Well guys, it was my 8th shave i believe Just minutes ago, and I had horrible results. I thought it would be the best shave of my life, i soaked my brush and my new puck of Williams in water for about 20 minutes while i took a HOT shower. I got out, put and fresh Persona in the Merkur HD, and then started to make my lather. I start making the lather with Williams and think "Hey not too bad" but they I put it on my face and it is really airy and dry. so I add more water and more water and more water, Still seemed to be dry. So i mixed up some poraso and mixed ti with the williams and figured it would help it out. and it looked pretty good. That is until I started to shave. After one pass WTG my face was on FIRE!!!! I also cut myself about 5 or 6 times. I had to stop after one pass since i couldn't even lather up without pain on my face. Now I am sitting here with a tight feeling in my face, all red, and EXTREMELY sensitive skin. PLEASE HELP!
Horrible shave. PLEASE HELP ME!
- Thread starter matt0852
- Start date
Maybe it was the Williams. You said it was new, I take it you never used it before? A cold, wet washcloth may be of use to you right now, until the burning stops.
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- #3
Yes. I never used it but everyone seemed to like it a lot plus it's so cheap. Thanks I'll try that out. Should I stop using the Williams?
If you need cheap, a lot of folks swear by VDH.
Which is far superior to Williams!!
I am not a big fan of Williams. I don't like the Citronella smell, and it seems far less moisturizing, and cushioning than VDH.
I found that is was easier to learn with a shaving cream rather then the soap. Try picking up some inexpensive SC such as proraso. Don't be turned off by the menthol smell it will give you a nice cooling sensation and your face will not burn. I always thought that I has sensitive skin before I got my technique in order, my face used to burn for days after shaving with a mach 3.
Secondly when you are shaving pretend that you are explaining what you are doing to your friend. That helped me at the beginning because this will prevent you from deviating from what you read about and saw in the videos.
I also found that I get a much better shave by using a very sharp blade. Feathers, Yellow Gillette's or Astras are all a good choice. With a sharp blade you get better results by using less pressure and in less passes.
Secondly when you are shaving pretend that you are explaining what you are doing to your friend. That helped me at the beginning because this will prevent you from deviating from what you read about and saw in the videos.
I also found that I get a much better shave by using a very sharp blade. Feathers, Yellow Gillette's or Astras are all a good choice. With a sharp blade you get better results by using less pressure and in less passes.
I started out with Van Der Hagens Glycerine and love it. It is my go to soap. I bought one puck of Willams and that will be the only puck that I will ever buy. I found the Willams to be horrible.
You can get Van Der Hagen at Walmart, Walgreens and CVS so it is readily available.
Here is a link to thier website if you click on the where to buy it lists the stores that carry thier products http://vdhent.com/
If you want another cheap soap but hard to find I enjoy the Arko shave stick, some people do not like the smell but I enjoy it.
As far as healing your face some Witch Hazel and Aloe might help, and I would wait a few days before your next shave.
You can get Van Der Hagen at Walmart, Walgreens and CVS so it is readily available.
Here is a link to thier website if you click on the where to buy it lists the stores that carry thier products http://vdhent.com/
If you want another cheap soap but hard to find I enjoy the Arko shave stick, some people do not like the smell but I enjoy it.
As far as healing your face some Witch Hazel and Aloe might help, and I would wait a few days before your next shave.
Don't go Williams, it sucks! If you want cheap awesome soap go for Mama Bear Soap. Good Luck to you!
I started with Col. Conk and moved to Mama Bear's. In regards to soap, I have used both Williams and VDH with me being a fan of neither. The williams was too thin and the VDH dried my skin out for some reason.
Like what was previously said, your technique probably to fault. I started off at what I thought was a 30 degree angle when in fact it was more like a 50 degree angle. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong until I watched mantic's video's again. Flatter is better.
A couple of other things that may help.
- If you shave in the AM, wash your face at night (kiss my face olive oil soap works great) followed by a moisturizer
- Shower before you shave (don't wash your face)
- Do a search on B&B for Kyle's Prep
- Try a pre shave treatment, proraso or evoo
- Use a witch hazel with alcohol post shave
- Use a cold water rinse post shave
- Use a aftershave balm (no alcohol) post shave
Like what was previously said, your technique probably to fault. I started off at what I thought was a 30 degree angle when in fact it was more like a 50 degree angle. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong until I watched mantic's video's again. Flatter is better.
A couple of other things that may help.
- If you shave in the AM, wash your face at night (kiss my face olive oil soap works great) followed by a moisturizer
- Shower before you shave (don't wash your face)
- Do a search on B&B for Kyle's Prep
- Try a pre shave treatment, proraso or evoo
- Use a witch hazel with alcohol post shave
- Use a cold water rinse post shave
- Use a aftershave balm (no alcohol) post shave
+1 on the suggestions to try the Van Der Hagen. I use the glycerin, and that stuff seems to almost lather itself.
Don't listen to the Williams haters, the stuff hasn't been around since 1840 because it doesn't work, it just takes some extra skill to lather it correctly. Try the "Zach method" of lathering your puck of Williams - it just might be the help you need.
YMMV and all disclaimers apply!
Don't listen to the Williams haters, the stuff hasn't been around since 1840 because it doesn't work, it just takes some extra skill to lather it correctly. Try the "Zach method" of lathering your puck of Williams - it just might be the help you need.
YMMV and all disclaimers apply!
I find that the Col. Conk's lime soap gives a nich shave, and its a nice cheap soap that lasts and lasts. Any of the Conk's soaps work good.
Regards,
Paul
Regards,
Paul
"I thought it would be the best shave of my life". That might have been your down fall, sometimes when we get a little over confident, (trying for that BBS we might tend to push alittle harder) our shaves actually get worse, rather than better! Don't hate the William's, Good luck and Welcome!
I haven't experienced Williams so I can't comment. There might be something in Williams that doesn't agree with you. I would try to overcharge my brush to produce more lather and see how it works.
What kind of prep did you do?
Always remember, no pressure, let the blade work, not you and 30 degrees angle.
What kind of prep did you do?
Always remember, no pressure, let the blade work, not you and 30 degrees angle.
The blade you are using is a mild one. How many shaves do you have on the personna? I get about two good shaves on my red personna. YMMV.
Get some proraso green cream or CO Bigelow at a Bath and Body works mall store.
You may be pressing down too hard on the razor.
Also use a plain Witch Hazel aftershave splash from Whole Foods. Cheap AS for $11.
I had a facial fire in my first attempts at wet shaving and it was attributted to a Merkur razor blade which is very rough.
Layoff a day or so to heal.
Satch
Get some proraso green cream or CO Bigelow at a Bath and Body works mall store.
You may be pressing down too hard on the razor.
Also use a plain Witch Hazel aftershave splash from Whole Foods. Cheap AS for $11.
I had a facial fire in my first attempts at wet shaving and it was attributted to a Merkur razor blade which is very rough.
Layoff a day or so to heal.
Satch
Sorry to hear about your results, guy. Keep with it...
Does the scientist in you want to try again with the Williams but with a different blade?!
Does the scientist in you want to try again with the Williams but with a different blade?!
If you have extremely sensitive skin, I wouldn't suggest ever using proraso, as it will definitely cause a bit of menthol burn. Sounds to me like you ruined your mix by going from too dry, to eventually too wet. Then you saturated it with more cream to try and compensate for the amount of water.
I would suggest you focus on your lather building, or switch to face lathering with only mild creams.
- Thread starter
- #18
I have poraso and I got great shaves with it. But I was kind of itchy a couple hours after. So i wanted to switch it up and see how other stuff worked.
Steve P, I am really interested. I hear a lot of good stuff about feathers and Want to stry other blades.
Satch, It was a new Persona blade that is why I was hoping it would be a good shave. You know a nice sharp blade, but i also heard Personas were junk.
Luc, I took a nice Hot shower, while i wa sin there i washed my face which slack says you shouldn't do sop that might be a problem, then i got out and put some more hot water on then massaged the lathe rin and let it sit then shaved.
Kozak, I do have poraso actually and I like your idea of saying what I am doing, I used to do that with a lot of other stuff too. it really helped me there so I'll give it a shot.
Vitaman, I thought hat myself. I guess I was too cocky and thought nothing of it.
Also to everyone that suggested VDH I do have a puck but can't seem to get a good lather with that either. Any suggestions? Also does anyone know where I can get some good blades like feathers and 7 o'clocks? I hear good stuff about them. Also my angle, I seem to get varing results. I can't really tell when it's 30 i mees around with it until it cuts really. Thanks to every who posted I appreciate it and I will DEFFINATELY use the tips.
Steve P, I am really interested. I hear a lot of good stuff about feathers and Want to stry other blades.
Satch, It was a new Persona blade that is why I was hoping it would be a good shave. You know a nice sharp blade, but i also heard Personas were junk.
Luc, I took a nice Hot shower, while i wa sin there i washed my face which slack says you shouldn't do sop that might be a problem, then i got out and put some more hot water on then massaged the lathe rin and let it sit then shaved.
Kozak, I do have poraso actually and I like your idea of saying what I am doing, I used to do that with a lot of other stuff too. it really helped me there so I'll give it a shot.
Vitaman, I thought hat myself. I guess I was too cocky and thought nothing of it.
Also to everyone that suggested VDH I do have a puck but can't seem to get a good lather with that either. Any suggestions? Also does anyone know where I can get some good blades like feathers and 7 o'clocks? I hear good stuff about them. Also my angle, I seem to get varing results. I can't really tell when it's 30 i mees around with it until it cuts really. Thanks to every who posted I appreciate it and I will DEFFINATELY use the tips.
Best way I know of to learn how to make lather is to just spend some time making lather.
Pick a soap, and just make lather a bunch of time, don't shave with it, you're practicing making lather. Compare your best Proraso lather, especially the feel, and compare it with your VDH and Williams lathers.I found that I had a lot of trouble with Williams until I shifted from making the lather in the mug, to bowl lathering. What works best for me with Williams is to soak the brush and soap in the mug, while showering, then dumping the water out of the mug. After squeezing most of the water out of the brush (badger) 30 - 40 strokes with the brush on the softened soap gives me a pretty good load on the brush. Then I dump the water out of my lather bowl, which leaves a little bit of water in the bottom. Then it is just a matter of whipping up a lather in the bowl. I look for a lather that covers the bottom of the bowl so that the blue spots on the bottom are hidden and that forms soft peaks when the brush is lifted out of the bowl.
- Thread starter
- #20
Best way I know of to learn how to make lather is to just spend some time making lather.
I found that I had a lot of trouble with Williams until I shifted from making the lather in the mug, to bowl lathering. What works best for me with Williams is to soak the brush and soap in the mug, while showering, then dumping the water out of the mug. After squeezing most of the water out of the brush (badger) 30 - 40 strokes with the brush on the softened soap gives me a pretty good load on the brush. Then I dump the water out of my lather bowl, which leaves a little bit of water in the bottom. Then it is just a matter of whipping up a lather in the bowl. I look for a lather that covers the bottom of the bowl so that the blue spots on the bottom are hidden and that forms soft peaks when the brush is lifted out of the bowl.
Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to try it out.
