Your face and getting "used" to shaving

Because shaving was a chore for me previously with cartridge razors and/or electric razors, I shaved infrequently.

Now I have been shaving every day for about a week with my new DE safety razors. I'm still honing my technique but I just wondered if it's true that your face has to get "used" to shaving with a particular method?

I've always had trouble with my neck area with razor burn and ingrown hairs. I've been going lightly on that area with the DE razors with only one or two passes. I'm eager to see that area of my face clear up and quickly...

Naw, just look for good aftershave products like Nivea sensitive etc.

Yes and no. Mostly your technique gets better and you make fewer mistakes, giving your skin a better chance to heal up in between shaves. But there is some scientific evidence that shaving promotes collagen, which can act like a layer of padding under your skin.

As your technique improves, and as your skin becomes more accustomed to wet shaving, your shaves will continue to get better & better. Additionally you'll find razor and blade combinations that make it even better still.

amazingly enough I asked this same question months ago. I guess its a common noob question. The answer is yes! My 2nd week of traditional shaving, I went 7 days full on with Feather blades on my Merkur 34C razor.. First two days I got irritated and my neck area (my most sensitive spot) felt a bit raw.. I pressed on and by day 5 my neck and face were irritation free and by day 7, I was cruising that blade. I noticed also that when my face adapted, I was able to shave quicker cause my hand got used to my way of holding the razor and it was simple muscle memory the rest of the way. Now I don't shave every single day.. Only 3 times a week. but my face is still tough!

My neck is getting better and better, I dont have usual irritations that I have with other razors. I'm still using wilkinson sword classic razor, but my new parker 24c comes this weekend so it should get onyl better.

+1 for this. Seems to me that hardest part of shaving on one's face would be too steep an angle. With that, you are more scraping than slicing whiskers. So with proper angle, I think shaving does not take a lot of "getting used to."

mblakele said:

Yes and no. Mostly your technique gets better and you make fewer mistakes, giving your skin a better chance to heal up in between shaves. But there is some scientific evidence that shaving promotes collagen, which can act like a layer of padding under your skin.

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I am also concerned by this questioning, and if I may reformulate the question, would it be preferable during the first weeks to:
- EITHER reduce the frequency of shave to allow the skin to “rest” (if it is ever to be true that skin must get used to wetshave)
- OR to shave as frequently as possible and at least every day in order to enhance technique (if technique is really key to irritated skin, not the skin as such)?

Nooby yours

I've been WS for about 2 months or so. At first i would not dare to shave more than every other day given the level of irritation I was getting. I soon discovered that it was due to the blades I was using. As I started to navigate the blade selection and learned how to shave with a DE, the irritation and nicks reduced significantly.

My suggestion would be that if you have lots of irritation, don't make it worst by shaving again. Let your face rest at least a day and try again. Practice also makes a big difference...the more you shave the more you learn about your face. With that in mind, learn to map your face to identify sensitive areas and hair direction. I guess another thing that I had to learn is not to go for the BBS in your first shaves...it will lead to some irritation.

I know the OP is talking more about technique than product, but I would suggest to try other cream.soaps if what you are using is not compatible with your face. It happened to me with my first soap....great lather, but not very slick and thus caused irritation on multi-passes. I'm on my third option and I have found that it works great for me.

finally, the aftershave used also makes a huge difference on healing irritation. I have gone through three options, starting with my of the counter cream, a proraso balm, and now I'm using the Geo F. Trumpers skin food, and I can say that that AS really helps heal irritation from a bad shave, and hydrates your skin very well. I tried to stay away from product recommendations as YMMV, but the skin food I have to say it has made me enjoy more my shaves...shaving on a daily basis can be achieved for me now.

Hope that helps.

mblakele said:

Yes and no. Mostly your technique gets better and you make fewer mistakes, giving your skin a better chance to heal up in between shaves. But there is some scientific evidence that shaving promotes collagen, which can act like a layer of padding under your skin.

Click to expand...

That. I don't know of scientific evidence, but ime the skin does get used to shaving.
Of course, if you suffer from much irritation/razor burn/bumps/ingrown hair after a shave, you'd better let your skin heal for a couple of days.
If you wish to improve your technique, try using the razor without the blade with the usual caution: finding the correct angle, applying no pressure, not moving your wrist etc.

Edit: Welcome aboard!

Greetings Matt from a fellow newbie DE and brush shaver, and welcome to the B & B forum!

I’ll just share my own beginner’s experience for what it’s worth.


Following advice that I received from the folks here at B & B, I started out just shaving WTG and doing only one pass. This has helped me a lot in getting used to my DE razor; getting the correct blade angle and 'getting to know my face'. I am getting quite acceptable shaves this way and I am gradually getting more confidence with the DE razor. BTW - my neck area has always been a trouble spot for me too.


Thanks for your post and best of luck with your shaving progress.

Been at it for three months now and I would say that your skin does "get used to it" when I shaved with carts. I got terrible neck irritation and bumps. Now with DE I got that some at the beginning but now its down to just an occasional bump that is more likely due to missing a spot with AFTERSHAVE rather than irritation.

My Skin feels softer and more resilient that when I used carts. That is likely due to improved motorization and hydration from using pre-shave and post shave products, which I never did before. And just to satisfy my curiosity I went back and tried a cart. again using my DE pre and post shave as well as bush and lather. And while I got a good shave, the shave did not last anywhere nearly as long. The cart just doesn't cut the beard as closely as a DE razor and so the five o'clock shadow comes back faster.

As a side note the cart seemed to cause the post shave splash to burn more uniformly than the DE does, meaning it uniformly scraped off more skin I guess. And the neck area had hair left that you could feel right after shaving, whereas with my DE its BBS.

I think what happens is that your skin doesn't get used to it, it's that you become better at inflicting less damage on your skin as you practice and gain better technique and knowledge of your facial landscape.

I wore a beard for ten years before I started using a DE a little over a month ago. Any irritation I have received from a DE has been due to poor prep, less-than-optimum lather, or bad blade angle.

Now that I've been repeating the basics over and over for 30+ days, all aspects of my shaving has improved and I'm now getting an irritation free DFS every day. Even on my neck, which was major trouble for me, I seem to now have it covered.

What Atreyu was saying about muscle memory is correct too, it takes some time to know how to hold your razor as you tackle the trickier parts of your face, which for me is my jawline near my chin and either side of my adam's apple on my throat. Also, figuring out how to use the least amount of pressure possible took a little time and conscious effort but now, it's not so hard.

Just keep shaving and use common sense, if an area is prone to irritation, don't go overboard trying to get BBS there. Keep repeating the basics and it will all come together.

I strongly feel that your face gets used to wetshaving. My skin must be very tough by now; I only very seldom draw blood.

Welcome, Matt!
I'm not sure if the skin gets used to shaving, but your techinique will definitely improve with practice and with that shaves will improve.
I was wondering if you're using a shaving brush and cream/soap? Those traditional tools are much better than the stuff in a can I used to use, and treat my skin a lot better by not drying it out.

If you're skin is irritated and uncomfortable, skip a day shaving (or 2 if need be.) Further shaving over irritated skin will only lead to further irritation IMHO.

PMT said:

Naw, just look for good aftershave products like Nivea sensitive etc.

Click to expand...

+1
I really like Nivea Sensitive ASB. It really cools and calms things down quick! And, it's in stock in a couple of local stores.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for all the replies!

Here is how I solved irritation.

1. Stopped going against the grain (ATG). I only do WTG and XTG passes.
2. Use a preshave oil. I make my own from castor oil (2 parts) and olive oil (1 part) and optional essential oils for scents.
3. Nivea Aftershave Balm

The first time I shaved, my neck felt on fire afterwards. These two steps really solved it. Now I get great shaves, no nicks and very few weepers and no irritation.

I switched back to DE shaving over the Summer and yes, it definitely is technique combined with skin. I'm doing a pre-shave regimen I didn't use with my mach3. I'm also doing shorter strokes than I did with my mach3. But I think my skin has changed as well. It's softer, more elastic (fewer wrinkles) and even on my head where there's not much fat (although there will be those who disagree) the razor glides.