Just passing on a simple solution here to a nagging problem I've had, for what it's worth to other new DE shavers like me. This may be obvious to everybody, so bear with me.
I face-lather with triple-milled cake soaps or shave sticks, and tend to prefer a relatively firm brush for doing this (like a Simpson PJ2). If I get too aggressive with my face-lathering, I end up with something like sunburn on my upper cheekbones an hour or two after I shave. Embarrassing, and a little tender and painful until the next day. Yes, shaving brushes DO exfoliate!
Even with a soft, luxurious brush like a Kent BK4, I could still get traces of burn if I wasn't careful. Really frustrating.
I've been experimenting with my shaving brush strokes, especially since trying shave sticks, which require a bit more face lathering time on the initial pass. I switched to a "painting" motion rather than a circular scrubbing motion early on, and still got burn.
I've learned that in my case, my problem was using up-and-down painting strokes with the brush on my cheeks. Since my cheekbones are pretty prominent, they were making an "edge" for the brush on the up-and-down strokes. I was trying to avoid lathering my goatee with a side-to-side motion, from my ear to my chin.
Since switching from an up-and-down stroke to a diagonal stroke from my ear to my chin, lathering my goatee even though I don't shave it, has eliminated the burn on my cheeks. No "sharp" edges like my jutting cheekbones on the up-and-down strokes I was using, just nice linear strokes from ear to chin, getting about as aggressive as I want, and getting great lather. I always used a similar side-to-side painting stroke on my neck, and never had a problem with brush burn. Now I know why. It never occurred to me to use the same motion on my cheeks. A little messier, but worth it.
Anyhow, may be useful to somebody else to try.
I face-lather with triple-milled cake soaps or shave sticks, and tend to prefer a relatively firm brush for doing this (like a Simpson PJ2). If I get too aggressive with my face-lathering, I end up with something like sunburn on my upper cheekbones an hour or two after I shave. Embarrassing, and a little tender and painful until the next day. Yes, shaving brushes DO exfoliate!
Even with a soft, luxurious brush like a Kent BK4, I could still get traces of burn if I wasn't careful. Really frustrating.
I've been experimenting with my shaving brush strokes, especially since trying shave sticks, which require a bit more face lathering time on the initial pass. I switched to a "painting" motion rather than a circular scrubbing motion early on, and still got burn.
I've learned that in my case, my problem was using up-and-down painting strokes with the brush on my cheeks. Since my cheekbones are pretty prominent, they were making an "edge" for the brush on the up-and-down strokes. I was trying to avoid lathering my goatee with a side-to-side motion, from my ear to my chin.
Since switching from an up-and-down stroke to a diagonal stroke from my ear to my chin, lathering my goatee even though I don't shave it, has eliminated the burn on my cheeks. No "sharp" edges like my jutting cheekbones on the up-and-down strokes I was using, just nice linear strokes from ear to chin, getting about as aggressive as I want, and getting great lather. I always used a similar side-to-side painting stroke on my neck, and never had a problem with brush burn. Now I know why. It never occurred to me to use the same motion on my cheeks. A little messier, but worth it.
Anyhow, may be useful to somebody else to try.
