New to wet shaving - Desperately need help.

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Hello everybody,

Firstly, Happy New Year to one and all.

Now down to business.

For the past decade, I have sported a beard, in varying lengths and styles, from cropped and shaped 90’s style ‘sex beards’ all the way up to those worn by ZZ Top roadies.

However, I have recently changed sections at work and the new rules regarding PPE / Masks / Breathing Apparatus is that you must be clean shaven.

I am now shaving daily but am having a terrible time.
I have extremely sensitive skin, like tissue paper but my beard is as tough as the gates of Hell.
Every shave ends with cuts, nicks and weepers as well as torn-up skin, razor burn and shaving rash that has to be seen to be believed.

To give some context as to my method -

Pre-shave:
- Wash face in warm water. (I shave directly after a shower.)
- Cleanse face daily / exfoliate face 3 times per week.
- Pre-shave gel, (Castle Forbes) or cream, (Proraso) I have tried pre-shave oil (Captain Fawcett) but it left an oily residue on the brush, razor, blade and sink.

Shave:
- Soak synthetic brush (Simpson) in warm water.
- Apply shaving cream, (Capt. Fawcett) directly to brush / or bloom shaving soap (Geo. F. Trumper) and load the brush directly to the soap.
- Lather shaving cream in an apothecary mug.
- Apply lather to face - circular motions to build the lather and then painting strokes.
- Put new DE razor (Merkur, Muhle, Feather, Gillette, Voskhod, Personna.) into DE safety razor (Merkur, Muhle, Gillette, Executive Shaving.) NB: I only use the same blade no more than 3 times.
- 1st pass - With the grain. (Always shave at 30 degrees to face using soft, slow and short strokes.
- Rinse off lather in warm water and reapply pre-shave and lather.
- 2nd pass - Across the grain.
- Rinse off lather in warm water.

Post shave:
- Rinse face with cold water.
- Rub Alum block over face and rinse off in cold water after a minute.
- Apply alcohol-free Witch hazel toner. (Thayers.)
- Apply alcohol-free aftershave balm. (Taylor of Old Bond Street.)

I have only had two good shaves.

First:
Pre-shave: Proraso.
Razor: Merkur Progress 500 on setting No. 3
Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Super Stainless
Post shave: The Scottish Fine Soaps Company.

Second:
Pre-shave: Executive Shaving.
Razor: Merkur Futur 700 on setting No. 2.5
Blade: Feather.
Post shave: Executive Shaving.

Still lots of cuts but the least amount of irritations.

I am open to any and all advice.

Thank you in advance.

PS: My apologies for the lengthy message.

 

[silverlifter]

Welcome to B&B!

It sounds like you are doing most things right. I'd make two observations: one, it takes a while to get the hang of wet shaving, so don't beat yourself up about not nailing it straight out of the gate.

And two, neither of the soaps/creams you mention inspire much confidence. There are a lot better options out there, and not necessarily for more money. I'd start by trying a better soap/cream.

 

[Rhody]

Welcome
My only other suggestion is to adjust your pressure. You didn’t mention that. I’d go way way lighter on the touch.

 

[m949]

Skip the alum and choose a different aftershave.

You don’t need alum + witch hazel. I’d stick with witch hazel only. If you have an aftershave which already contains witch hazel, you don’t need to apply Thayers.

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Hello Silver Lifter.

Thank you so much for the reply, welcome and the advice, all greatly appreciated.

I agree with both of the points you have raised.

I have not shaved in 10 years and have only just gone back into shaving in the past few weeks, just getting frustrated with the constant bleeding and shaving rash.

The shaving cream by Capt. Fawcett is alright. It lathers well but I feel that it could be thicker.
The shaving soap by Geo. F. Trumper is terrible. It lathers up a lot, to the point of spilling out of the shaving mug but it is all foam, even after building a lather for over 3 minutes. It disintegrates on my face before I can shave.

Do you have any suggestions for brands to try?
Is shaving cream or soap better?

Thanks again.

 

[silverlifter]

You want slickness over all else. Cream or a puck doesn't really matter. Are you in the UK?

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Welcome
My only other suggestion is to adjust your pressure. You didn’t mention that. I’d go way way lighter on the touch.

Hello Rhody,

Thank you for the reply, welcome and advice, all appreciated.

I am learning the hard way that pressure is crucial.
My first shave was horrendous.
I shaved off more skin than beard.

I will continue to work on the pressure.
Less is more…

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

You want slickness over all else. Cream or a puck doesn't really matter. Are you in the UK?

By slickness, do you mean thickness of the lather or the ability to help the razor glide over your face?

I can see from your profile that you are in Aotearoa.
I live in NZ’s hotter neighbour to the north west, the magical land of Oz.

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Skip the alum and choose a different aftershave.

You don’t need alum + witch hazel. I’d stick with witch hazel only. If you have an aftershave which already contains witch hazel, you don’t need to apply Thayers.

Hello M949,

Thank you so much for this advice.

Is the Alum block / Witch hazel toner / After shave balm all overkill when used together?

Ie: If I use a aftershave lotion or balm with Witch hazel in it, that should suffice?
Or failing that, just the Witch hazel and then an After shave balm?

Thanks again, really appreciative of this.

 

[Phil Harmonica]

Sounds like you have all of the proper hardware/software. Practice makes perfect.

Great lather is 50% of the shave.

How to make great lather from a soap ~ Tutorial

The following is a guide and suggestions for the foundation for a great lather. This tutorial was developed by a group of B&B members in collaboration. A team of struggling new wetshavers worked with more experienced members to learn how to make great lathers with a variety of soaps. They...

www.badgerandblade.com

The other 50% is tecnique. Try doing a WTG only (one or two passes) shave for a few days and get back to us with the results.

 

[Rhody]

Slick and cushion from a good cream like Palmolive, captains choice or salter. Maybe face later at first too (with a cream)

 

[Phil Harmonica]

Listen to me! Do not buy anything else! This is shaving, not "Rocket Science"!

 

[Rhody]

Listen to me! Do not buy anything else! This is shaving, not "Rocket Science"!

Now you tell us!

 

[m949]

Hello M949,

Thank you so much for this advice.

Is the Alum block / Witch hazel toner / After shave balm all overkill when used together?

Ie: If I use a aftershave lotion or balm with Witch hazel in it, that should suffice?
Or failing that, just the Witch hazel and then an After shave balm?

Thanks again, really appreciative of this.

Both alum and witch hazel are astringents. So their effects are similar.

I would go with a strategy of elimination, basically removing variables that can cause irritation. Both witch hazel and alum can cause post shave irritation. For myself, alum can be quite irritating, especially if it sits too long on the face. Witch hazel a bit less, but I can tolerate it better.

The alcohol free aftershave balm from TOBS is also causing irritation for me. I had a sample of Royal Forest, but it lights me up like a Christmas tree.

If you use a physical exfoliating face wash, remove it from your routine. Shaving itself is very exfoliating, starting with the brush.

Also, lanolin containing soaps might not agree with you. Although this is less common, some people are sensitive towards lanolin.

Other than that, good pre-shave prep, a very light touch, and minimal blade contact (no buffing, no shaving over unlathered areas, and stopping the shave when all passes are done), should help in reducing post shave irritation.

 

[Phil Harmonica]

Now you tell us!

Wet shaving will save you money, but only if you cut up your credit card!

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Sounds like you have all of the proper hardware/software. Practice makes perfect.

Great lather is 50% of the shave.

How to make great lather from a soap ~ Tutorial

The following is a guide and suggestions for the foundation for a great lather. This tutorial was developed by a group of B&B members in collaboration. A team of struggling new wetshavers worked with more experienced members to learn how to make great lathers with a variety of soaps. They...

www.badgerandblade.com

The other 50% is tecnique. Try doing a WTG only (one or two passes) shave for a few days and get back to us with the results.

Great advice, Phil Harmonica.

All makes perfect sense.

Improve the lather and the technique, as I am currently horrendous at both.

My lather is runny and thin.
My technique leaves my face looking like a roo after it gets hit by a road-train.

PS: Thank you so much for the thread about building a lather. That was a great bit of help.

 

[Phil Harmonica]

Okay mate,

I'm outa here. I've been wet shaving for sixty-two years. You can either listen to me or you can listen to all of the bullfeathers to follow. Your choice. May all of your shaves be close & comfortable.

Cheers

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Wet shaving will save you money, but only if you cut up your credit card!

Amen to that one.

 

[JoWolf]

Hello everybody,

Firstly, Happy New Year to one and all.

Now down to business.

For the past decade, I have sported a beard, in varying lengths and styles, from cropped and shaped 90’s style ‘sex beards’ all the way up to those worn by ZZ Top roadies.

However, I have recently changed sections at work and the new rules regarding PPE / Masks / Breathing Apparatus is that you must be clean shaven.

I am now shaving daily but am having a terrible time.
I have extremely sensitive skin, like tissue paper but my beard is as tough as the gates of Hell.
Every shave ends with cuts, nicks and weepers as well as torn-up skin, razor burn and shaving rash that has to be seen to be believed.

To give some context as to my method -

Pre-shave:
- Wash face in warm water. (I shave directly after a shower.)
- Cleanse face daily / exfoliate face 3 times per week.
- Pre-shave gel, (Castle Forbes) or cream, (Proraso) I have tried pre-shave oil (Captain Fawcett) but it left an oily residue on the brush, razor, blade and sink.

Shave:
- Soak synthetic brush (Simpson) in warm water.
- Apply shaving cream, (Capt. Fawcett) directly to brush / or bloom shaving soap (Geo. F. Trumper) and load the brush directly to the soap.
- Lather shaving cream in an apothecary mug.
- Apply lather to face - circular motions to build the lather and then painting strokes.
- Put new DE razor (Merkur, Muhle, Feather, Gillette, Voskhod, Personna.) into DE safety razor (Merkur, Muhle, Gillette, Executive Shaving.) NB: I only use the same blade no more than 3 times.
- 1st pass - With the grain. (Always shave at 30 degrees to face using soft, slow and short strokes.
- Rinse off lather in warm water and reapply pre-shave and lather.
- 2nd pass - Across the grain.
- Rinse off lather in warm water.

Post shave:
- Rinse face with cold water.
- Rub Alum block over face and rinse off in cold water after a minute.
- Apply alcohol-free Witch hazel toner. (Thayers.)
- Apply alcohol-free aftershave balm. (Taylor of Old Bond Street.)

I have only had two good shaves.

First:
Pre-shave: Proraso.
Razor: Merkur Progress 500 on setting No. 3
Blade: Gillette 7 O’clock Super Stainless
Post shave: The Scottish Fine Soaps Company.

Second:
Pre-shave: Executive Shaving.
Razor: Merkur Futur 700 on setting No. 2.5
Blade: Feather.
Post shave: Executive Shaving.

Still lots of cuts but the least amount of irritations.

I am open to any and all advice.

Thank you in advance.

PS: My apologies for the lengthy message.

Sometimes reviewing wet shave fundamentals may help. The excellent thread below is a good review where you may find answers and suggestions to your shave difficulties.

The Wanderer's Guide To DE Shaving

Part One I was self taught with a DE razor 25 years ago, and had to figure out a lot of things the hard way. I learned a lot of things over the years, but wish there had been an experienced DE shaver who could have taught me the basics early on. This guide is offered so that you can get to...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[ScruffyLooking NerfHerder]

Okay mate,

I'm outa here. I've been wet shaving for sixty-two years. You can either listen to me or you can listen to all of the bullfeathers to follow. Your choice. May all of your shaves be close & comfortable.

Cheers

Cheers mate.

All solid advice from you, appreciate it all.

Will definitely try your suggestion of 1 or 2 passes only and both WTG.
I’ll let you know how that goes.

The main irritation comes from the 2nd pass when I shave XTG.

Have tried a 3-pass shave on a couple of occasions but it has always ended in tears (and lots of blood…)
1st WTG
2nd XTG
3rd ATG