Thread: Face feels molested after/during shaving

Burt has covered almost everything how I would say it, but I would like to add a couple things:

Your brush- you said it felt prickly and hurt. To fix this, you might try getting some decently hot water and soaking it in there for about 5 minutes. I had a cheap brush that felt like that, but with the hot water treatment it felt great.

I have sensitive skin and coarse-ish beard hair, so I feel you pain. Seriously try out some different soaps/cremes. I went through 2 before I found a decent one that didn't irritate me. Also, make sure that you're making your lather properly. For soap, take your heat treated brush and squeeze out the excess water. Load it up with soap from the puck by pressing the brush into it and turning it back and forth. After you've got a goodly amount of soap on there (you'll learn the right amount after a few times), move it to a bowl. Add a teaspoon or so of water and whip the hell out of it. If it isn't making a nice foam, add a little more water and keep whipping. Your goal should be something akin to the barbasol type stuff. It's a really good idea to just practice making lather without shaving. Figure out what works and what doesn't.

Take care of your skin afterwards. It's a bitch in the beginning, but rub some rubbing alcohol on your face after you butcher it. I promise you'll want to punch a hole in the wall the first few times, but it makes a difference. It took me from getting serious razor burn and tons of beard zits to zero burn and zero zits (even on bad shaves). As an upside, it's a great way to find out when you have a good shave. When you're getting good, there will be no burn or sting whatsoever from the alcohol. After you've rubbed a sufficient amount in, it's a good idea to moisturize. I like the Loreal men's shaving lotion myself because it moisturizes really well and has sun protection, but any good facial moisturizer will work.

Good luck, and don't lose hope. It gets better, I promise!