Painful razor burns

Im sorry for your razor burn and cuts but you have a pair of BALLS to use Feathers for your first DE shave!this is braveness and not to stand in front of a bull ,man!
Merkur blades arent as sharp as the Feathers but arent as good as Israeli Personas or Gillettes Swedes,but you have to try the all before you select the right one for you.
Use Aloe Vera gel as an aftershave for the first weeks,it would help you to reduce the razor burn.
and as said here before ALMOST NO PRESSURE,just enough to handle the DE!
when you master your tecnique you are gonna love it!
Patience is the key.

natetuly said:

Well, if you have it too steep it will sound like you are cutting hairs, but could actually be scraping off skin too. Alas razor burn.

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The next time i will be very gentle, and use a less steep angle, ans se if it still cuts hair. I will let it take it's time and really be patient. I guess i could have been using a too steep angle. Thanks for the tip!

Teiste said:

Im sorry for your razor burn and cuts but you have a pair of BALLS to use Feathers for your first DE shave!this is braveness and not to stand in front of a bull ,man!
Merkur blades arent as sharp as the Feathers but arent as good as Israeli Personas or Gillettes Swedes,but you have to try the all before you select the right one for you.
Use Aloe Vera gel as an aftershave for the first weeks,it would help you to reduce the razor burn.
and as said here before ALMOST NO PRESSURE,just enough to handle the DE!
when you master your tecnique you are gonna love it!
Patience is the key.

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Hehe... I just thought the sharper the better.

The soap contains aloe vera, so i got that covered.
I got a good aftershave today. Nivea sensitive after shave balm. No alcohol.

I live in Sweden, and good blades are hard to come by. I could order online, but then there is shipping costs etc, so i will wait a little and give the merkur blade a try.

Carolus said:

Hi,

I just started shaving with a DE razor, and i get really nasty razor burn. ... But please, give me advice and tips!

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I see that you are new at DE shaving. I have been DE shaving for about a year, and have had good and bad shaves. I would not add any more pressure than what I felt was necessary to my razor to cut my whiskers. I would also try to use the bottom 2/3 of the handle so that only the weight of the razor would do the cutting. I'm using the Merkur 38C razor. I could not understand why I wasn't getting good shaves all the time. I also always had razor burn to some extent and would get weepers. So, I did more reading and changed a few things, and I got the smooth shave without weepers and razor burn.

In doing more B&B reading, it is suggested to hold the razor at its balance point or just above the balance point.

Change (1): I changed the hold of my razor from the lower part and middle part of my handle to right near the head of the razor. I'm now using only the top 1/3 of the handle, but as I have stated, I usually hold the handle of the razor right near the head of the razor.

In doing more B&B reading, the members that use the face lathering talk about the better prep of the face with the face lathering process; also the benefit of not needing as much stuff and not having as much to clean up. Some have stated that they also get better shaves before showering.

Change (2): I went to face lathering. I'm prepping my face while lathering and not just putting on the lather from a bowl. I face lather only, and I don't do any other pre-shave prep like showering, using a pre-shave oil, etc.

Any brush will do, but I like a shorter loft which makes the brush a little more stiff but still soft and I like the smaller knot size of a 20 mm. This type of brush lets me do lots of smaller rotations on my face for the prep. I have a 22 mm brush with a longer loft, but I definitely like the smaller one better for this process. I use boiling hot water every time that I shave. Because I am concerned about the glue knot and the handle material, I do not let my brush sit and soak in boiling hot water. What I do is dip the brush hairs into the boiling hot water four or five times, but only up to the handle (not letting the handle enter the boiling water). The brush takes up more than enough water for me to use. I even have to flick out the excess water. I have two badger brushes that have seen this type of use and I have seen no damage to my brushes. If I need more water while face lathering, I dip only the tip of my brush into the boiling hot water and continue face lathering.

In doing more of B&B reading, the members that use Feathers stated that they get no razor burn and no irritation when they use these blades. The reason is because they are sharper and you can do less passes and therefore one does not get the irritation to the skin. The benefit for the sharper blade is to the person with a heavy beard, course beard, light beard, and even those with sensitive skin.

Change (3): I went to using the sharpest razor blades that I could find. At this time I am using Feathers. I do not use long shaving strokes but small strokes (half inch to one inch strokes) in multiple succession.

I only need to do two passes: one WTG and one ATG, with a slight clean-up on right jaw area. I have been able to get Feathers for about $0.33 on ebay (depending on how many are bought at one time), or there is a member here on B&B that sells them for about $0.25 (I believe his name is Pauldog). If I do get a weeper from a Feather, it seems healed for my next days shave without causing a problem for the new shave.

In doing more B&B reading, some B&B members state that hand stropping gives their blades longevity and keeps the blade sharp for many shaves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogq4wfpT7hc&feature=channel_page

Change (4): I hand strop my blade prior to using a new blade. If I am going to use the blade again after shaving with it, I strop it after I shave to prepare it for the next shave.

Since the blade is out of the razor because I have just stropped it, I take a few seconds to clean the head of the razor by using a tooth brush. I always have a clean razor for my next shave.

I hope this information helps you in your wet shaving experience.

+1 with Dan on technique change.

Patience, prep and short strokes with zero pressure were the biggest change for me. Patience... not to simply go slowly but to not repeat an area without prepping it again.

My blading consists of 2 passes and some buffing.

* Skin food right out of the shower. I've tried shave and preshave oils and like the glycerin feel of skin food better.

*I lather between passes and lately found that adding a drop of tea tree oil to the blade (each side) before the pass has reduce irritation and helped recovery. ~~ I've recently switched from Trumpers Violet to Pre Provence Shea Butter Cream and have visibly less irritation during the shave. Finding your cream or soap seems critical.

* Rinse Hot water then Cold water then Skin Food ( or balm A.S.)

* Moisturize/spf before leaving the house.

I also never use the same blade twice. Probably wasteful but it works for me and is still much less money than cartridges.

Good Luck and stick with it!

Hi,

I tried shaving today, and i got to admit that it went better this time!

Less blood and irritation. I rinsed the razor in cold water instead of warm, and tried to be as light handed as i could. It went pretty well i think.

I even used the feather blade!

I think i'm on track now.