Thread: How to Resist the Urge to Shave

Originally Posted by jayb11175

Yeah, I guess I don't recall you saying what your shave prep is, but if you don't use a pre-shave product (i.e. oils, creams, moisturizers) you could just have dry skin and too little glide. Recipe for pain.

I personally use Prosoro "Green" pre-shave cream. I enjoy this product and noticed much smoother shaves after trying it. Some people don't like it from what I've heard because it uses menthol and eucalyptus and causes a tingling, cooling feeling, but that's one of the reasons I like it.

Also, make sure you are adding moisture and heat to your face and beard before shaving (either by a hot towel wrap for 15 to 20 min., or hot shower just before the shave). This is important cause it adds needed moisture to your hair and softens it up so the blade can glide through it with less pull.

Good luck, keep at it.

Yes I shower before I shave and use the Proraso Pre Shave with the green top. I use TOBS Sandalwood cream and a Dovo Best Quality 6/8. I get a good lather and don't think thats the issue. I then use Nivea Post Shave Balm for sensitive skin. Maybe my neck isn't meant to be shaved.

Originally Posted by jayb11175

Also, make sure you are adding moisture and heat to your face and beard before shaving (either by a hot towel wrap for 15 to 20 min., or hot shower just before the shave). This is important cause it adds needed moisture to your hair and softens it up so the blade can glide through it with less pull.

Good luck, keep at it.

Heat isn't necessary, nor is a shower before you shave. Cold shaving works just as well as long as you wash and your products and your application is good. Many people cold shave including my self. All this softening and opening and closing of pores stuff is an old wives tale. Wash your face to remove grease from hair and skin, in or out of the shower, hydrate with water (water and lather) shave. Heat can actually irritate sensitive skin so its best avoided if your skin is irritated already.

A shave stick is always good to add a bit more slip directly to your face. Arko is particularly good. Give it a try.

Enjoy

Try a cold shave as mentioned, I tried cold shaving, switched and haven't looked back.

When your healed up a bit, rinse your face well with very cold water. Then apply a first layer of lather. Once the lather is on, take your fingers and work the lather into your face and beard thoroughly. When you've done that, apply another good layer of lather. Now you're ready to shave.

Make sure you properly stretch your face, if you're not doing that now, look up the proper ways to stretch each part of your face as you shave. Stretching the skin is vital to getting solid contact between the blade and your face. It's a fundamental to a good shave.

Take your time, and your first pass should be WTG all over. For now, only do the one WTG pass on your neck, with very light pressure in the neck area.

Then, apply lather again, and do a XTG pass on your cheek area only. If your neck area is still fairly rough, use your old blade to tidy it up. You may want to use this for your first 20 or so shaves.

When I started, I got terrible redness and irritation on the right side of my neck, I backed way off on the pressure, and backed off even further on the pressure in my "danger" area, after awhile, I learned how not to get that.

And the cold water also went a long way to help reduce the irritation...hope this helps...

Thanks for all the advice! I will try a cold water shave after I am healed. I am thinking of giving myself a week or two off of shaving. Will that be enough time to heal my neck?

If it helps with the idea of "light touch," I've been trying to think of it this way: Just use the blade to gently wipe the lather from my face, and only go over everything _one_ time on a single pass: once the lather is off a patch of skin, that real estate is off limits until the next complete pass.

Originally Posted by Casey1991

Thanks for all the advice! I will try a cold water shave after I am healed. I am thinking of giving myself a week or two off of shaving. Will that be enough time to heal my neck?

Probably more than enough. Only you can tell...does your skin feel raw or does it feel normal?

Hi Casey,
I was recommended vitamin e cream by MickR, as it has healing properties, for a while I used a bit pre shave, mixed a bit into my lather and used it post shave.
Cold shaving might suit you, as may a different soap.
Have you mapped out the direction of growth for your neck, you will probably be surprised at the directions the hair grows in.
And as has been mentioned pressure and angle.

Lot of good advice. IME irritation is almost always a matter of too much pressure. Multiple pass shaving was something I learned on these forums. All of my 45 years of shaving before SRP I always tried to get it all in one pass. A few light passes to get the job done was what I learned here.

Matter of fact two passes with a touch up on the neck and chin is maximum for me or I still will get some irritation. Cold water shaving is my choice the past couple of years and I went from feeling I had to shave every day to allowing myself to shave every other day. So I'm shaving less and enjoying it more. Give yourself a break, take it easy and try lightning up on your passes.

Originally Posted by Casey1991

Thanks for all the advice! I will try a cold water shave after I am healed. I am thinking of giving myself a week or two off of shaving. Will that be enough time to heal my neck?

Great idea Casey, and while your having the break make sure that razor of yours gets sharpened, there may be someone locally from the forum who can help with that, and don't forget to practice making some lather. You'll be an expert in no time.

Another great idea while your hair grows would be to do a facial map. Map the way your hair grows. This will make it really easy to cut WTG and XTG etc.

http://www.enchanteonline.com/pages/...ttingforms.pdf

Enjoy