page ought to help a lot, especially the last series of pictures.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Blade_Angle

Best of luck.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this pic here is what I'm talking about.


I don't see 30º anywhere in this picture. the handle is at 45º to the skin, and the blade is probably closer to 20º if you put the handle ad 30º you'll be usiong that blade like a scraper, and having to press pretty hard for it to even touch your skin.

kehern said:

+1 on the 30 degree angle. Although the number is close, it may not be exactly what that particular razor needs. IMO the 30 degree angle applies more so to TTO, not 3 piece razors.

This page ought to help a lot, especially the last series of pictures.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Blade_Angle

Best of luck.

Click to expand...

Thats a great read for new and old DE shavers!

So glad you're healing so well. It hurt to read your other post yesterday. Stick with it and read everything you can and you'll get it. I'm so very sorry you had such a bad experience off the bat.

One piece of advice I will give is to pay special attention to every bump on your face when you shave. I have gotten in a hurry and shaved off the top of a few pimples and it's quite unpleasant.

cool video, maybe you could do a video of yourself shaving and have your fellow badgers look for any trouble spots in your technique.

If you need an irritation and nick free shave while waiting for your face to recover, you can get a "Bump Fighter" razor, it used to be available in stores but Personna discontinued production, but its still avaliable online. I have one and a stash of blades for just this purpose, its the most tamest razor I think ever made in shaving history, even tamer than the tech.

Also, I have become a big fan of witch hazel followed up with jojoba oil on my face, you alreay know about the witch hazel, and I like jojoba oil because it absorbs into your skin and wont be greasy if you dont over apply, and if you do, you can blot it up with a tissue. Jojoba oil is the closest oil to your natural skin oil that is avaliable, and I have noticed my razor burn goes away very quickly when I use this combo.

+1 Proraso, As I'm sure you know (or will know shortly) it is sold at Bath and Body Works under their House Label CO Bigelow-- Great Stuff

and +1 for try it the day before you plan to shave so that you will know you aren't allergic

Good Luck

I hope this is not the result of the Astras and Derbys that I PIFed to you!!!

Elecid said:

I hope this is not the result of the Astras and Derbys that I PIFed to you!!!

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Its not. Its the result of a terrible technique and getting way too cocky after a few good shaves. Trust me, no blade is bad enough to blame for what happened to me. I could've shaved with a good technique using a machete and had better results I had it coming eventually, and its going to be uphill from here hopefully

That was a massacre. I think Custer lost less blood at Little Big Horn than you did during that shave! Glad you're recovering quickly.

I'm not sure what blade you used for that shave, but dump it. Once a blade tastes blood, it is like a Vampire, needing more.

I might go with a Red Pack Personna, or a Dorco St-301 since those are very mild and smooth blades. Normally, a Derby blade is very smooth and mild. Normally.

I'm not sure what shaving creams you can easily get in your area, but you may want to check out The Real Shaving Company line of creams.

I'd also suggest to concentrate more on the audible feedback and less on the angle. The sound the razor makes is it eradicates stubble is a great indicator if your angle is right or not.

Good Luck, and let us know how we can be of further assistance.

Does the blade ever seem to pull or grab at the hair instead of cutting it? I have that problem in a few spots and I've found that short strokes seem to work best for me.

It appears that you've mostly just recut old cuts that were still healing and bumped up. I get that problem around my neck line. Try some shaver's secret shaving oil. You can get it at wal mart for less than 4 bucks. Get your face wet then put a couple drops on your fingers and smear it around your face, then do the usual lather routine. It seemed to help me a lot.

Most importantly go slow, take your time and try to enjoy it. The more you worry about having perfect technique the worse your shave will be. Don't try for bbs or even close to bbs. No against the grain or even across the grain until you can safely go with the grain with no cuts.

You have made some progress. The first thing was you realized it was your technique and you are taking steps to correct it.

To help in the healing process put some moisturizer on your face before going to bed at night. That helps quite a bit.

I think I heard the 30 degree thing was with a straight not a DE.

I tried to put a red line to represent the skin/blade/90 degree to the skin.

This is not a 20 degree angle for sure. If it's not 30, it's very close. I mean, if I remember my geometry classes, the smaller piece looks like it's 30 and the other 60 (twice the small piece giving me back 90 degrees). If it was 20 degrees, you would need to fit it 3.5 times in the leftover piece. Which I don't think it's possible (20 x 3.5 = 70 degrees). Sorry Nick for putting some scribbles on your picture.

The 30 degree rule goes for DE and straights. With a straight, you can play with that angle a bit more, go down to 10 degrees if you like. With a DE, you won't be so lucky.

glad to see your healing up well. Keep taking care of that mug and you'll be back to shaving in no time. I'm not sure what your beard growth is like but if its typically somewhat thick or heavy and quick growing once your face is completely healed up you might want to consider finding an old style barber shop so a pro can give you a shave first so that you start with only a day or 2 worth of growth when you go back to DE shaving.

Luc said:

I tried to put a red line to represent the skin/blade/90 degree to the skin.

This is not a 20 degree angle for sure. If it's not 30, it's very close. I mean, if I remember my geometry classes, the smaller piece looks like it's 30 and the other 60 (twice the small piece giving me back 90 degrees). If it was 20 degrees, you would need to fit it 3.5 times in the leftover piece. Which I don't think it's possible (20 x 3.5 = 70 degrees). Sorry Nick for putting some scribbles on your picture.

The 30 degree rule goes for DE and straights. With a straight, you can play with that angle a bit more, go down to 10 degrees if you like. With a DE, you won't be so lucky.

Click to expand...

The physical blade angle is 30 degrees of course, but because the blade is curved due to the head design, the handle angle is closer to 45. I think that this sometimes trips up newbies, because they think that holding the razor at 30 degree is correct. In TTO the blade is flat, so 30 degrees from the horizontal applies, but in 3 piece razors, the curving of the blade changes it.