Shaving Sticks and Irritation

[JD.E.]

I'm not 100% sure, but it seems when I use a shaving stick (rubbing soap stick on face, rubbing brush on face to make lather) I end up with significantly more irritation than normal. I haven't been able to say as much conclusively yet, but does anyone else find this to be true?

I can't say this conclusively yet, but for the past two weeks or so I've been using a myriad of new sticks that I've acquired and no matter which one I use, the irritation seems to be getting progressively worse.

I plan to mill a couple different varieties into some sort of travel friendly container and face lather as I usually to do compare, but I haven't found the proper containers that are re-seal-able and small enough to be portable (fit 3 or more into my travel kit). Any suggestions?

Thanks,

JD

[professorchaos]

Some soaps do irritate me more than others. Generally speaking, I find that those which irritate me shave a little better. The irritation goes away as soon as I rinse the lather off.

[Bestarrkin]

Maybe you can lather sticks like this. Btw, only La Toja stick irritates my skin.

[Deltaboy]

Anchor Hocking and Glad makes small continers that can travel well and you can push a stick into them pettey easily.

[JD.E.]

Some soaps do irritate me more than others. Generally speaking, I find that those which irritate me shave a little better. The irritation goes away as soon as I rinse the lather off.

I'm 95% sure mine isn't an allergic reaction as I've had one of those to all of the SCS soaps I've used. When this happened I my faced burned a bit until I rinsed the cream off but I think if I used it frequently it would get pretty bad.

Whaqt I'm talking about seems to be more of an overstimulation of the hair follicles that leads to more ingrowns and redness and sensativity lasting for a significant bit of time.

[Wetshavemike]

If your face is not wet enough the soap will pull quite hard. I like to wet my face, dip the stick, wet the brush and swirl. As soon as the soap drags, I dip it again and sometimes splash more water on my face. I am not an expert on shaving sticks, but after a few shaves with one I am finding better ways to use it. I still get pulling, which makes my skin red and sore, but keeping things wet appears to be the key for myself.

[Go West Young Man]

Do you facelather or bowllather regular soaps?
What brush are you using?
Do you find you spend MORE or LESS time working the brush on your face with sticks?

[Pjotr]

That picture just looks wrong.

Maybe you can lather sticks like this. Btw, only La Toja stick irritates my skin.

[JD.E.]

I usually facelather and it never seems to be a problem. I do focus on getting as much water on my face, soaking the stick a little before use, and re-wetting the stick as I go but none of it seems to help much.

I have tried three different brushes, and have had slightly different results with each. The best was my shavemac D01 silvertip, second best a semogue boar brush, and the worst was an older vulfix brush with best badger hair (painful experience).

I do think I end up using a little bit more time working up a lather than when I face lather, but that's just a part of the process. With a puck, you have at least the beginnings of lather in your brush, but with a shave stick, you start with a good amount of soap on the face, and only soap. I think this is the primary difference and the cause of my troubles.

I was really liking the convenience of being able to carry a variety of soaps with me for an upcoming vacation I have planned, but it looks like I might have to find a variation that's less irritating. Bestarrkin might be on the right path.... I have some twist up containers from WCS that I was hoping to use, maybe I can use that with just a tad of soap sticking out of the top.

[saliavin]

Here is a real stab in the dark.

Could it be the brush. I read somewhere that people can have reactions to badger hair. I know with my allergies, some things are not as big a deal if I get less of the allergen. When I face lather a stick the brush is on my face at least 3 times longer as when I bowl lather. I am new here, so what do I know!

[JD.E.]

While I assume it is possible, I doubt it. I don't think the difference between face and stick lathering are all that much in terms of how long the brush in on my face time.

[davros]

There are at least a few soaps that come stick and puck form, like Tabac, or as people have said, there are ways of loading soap direct to the brush from a stick. This isn't an ideal long term solution, but it should serve as a diagnostic to help figure out whether it's the soap or the process that's the trouble.

[Whitmore]

Maybe you can lather sticks like this. Btw, only La Toja stick irritates my skin.

(Image)

You, sir, just blew my mind. Seriously. I love shaving sticks, however I never really liked rubbing them all over my face. Never actually thought of using them this way.

[JD.E.]

It would be sweet to have a bowl with an adjustable/rubber ringed hole in the bottom that would allow you to insert whatever shaving stick you wanted into to bottom, but as whitmore pointed out, Bestarrkin has the perfect minimalist solution. I will report back after my Monday morning shave.

[Go West Young Man]

Try using a puck of soap like a shave stick, ie pick the whole thing up and rub it over your face.
That way you can compare performance and results with a known product, might help you narrow down where the problem is.

[Bestarrkin]

That picture just looks wrong.

Well, I took this photo from another member in here. Maybe there should be more stick out of the fist.

[JD.E.]

I will see what I can do with a couple practice latherings between now and Monday morning. I will let you know what works best.

[Go West Young Man]

Well, I took this photo from another member in here. Maybe there should be more stick out of the fist.

I don't think Pjotr meant that the guy in the picture was doing it wrong.....

[franz]

+1 on the fist bowl! Applying directly to the face is not the only way to use a shave stick.

[Luc]

The fist bowl method works well IMO. It's a different use of the stick, it's not wrong to use a shave stick that way!