Awesome progress! Know that you can do an aftershave splash and follow it with a balm once it dries. I'd still apply the balm every shave until you get it mastered. I still prefer balms and use them 95% of the time myself.
Constant pain after shaving
- Thread starter Demidog
- Start date
Awesome progress! Know that you can do an aftershave splash and follow it with a balm once it dries. I'd still apply the balm every shave until you get it mastered. I still prefer balms and use them 95% of the time myself.
It's awesome when it works 
I am new myself and am glad to hear you got this working in the right direction. I can't explain how much I enjoy shaving now. Typically I skip 2 days a week just to give my face a rest and before off days, but shaving at night I have gone to daily as I enjoy it so much. Glad you found help on here. Good Luck!
For the immediate need, when I was experiencing the same thing, I used my mother's Avon Moisture Cream. I'd apply it after the shave and that night before going to bed.
Most irritation problems are corrected with experience. Just keep shaving and try different blades, and eventually a breakthrough will occur. You might experiment with an adjustable razor at different settings.
For lather you can always build it in a bowl then just use your fingers to paint it on.
Blades, neither Astra's nor Voskhod's work very well for me...
Simplify, use the same products day in and day out so you can remain focused on your technique.
dave
Blades, neither Astra's nor Voskhod's work very well for me...
Simplify, use the same products day in and day out so you can remain focused on your technique.
dave
Good to read you are getting somewhere, I too have very sensitive skin as a child I was told by Dr to stop using soap on my face this proved a problem growing up as my job required clean shaven. Canned glop was order of the day and carts over the years and with sensitive shave gloops I found I could get away with it.
Wind on a few years and I found DE and forgetting how sensitive my face was got myself some ToBS cream samplers, very very sore with the exception of jermyn st I had very sore skin which by the 2nd pass would be stinging whilst lathering up.
Now I remember I have sensitive skin, i then find this in my local ASDA (in the UK)
(Not sideways in real life..)
It lathers up well in the bowl smells ok and does not give my any stinging or soreness, I have also found that I can mix it with the ToBS creams at 50:50 ratio and get a pain free shave. I also found adding more water to improve slickness was a great help.
Next on the agenda was a soap i have tried Haslinger Schafmilch Rasierseife which turned out to be very good a little tingle on 3rd pass lather but nothing to cause major problems
I also got hold of a few vintage tech razors which are fantastic loaded with polsilver SI blades
Wind on a few years and I found DE and forgetting how sensitive my face was got myself some ToBS cream samplers, very very sore with the exception of jermyn st I had very sore skin which by the 2nd pass would be stinging whilst lathering up.
Now I remember I have sensitive skin, i then find this in my local ASDA (in the UK)
(Not sideways in real life..)
It lathers up well in the bowl smells ok and does not give my any stinging or soreness, I have also found that I can mix it with the ToBS creams at 50:50 ratio and get a pain free shave. I also found adding more water to improve slickness was a great help.
Next on the agenda was a soap i have tried Haslinger Schafmilch Rasierseife which turned out to be very good a little tingle on 3rd pass lather but nothing to cause major problems
I also got hold of a few vintage tech razors which are fantastic loaded with polsilver SI blades
I too was chasing BBS early on and doing some dry touch up passes. I had quite a bit of neck irritation. Things got better once I stopped that. Also, I seem to be a broken record with this, but don't work your lather too much. Mine was dry and it began to "snow" off my face before I could complete an entire pass. I saw even less irritation once I went for a more wet lather. Actually, I haven't had any neck irritation for a dozen or more shaves. I hope this might help you.
- Thread starter
- #48
Gentlemen,
I had what was probably the finest shave of my life today. It wasn't perfect but that's because I was bending the rules a little bit. I have to be honest in that I ordered a new razor, part of which arrived today, so I couldn't resist taking it for a spin. It feels like the razor head was made for my face however, and while I can't blame my old gear, I feel like this razor is miles ahead of my older one.
I also figured out a neat trick with my brush that makes face lathering much easier and not as painful as before. Consequently, I was able to get the best lather that I've had to date. The razor was gliding so smoothly and I had absolutely no burn or irritation while shaving.
I got overconfident and I decided to do an extra pass, and then I proceeded to go way overboard with touching up. As a result, I got really close to a BBS shave even though I wasn't quite aiming for it. I got carried away today but apart from changing up my razor head and doing an extra pass, I closely followed the advice outlined here, namely the following:
1.) Pay attention to the angle
2.) Zero pressure means zero pressure
3.) Do not make any dry passes or touch ups
4.) Stick to mostly going with the grain until I become an expert at it
There are still a few more suggestions that I can eventually try, but I'm pretty happy with my results today. Maybe I'll post a bit about my new razor in a more appropriate thread but otherwise, thanks again to everyone for all of the advice. Right after the shave, my face felt soft as silk and it was great.
Also please let me know if there's any way to keep from bumping a thread. I don't want to bother anyone with this thread anymore but I just wanted to post about my progress.
I had what was probably the finest shave of my life today. It wasn't perfect but that's because I was bending the rules a little bit. I have to be honest in that I ordered a new razor, part of which arrived today, so I couldn't resist taking it for a spin. It feels like the razor head was made for my face however, and while I can't blame my old gear, I feel like this razor is miles ahead of my older one.
I also figured out a neat trick with my brush that makes face lathering much easier and not as painful as before. Consequently, I was able to get the best lather that I've had to date. The razor was gliding so smoothly and I had absolutely no burn or irritation while shaving.
I got overconfident and I decided to do an extra pass, and then I proceeded to go way overboard with touching up. As a result, I got really close to a BBS shave even though I wasn't quite aiming for it. I got carried away today but apart from changing up my razor head and doing an extra pass, I closely followed the advice outlined here, namely the following:
1.) Pay attention to the angle
2.) Zero pressure means zero pressure
3.) Do not make any dry passes or touch ups
4.) Stick to mostly going with the grain until I become an expert at it
There are still a few more suggestions that I can eventually try, but I'm pretty happy with my results today. Maybe I'll post a bit about my new razor in a more appropriate thread but otherwise, thanks again to everyone for all of the advice. Right after the shave, my face felt soft as silk and it was great.
Also please let me know if there's any way to keep from bumping a thread. I don't want to bother anyone with this thread anymore but I just wanted to post about my progress.
I'm still following this thread to see your progress. Feel free to keep it going and be sure to post some pics of your new gear here.
- Thread starter
- #50
Thanks dfoulk. I should be getting the new handle tomorrow to complete the new razor and then I'll try posting some pictures. I'll also post about any new milestones that I reach. Thanks for your help in getting me to this point.
I've also been monitoring this thread and I'm happy to hear you're making great strides. Keep up the good work!
You're very welcome, the problems you were experiencing are actually quite common so it's not hard to diagnose. Everyone seems to make the same mistakes when they are learning. The hardest part is getting you to take my advice when everyone else is telling you something different. Now that you've got it figured out, just keep doing what you're doing now and after a little time muscle memory will take over and it'll become second nature. After a month or two you'll start getting perfect shaves every time without even thinking about it.
As far as buying new stuff goes, it's hard to resist the temptation as it's really fun to try new things. Do your best to not change much while you're learning so that you don't slow your progress. You're trying to develop muscle memory so something like changing to a razor that requires a different angle isn't allowing you to lock in the progress you've made. Once you get it down then it's easy to adjust to a new razor since you have that baseline locked in, before then switching things up hinders your progress. So if you want to switch to your new razor then make the switch and use that razor for the next month. Just don't keep going back and forth between razors. After you're getting great irritation free shaves consistently then feel free to try a lot of new things and change it up.
Plenty of good advice above - especially Jim's (Ackvil).
All I can think of to add is:
1. Use more product (shave cream) and make it wetter with more water so it's really slick. Apply lather to a wet face.
2. Bowl lather to give your face a rest.
3. Do a two pass shave at the most - WTG and then XTG.
4. Even then, just go WTG in your problem areas. I Don't do anything but two WTG below the jaw line. Above the jaw line gets WTG, XTG and ATG.
5. Aim for a comfortable shave. Don't worry about super close. That will come with time.
6. Witch Hazel after a shave works for me and then balm when it's dried.
7. My technique has improved a lot over time, but I have also graduated to milder razors too. Vintage Gillette Techs are cheap, nice to use and mild. Also look cool and should last forever if you look after them. I've got a 1961 Tech that I love. Also had a 1971 Tech that was the smoothest shaver I've ever come across (gave it to my brother).
8. Shaving at night when you are relaxed and have plenty of time helps. Also means if your face is a bit irritated, it's got all night to settle down.
Good luck mate. Take your time and keep working at it.
All I can think of to add is:
1. Use more product (shave cream) and make it wetter with more water so it's really slick. Apply lather to a wet face.
2. Bowl lather to give your face a rest.
3. Do a two pass shave at the most - WTG and then XTG.
4. Even then, just go WTG in your problem areas. I Don't do anything but two WTG below the jaw line. Above the jaw line gets WTG, XTG and ATG.
5. Aim for a comfortable shave. Don't worry about super close. That will come with time.
6. Witch Hazel after a shave works for me and then balm when it's dried.
7. My technique has improved a lot over time, but I have also graduated to milder razors too. Vintage Gillette Techs are cheap, nice to use and mild. Also look cool and should last forever if you look after them. I've got a 1961 Tech that I love. Also had a 1971 Tech that was the smoothest shaver I've ever come across (gave it to my brother).
8. Shaving at night when you are relaxed and have plenty of time helps. Also means if your face is a bit irritated, it's got all night to settle down.
Good luck mate. Take your time and keep working at it.
- Thread starter
- #54
I'm not sure what the rules are regarding necrobumping but I couldn't find any information in the Terms of Service or in the forum etiquette section. If it's frowned upon, then let me know and I won't bump old threads anymore.
I just had to conclude this thread on a positive note because after around 5 or 6 months, I have finally achieved a perfectly normal, completely comfortable shave. Surely a lot of factors have changed since I switched to safety razors: I've changed soaps, brushes, razors, aftershaves, and my technique has improved. However, the biggest change was finally finding the right blade for me.
I've been going through a huge array of blades in my sample pack for the past few months and I had some shaves that blew me away, but my shave today with an orange Asco Stainless Steel blade took the cake. This blade feels virtually identical to the Voskhod but I just happened to have the more exceptional shave today with the Asco. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this blade is for sale anywhere in the US but that's okay because Voskhods are sold everywhere and they are the Russian equivalent of this blade.
I still have a lot of blades left to test in my sample pack but I'm happy that I've finally stumbled upon something that works. I found my perfect brush a few months ago and I've been using some excellent soaps, so everything has come together very nicely. It feels good to finally have a normal shave for once and now I'm free to branch out and try lots of different things for fun because I can always fall back on my winning combination. Thanks to everyone for all of the advice both here and in other threads.
I just had to conclude this thread on a positive note because after around 5 or 6 months, I have finally achieved a perfectly normal, completely comfortable shave. Surely a lot of factors have changed since I switched to safety razors: I've changed soaps, brushes, razors, aftershaves, and my technique has improved. However, the biggest change was finally finding the right blade for me.
I've been going through a huge array of blades in my sample pack for the past few months and I had some shaves that blew me away, but my shave today with an orange Asco Stainless Steel blade took the cake. This blade feels virtually identical to the Voskhod but I just happened to have the more exceptional shave today with the Asco. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this blade is for sale anywhere in the US but that's okay because Voskhods are sold everywhere and they are the Russian equivalent of this blade.
I still have a lot of blades left to test in my sample pack but I'm happy that I've finally stumbled upon something that works. I found my perfect brush a few months ago and I've been using some excellent soaps, so everything has come together very nicely. It feels good to finally have a normal shave for once and now I'm free to branch out and try lots of different things for fun because I can always fall back on my winning combination. Thanks to everyone for all of the advice both here and in other threads.
Astra's are very sharp blades for anyone, especially beginner, I would recommend trying lots of different blade types (they are cheap) try the Lord's as they are not overly sharp, I shaved with an ASCO yesterday and it was great and yes, throw them away after each use. Leave 48 hours between shaves if possible, anymore often will irritate skin and probably result in a few tiny cuts that will never get a chance to heal.
Glad it all worked out! Took me a solid 6 months to get really comfortable with the whole wetshaving/DE process, you're in good company here
That was your problem right there. Whenever I read that or something similar I tell people to Do three WTG passes for the next few weeks and leave it at that. This gives your skin a chance to calm down. When it comes to the soap you use avoid anything with sandalwood in it as sandalwood is notorious for provoking adverse dermatological reactions.
- Thread starter
- #58
It might have been part of the problem but it wasn't the sole problem. I could do one WTG pass and I would still end up in pain. I have coarse hair and my skin seems to be sensitive to everything under the sun, so some degree of discomfort is always expected. There's a chance that I might also be reacting to something in the blades, even including the Asco that did wonders for me yesterday, but I'll get to the bottom of that soon.
For me, finding a comfortable blade was really the final piece of the puzzle. Once I iron out the source of my constant allergic reactions, I'll be even more golden. I haven't used any shaving soaps or aftershaves with sandalwood but last I heard, almost nothing made today contains actual sandalwood essential oils due to over-farming and thus a lack of availability.
It's the structure of the molecule I'm talking about not where the molecule comes from. Adverse reactions are just as easily caused by synthetic molecules as they be "natural" ones.
Personally I don't have a problem with necrobumping as sometimes it helps conclude or bring to the surface and otherwise interesting thread that has some great info in it for noobs like myself. That would otherwise miss it all.
Thanks for sharing how it turned out for you and how you solved the problem. Quite often you never hear the end of the story. Even if it's someone else that concludes it.
I stumbled across the Voskhod blades and love them. My irritation has dropped to almost zero and no weepers.
Also one thing I have never seen here yet is some tool saying .... did you use search or just google it will you. I got that a lot when I ran a coffee forum a while back.
