Still a Newb, Could Use a Hand

[Djehuty]

Greetings,

Some time ago, thanks to some good advice I received here, I switched to a DE razor. Unfortunately, I was never able to get the shave quite right. It was better than any other shave I'd tried, but still left me with a fair amount of razor burn, such that the discomfort doesn't fade entirely until late in the evening. (And this was actually an improvement -- with my old Gillette Mach 3, my face didn't feel normal again until the next morning.) I gave up shaving entirely for a while because of this, but I look terrible with a beard, and I never cared for the three-day-stubble look, even though the electric beard trimmer was the closest I ever came to a painless shave. So now I'm shaving again, and hoping I can get some help figuring out how to stop hating it.

Here's what I'm using: Van der Haagen glycerin shave soap, whipped into the closest thing to a lather my hard water will allow; Merkur 1904 razor with Iridium Super blades (which I note have come back into circulation at last); Ogalalla Bay Rum aftershave; and Thayer's Cucumber Witch Hazel to finish things off.

Complications: I have annoyingly sensitive skin, and I have allergies and chemical sensitivities that can make it difficult to find products I can use. If there's even a trace of sandalwood, for instance, I get to walk around all day with a bright red rash and a splitting headache.

And I should say that I know not to apply pressure when using this type of razor. Given the way my face reacts, it probably sounds as if I'm bearing down like I'm trying to strip paint, but I assure you I'm not. I hold the razor very lightly with my fingertips, and if I were to try to loosen my grip or apply even less pressure, the razor would fall from my fingers and probably do me a mischief on the way down.

Any suggestions for a returning newbie?

[Saposcat]

whipped into the closest thing to a lather my hard water will allow

Have you tried distilled water?
Proraso shaving cream also has a reputation for being easy to lather, and someone has a post about getting good lather from it even with hard water-he significantly increased the amount of product.

[PugslyCat]

You might want to give the unscented soap from Mama Bear a try. Sue started making it for one of her friends that was sensitive to additives.

Can you give us some details on what preparations you do prior to shaving? Proper prep is the better part of a good shave, so that's a good place to start looking for problems.

[Djehuty]

Saposcat, I haven't tried distilled water. Would it dramatically change things? It would certainly complicate the logistics of shaving, having to heat and transport the water between shower and shave. Also, Proraso has sandalwood, so I'm afraid that's out. I appreciate the suggestion, though.

PugslyCat, is the Mama Bear's soap significantly better? It's about ten times as expensive, so if all glycerin soaps are more or less the same, I'd be hesitant to pay so much more. I'm willing to try, though. As for preparation, I don't do anything in particular, unless one counts having just exited the shower. I've read mixed reviews for the various pre-shaves, and most of them have sandalwood or other chemicals, but if you have a suggestion I'm listening.

[Saposcat]

Sorry, I don't have any firsthand experience, but I have read in several different places that using distilled water will help if you have hard water. One way or another, you want to make sure you have a good lather or you're more likely to have irritation. More product seems to be common advice.
Everyone seems to have something different that works for them. A towel soak works for a lot of people. After you've applied your lather, try a warm towel over it for about three minutes. Then put on a fresh lather and start from there. Splahing water between lathers might help, too.

[Go West Young Man]

If you're making lousy lather, you're going to get a lousy shave.
Try switching to a good brushless cream while you work out the other technique issues, remove one variable from the equation.

[ThePatrician]

Mr. Djehuty, I have something off-base for you. If you have sensitive skin, Proraso may not be your friend. Some swear by it, some swear at it. I have mildly sensitive skin, and Proraso lit me up like the Fourth of July.

If you have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's nearby, go and get a bar of Grandpa's Pine Tar soap. http://www.drugstore.com/grandpas-wo...9?catid=184086 It smells wonderful, but more to the point it is also a good cheap pre-shave. Although in truth, any quality glycerin or shea butter-based soap will work. Douse your face with hot water, lather it up, and rub it on your face while you are still in the shower. This is probably the cheapest and easiest pre-shave prep you can do. Trader Joe's also has a surprisingly good non-lathering brushless shave cream. It's about as mild as skim milk, and that may do the trick for you.

A big-name shave cream that gets a surprising amount of love is Barbasol. Most people agree that it is the only canned goo they would use. Well, they just released a shave cream in a tube that gets surprisingly good marks.

As for hard water, I left Poland at the beginning of June, and their water was so hard it stained the glass of my shower door. If you want to, you can buy bottled water just for shaving. A gallon jug of water should last a good long time.

[Mad Dog]

Your soap/lather combination is really not helping you here. Why not check out one of the fine B&B vendors on this site and get some samples of different product? That way, you can experiment with different types of lather and see how they perform, without a major investment. Garry's Sample Shop is a good place to start. Most of his samples are in the $1 - 2 range.

[Mike H]

... get a bar of Grandpa's Pine Tar soap. It smells wonderful...

Interesting observation.



Djehuty- I agree with the others, try working on your lather. Perhaps a new soap- Arko is cheap and lathers very well. Mash it into a cup and your good to go. Face lathering a stick may exasperate your skin sensitivity.

[Catfishmac]

I too have very sensitive skin and can't deal with a strong fragrance like sandalwood etc. I would recommend kiss my face shave gel( I like cool mint the best), Nivea sensitive skin aftershave balm and red personna blades. This combination works very well for me. I'm not familiar with your razor but the Gillette slim is what I would recommend. Good luck!

[Galengwath]

If you're making lousy lather, you're going to get a lousy shave.

This is entirely true. As others have mentioned there are many products that might work with your skin and allow you to build a proper lather. At present you're doing your face a disservice shaving with lather that won't protect your skin and allow your razor to glide.

[celestino]

Mike's Natural, Mystic Water, Mama Bears make great unscented soap.
You need to keep practicing your technique. Be patient.

[Djehuty]

Thanks for the advice, all. I'll give distilled water a shot -- I had been thinking of the difficulty in getting it heated, but it sounds as if room-temperature lather that works would be infinitely preferable to warm lather that doesn't. :) I'll also look into a different soap, and the samples program. But I really have a devil of a time finding products I can use, because of my allergies. Is there some way to find out for certain what ingredients are used in these products?

[ImTheGluestick]

I'll second the Kiss My Face suggestion for a couple of reasons:

1. It's cheap. Really cheap. $7 for a big pump.
2. It's versatile. Lathers up like a dream, but works well unlathered too. Really you can't go wrong.
3. Good for sensitive skin.

Caveat: I would reccomend the mint, lavender, or unscented. I've had some mild unpleasant tingling with the pomegranate.

[Uncle Brian]

You don't need to heat the water as I hear cold water shaving works just as well might even be better if you live in a very warm climate.
I have always considered my skin to be sensitive and I use Arko I think it helps protect the skin from the blade ... but as with all things in shaving YMMV

[ThomasB98908]

The problem most new DE shavers have is that "Applying too much pressure" habit they get from using the multiblade razors. My son was bad at that when he first started and was alway complaining about razor rash and bumps. He read in here somewhere about a pre-shave lotion (oil) that he would apply before applying the lather and it worked great for him, less or no irritation, bumps went away and he learned with time not to apply too much pressure. Good luck.

[Dusty1]

I'm going to go "against the grain" here (pun intended) and say your prep is good, and it sounds like you are not using too mutch pressure. I had the same problem and now I don't. My guess is the only thing you need is time. It took time for my face to get used to the DE and time for my technique to get better. How much time? That depends on the person but for me it took 6 months before my shaves were effortless and close with no irritation. Hang in there though, it was all worth it! Now my lady wants to learn the DE. Enjoy your shave!

[ackvil]

Welcome. Some good advice above.

One more suggestion: Try T&H Ultimate Comfort cream. It seems to be very helpful for those with sensitive skin. Also, another vote to try distilled water.

[Saposcat]

As celestion suggested, you might look at Mike's Naturals: http://www.mikesnaturalsoaps.com/Mik...s/Welcome.html He lists ingredients on the website and has an email contact on the site-they are handmade soaps and he could probably answer specific questions about ingredients.

This thred here lists ingredients from Proraso and Bigelow http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...w-formulations

If you do a search of threads here on B&B, there are several that discuss creams/soaps for sensitive skin-here's an example that includes a post from someone with allergies http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...sensitive+skin

[Djehuty]

Thanks, Saposcat. Those ingredient lists are helpful, especially since both products contain lanolin, and I'm allergic to wool. But they also point out the problem I have finding products I can use -- that one word, "fragrance," covers such a range of potential allergens. That's what I meant when I said I can never find the ingredients -- apologies for not specifying the sort of ingredients not listed on the label.