Thread: Face hurts when shaving with straight razor, resolved but more problems.

A little while ago I posted a new thread about my face/skin hurting while shaving:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ml#post1409081

I took on board what everyone said and I seem to have resolved the problem. Basically I shaved a few times with the straight razor but I only stropped it once. I checked out some videos and the advice given by one of them was to "use the ear as a guide". I was trying to get the same sound on the video as when I was doing my strop. I stropped for about 25 times, lathered my face and started shaving. To my relief my face was no longer hurting so I can only think that it was not enough stropping.

I am very new to the world of straight shaving and to be honest it's a lot harder than what I thought but having said that I do seem to be making some progress. I really want to stick at it because non straight razors are so rubbish I hate shaving with them. Straight razors though difficult to master do give me much better results and I find them very practical.

Before I shave I put warm water on my face, put shaving cream on and then I do the first shave. However after I've done the first shave I always do a second one and that's where my problems start. Shaving the first time round is ok but once that is finished the shaving cream is of course gone so I put water on my face again and re-lather. The second time though I find my skin is smooth but it has a lot of grip. I'm thinking the new grip is caused by the water. The first time the razor glides well but the second time is not so easy. I'm finding the razor is gripping on my skin even when there is hardly any hair and because I'm pulling I could very easily cut myself. I am thinking a pre shave oil might be a solution, any ideas?

Does a hot towel really help? I have a read a lot of material and it is often recommened that you put a hot towel on the face to soften the whiskers but I'm not really conviced it would help much. Besides, I don't have a special heater to heat the towel like they do in the barbers so the only thing I can think of is put hot water on the towel first and then put the towel on my face for a few minutes. Is that a good enough substitue? Will putting a hot towel really help much?

I don't think my razor is sharp enough because it's not giving me a close shave under my jaw. I must have dulled the blade while stropping previously. This leads me on to the next problem, how do I ensure I don't dull the blade while stropping?

Also I keep getting different information on stropping. Some say 25 some say 50 and some say even more than that so which was is the right amount to strop?

The last problem is after I have completed my shave my face gets very hot, sore, itchy and red. The obvious solution is an aftershave balm. I love Truefitt and Hill products so I am keen to buy one of their aftershave balms but is that the right solution? At the moment after shaving I'm just putting some basic moisturizing cream on but it's really doing a great job.

Any help would be much appreciated.

For the hot towel... years ago I used to take a towel, dunk it in water, remove excess water then slap it in the microwave ... it worked fine. It may have helped at the time, but I didn't keep doing it. I'm currently shaving with cold water and no prep, so YMMV

For the dulling while stropping, it's mostly about pressure. You shouldn't put much pressure on the blade, and if any it should be on the spine instead of the edge.

The redness/itchiness could be because your skin isn't yet used to be scraped with a large blade. It could also be that the bevel isn't smooth/polished enough.

Same as MichelP when it comes to preping for a shave, none just cold water splash. lather up and shave. Prepping did not really seem to do much for me so I stopped doing it.

The redness/itching could be the result of too much pressure on the blade too. You should not be attempting to remove all the stubble on the first pass by pressing on the blade. It is stubble reduction over a number of passes. That is in addition to or in combination with your face not being accustomed to shaving with a straight and an edge that could be a little off due to bad stropping. It can be hard to figure the culprit/culprits. Aftershave Balm is not really a solution but just first aid for damaged skin but it sure helps you get through it.

Are you making a lather by using a brush or are you using a brushless shave cream?

Stropping properly is not as easy as it looks. The blade's edge and spine should be the only parts of the blade in contact with the strop while making a stroke with light pressure on a strop that you have pulled comfortably tight. No reason to strain trying to get every last bit of slack out. Check out a few you tube vids on stropping. You can also practice with something like a butter knife also to help get the stroke down.

The right number of strokes to using is whatever works for you, there is no written in stone number. Personally I do 10-20 on linen and the about 60 on leather before a shave. After I am finished shaving and drying my razor, I give it 10 strokes om felt just to make sure the bevel is dry.

Bob

If you suspect your razor isn't sharp enough it probably isn't. You are in the UK I see. There's a very good bloke there, Neil Miller, who's forgotten more about razors than most of us know about them. I'm not sure of his time-availability but you could try contacting him about honing your blade. It would be one less variable to worry about.

Do you know if you have sensitive skin? Some creams and soaps set mine off on occasion and the fragrance in some aftershaves/balms do the same. For me it seems to be related to weather conditions (spring is probably the worst) as well. I've found the Truefitt and Hill Ultimate Comfort is good, as is the Martin De Candre Sans Parfum. Normal old witchhazel as an aftershave works well for me too.

Anyway, sensitive skin might not be a thing for you, but you are definitely irritating it. I'd see if you cannot get that razor pro-honed by Neil and see if that helps.

Good luck,

James.

You say on the second pass (second shave) the razor is gripping on your skin. I would bet that what's happening here is that you're loosing 'glide'. The purpose of lather is to soften the whiskers, but also very much to provide cushion (via the tiny bubbles) and glide (lubrication for the blade to glide across the skin). The correct amount of water in the lather allows for glide. A 'gluggy' lather (too little water) causes the razor to get 'stuck' on the skin (it can dig in, too).

I'm pretty sure what's happening is your lather is drying out between passes. You probably take a reasonably long time to shave at this stage as a you're new to it all. there's nothing wrong with taking your time of course. For me, it takes me ten minutes total including making the lather, stropping, shaving, stropping post lather and cleanup; you would likely take longer.

Even though I can do a single pass (as indicated above) in ten minutes, if I'm doing two passes (which is quite rare for me) I add water to the lather mix to weaken it a little. I think this is really important especially for that ATG pass. Also, often, after applying lather to my face for the FIRST pass and then stropping (30/70) while the lather sits on my face I'll often dip the brush in water and go over my lather again; as it may have dried just a little on my face.

In essence, you need to ensure your lather has enough water in it. Not TOO much or else you loose cushion, but enough to provide glide.