I think I know the answer but would like confirmation.

Today's shave left me ceeling a little harsh for a while afterwards. I got some goodies in the mail and tried three new things this morning. Thing 1 was a new strop. I went from the whipped dog poor man's strop to the SRD natural with the poly webbing. Thing two was an alum bloc. Usually just a cold and then aftershave or balm. Today was cold rinse then alum then aftershave. Thing three was a new aftershave. I was using the chiseled face midnight stag and today tried the Fine American blend.
What I believe has happened was that the new strop got a much better edge than I am acustomed too and my angle was not as good as I thought during the shave.:shrug:
Any thoughts, opinions, experiences, or theories are welcomed.

It could also be under stropping or poor stropping with the new strop. It could also be the lack of balm, which is a necessity for my face.

Did you rinse after the alum block? I get irritation if I apply alum and do not rinse a minute or two later.

Most likely answer is a bad angle however. Keep the spine close to your skin and shave are smooth. Hang it out there a bit and your scraping your face instead of shaving beard.

The strop was a tremendous help I am sure, along with the angle of the razor. When you are trying to find out what works best for you regarding prep I would only change one thing at a time until you find a set up that suits your face:)

could also be too much pressure, remember just enough to scrape off the lather.

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Originally Posted by JTmke

Did you rinse after the alum block? I get irritation if I apply alum and do not rinse a minute or two later.

Most likely answer is a bad angle however. Keep the spine close to your skin and shave are smooth. Hang it out there a bit and your scraping your face instead of shaving beard.

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The secod cold water rinse seems to be the ticket!