It could be just the change of seasons, and the more humid air now, but the timing is too much of a coincidence, I would think. For a number of years I am suffering from seborrheic dermatitis, which has been really annoying and inflamed around my temples and sideburns, to the point that I've found myself repeatedly mumbling "I haaate my skin". Lo'and'behold, three or four days into wet shaving and... "hey, this is nice and smooth, not itchy at all, and no shedding skin".
It's probably a number of factors, but I would not be surprised if wet shaving played a large role in this. I think it helped in the following ways:
1. closer shave, less ingrown hairs poking at the skin from inside... less irritation to the inflamed area, making it easier for it to cure itself
2. started using aftershave and shaving cream... I thought I read somewhere about AS or SC affecting pH balance on the skin... Also, as part of the shaving procedure, your skin gets far superior hydration... ("wet shaving: it's all about the water")
3. biggest factor: it just occurred to me that, unless you majorly disinfect the whole razor mechanism and assembly every time you shave with an electric razor, there will be tons of little nooks and crannies (and, my god, there are TONS!) where oily shaving offal sticks and accumulates, harboring the yeast/fungus which is thought to lead to seborrhea. So even though I was washing face and applying the topical steroids prescribed by the dermatologist, on the next shaving pass I was probably putting all those nasties right back on my skin. Compare that to cartridge and especially DE razors, which you can get wayyyyyyyyyy cleaner, after every shave. Heck, you can just plop the razor into Barbicide after every shave...
Still, I'll have to see how the skin holds up next winter...
It's probably a number of factors, but I would not be surprised if wet shaving played a large role in this. I think it helped in the following ways:
1. closer shave, less ingrown hairs poking at the skin from inside... less irritation to the inflamed area, making it easier for it to cure itself
2. started using aftershave and shaving cream... I thought I read somewhere about AS or SC affecting pH balance on the skin... Also, as part of the shaving procedure, your skin gets far superior hydration... ("wet shaving: it's all about the water")
3. biggest factor: it just occurred to me that, unless you majorly disinfect the whole razor mechanism and assembly every time you shave with an electric razor, there will be tons of little nooks and crannies (and, my god, there are TONS!) where oily shaving offal sticks and accumulates, harboring the yeast/fungus which is thought to lead to seborrhea. So even though I was washing face and applying the topical steroids prescribed by the dermatologist, on the next shaving pass I was probably putting all those nasties right back on my skin. Compare that to cartridge and especially DE razors, which you can get wayyyyyyyyyy cleaner, after every shave. Heck, you can just plop the razor into Barbicide after every shave...
Still, I'll have to see how the skin holds up next winter...