Do I need more moisture?

I find my beard gets sore through out the day, is this lack of moisture??

I use GFT soap, Skin food and GFT moisturiser

Maybe. Or it could be residual irritation from the shave. I.e., because you are too aggressive in your technique, using dull blades, or you are allergic to your shaving products, etc.

It probably is the blade you are using. Are you using a Mercur blade? If you are I suggest you switch to a Derby or another blade. Every time I use a dull blade my beard is sore.

Cheers Pal, I do use Merker. I put a fresh one in last night and had a terrible shave!! lots of irritation, I had to slap on lots of cream to calm it down. I think you might be right with the blade idea, will get me some Derby's.

Merkur blades are just horrible. They're incredibly dull and cause a ton of burn and bumps. I'd switch them for another brand.


Derby blades hurt my face also, but not nearly as bad.

I think I will def change the blades, everyone is saying the merkur's are not that great, derby's seem to be the way to go. Have you guy's tried Feather?? what are your thoughts on these??

Feathers are less forgiving than other blades, but if you've got your technique down they can give a great shave.

In addition to the change of blade, you may also want to try a pre-shave option like kyle's prep method, cornhuskers, or oil (EVOO works really well).

In regards to feathers, they can be a great shave; however if you're not careful, they can also cause alot of nicks.

Try using your Skin Food as a pre-shave, and also in between each pass. Don't skimp on the cold water rinse, and then more skin food.

interesting, I was told the skin food can be used as a pre, but I never tried it thinking it was not very lubricating. Is this something you have tried??

Yes. I wasn't too sure at first, as it seemed to be a waste of this expensive stuff. But I think that it makes for a slicker shave, especially when applied in between passes.

Depending on what cream or soap I am using, the lather can deteriorate slightly on my brush while shaving (I don't use a mug). So with a layer of the skin food applied before each pass my face can be a little more forgiving of a weaker lather.

Took your advice and tried it, it did make for a better shave. I also tried taking my time and building a thicker, better lather (i use a bowl) it all made a huge difference! although I am still convinced the merkur blades are not for me (

You might also want to try the gillette 7oclock sharp edge blades. I tried some which came with a razor I just bought, and they're really smooth and very sharp. Made for an excellent shave!

I just oredered a pack of derbys, to try them out. Will see how I get on with them.

get a sampler pack of blades.

Ive used merkurs and they are so dull in my opinion.

Im a feather man myself but you do need to have good technique or a real mild shaver for starting out.

You can always get feathers and then they will fore you to have great technique if you have bad technique.

denboy said:

I just oredered a pack of derbys, to try them out. Will see how I get on with them.

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Don't forget to let us know how this truns out.

denboy said:

I just oredered a pack of derbys, to try them out. Will see how I get on with them.

Click to expand...

I came to this same conclusion . . . a fine mix of being sharp and lasting a fine few shaves.

Derby's are the way forward!! I have posted my results in another forum, but lets just say I can not begin to tell you how good the derby's are.