Thread: OMG! MY FACE IS ON FIRE!!!

So.... Here is what not to do. Nick yourself all over and irritate your skin real good shaving. Then, if it is not painful enough, splash some handfuls of aquavelva aftershave on your face! OMG! OUCH! I think there was a seen from the movie Home Alone to that point....

Anyway, this was my 3rd shave. My face was a little irritated from getting used to the 1st and 2nd shaves. I don't know what I did different, but I ended up nicking my face all up. My face was red, swollen, and scabby when I went into work and got lots of questions such as... " Geesh! What happened to your face!!!"

So, I didn't think I ws digging in with the point or anything. I stropped 30 times both canvas and leather. I had a great lather. Shaved after showering with lots of prep. Did everything I knew to do.

Can anyone tell me what I did wrong?

My Straight is off limits until I figure this out. I have to be in a wedding in the next few weeks.

Thanks for everyone's help!

if I had to guess I would say either to much pressure bad angles or you messed up you edge stropping.

How do you tell if the edge is messed up?

Originally Posted by summerj

How do you tell if the edge is messed up?

You could tell by looking under magnification but you need to know what a good edge looks like for comparison.

Originally Posted by summerj

How do you tell if the edge is messed up?

If the blade is shave worthy, it should be able to shave arm hair with the razor floating just above the skin (not touching the arm). You should hear "pinging" and see some hair falling onto the blade. If the blade can do this just a little bit (but along all parts of the edge), it should be fine for shaving. Otherwise, you probably rolled the edge with improper stropping technique.


-Chief

Didn't notice in any posts, but was the razor professionally honed to start with? Good luck with future shaves but don't give up.

Thanks for everyone's help. I am currently letting my face rest. I will try my hand again after a friend's wedding next weekend. That will give me lots of time to watch some videos, check that I haven't damaged the razor stropping and look into all the suggestions.

I will try again and let you know how it goes!

Originally Posted by paco

Didn't notice in any posts, but was the razor professionally honed to start with? Good luck with future shaves but don't give up.

Yes, I purchased a basic set from Straight Razor Designs which comes honed from someone I think knows what they are doing.

I might see if I can find a barber in town to take a look at the blade for me and see if they can watch what I am doing wrong.

+1 on everything Doc said.


Also, if it makes you feel any better, I did pretty much the same thing my first few shaves.


The best advice I can give you at this point is to take at least 1 day off from shaving all together, 2 if possible. The face heals reather quickly if you let it.

Then, check your razor with the HHT or TPT, strop it VERY well, and VERY carefully and begin again.

Yep, you need to pay more attention to the angle you are shaving at. Needs to be 30 deg. or less. Someone on this forum recently stated that Corn Huskers had lotion works exceptionally well at stopping the burn. Might try it, and yes give your face a rest.

Ray