First Post and First Shave

Hello,

I have been reading, and watching videos, and today took on my first shave. There is definitely a lot of learning still to do on my part, but it was fun.

I have rather sensitive skin, getting razor burn no matter what type of razor I use. The weird thing was though that my cream kept drying on my face and I think this greatly added to my problems today. It's the first time I used C.O. Bigelow cream and just could not get a quality lather and am now truly paying the price...

Also I really struggled to get a good shave on the neck... All in all it's fun but punishing.

Thanks for all the info on this site...

There is a steep learning curve, and a lot of variables (water-to-soap ratio, lather quality, sharpness of razor, angle of contact, etc) to master. As others have written, you really want a foamy lather, akin to the thick foam on a capuccino, to get a good surface for shaving. As you will see, the neck area is pretty tricky.

One thing to try is to map out the hair grows - it's not all in one direction. Figure out what hair grows which way, and you'll have better success with your ATG pass.

Keep up the good work - you'll get there!

Hey, and welcome. I'm pretty new to the sport as well and I found that I got razor burn at first, but with technique that REALLY goes away. If you can get the angle of the blade so that the 'bevel' is flush with your face and use 0 pressure, burn will be a thing of the past. Also I found cream drying to fast too.... partly it was a problem with how slow I was going, which is a good thing when starting. My solutions: first use more water.... it's not going to be the same consistency as canned cream.... all you want is it not to drip, but to keep moisture on your face.... also I found lathering only part of my face (like left cheek first and shave, lather right cheek and shave, lather neck and shave, lather chin and shave) helps big time.... it's also nice to have some sort of scuttle so as you lather each part of your face, the lather is nice a creamy warm :)
Hope that helps.... remember, learn which direction the hair grows and make sure you follow that with the blade, and if hairs don't cut properly, don't push harder, change the direction you're going.... you're just trying to 'wipe' the cream off.... no more pressure than that!
Have fun!!!!

It's been said but I'll say it again. Angle and pressure. No pressure equals no burn. Good luck. Ed

As stated above, irritation will drop as technique increases. The neck is a tough area in general as there is usually some pretty irregular grain patterns there, not a lot of maneuvering space to adjust for this, and it's also not a very flat surface. Just keep shaving and you'll keep getting closer to a fully BBS shave. :beer1:

each person will learn the art of straight razor shaving at there on speed. it took me a while and am still learning. I have found that for me the aloe antiseptic lotion worked best for razor burn. I know it's primarily used for sun burn but it works for me for razor burn. welcome to the forum and the sport.