Thread: Acne and Straight Razors

Originally Posted by LERigney

I was looking though the fourms to see if there are any threads on how to shave with a SR if you have acne. A friend of mine is wanting to start shaving with a SR, but he has severe acne and is worried that the razor will shred his face.

Is there any threads, or suggestions for my friend?

Thanks

Hmmm.. severe acne --- I recommend a visit to a doctor
for advice. Acne has a number of causes and I know that
I cannot diagnose the issues on the internet.

What does he shave with now?

SR shaving is wet shaving. If he is not a wet shaver
he can explore wet shaving with an inexpensive double
edge or even BiC toss away blades and a box of shaving
soaps and creams and a brush.

One universal bit of advice is sanitation: Shaving with
anything should invoke strict attention to cleanliness.
Wash the face first with a mild soap, rinse then apply
lather built from quality shaving soap or creams. Shave
with a clean sharp blade. Rinse all the lather off with
cool even cold water and pat dry with a fresh clean towel.
Wait 30 min and then apply a gentle post shave product.

Keep the razor clean too, as a minimum rinse the razor
with HOT water before putting it up.

There is no magic, a sharp str8 razor will slice the top off bumps
and lumps as quickly as it will slice whiskers if he is not exceedingly
cautious. The same is true for any blade...

For a shaving soap there are a lot to try but to start
include a fragrance free glycerin based shave soap like the
ones from Classic Shaving (Classic "Gold" Hypo-Allergenic
Shaving Mug Soap) or another of the good vendors here.
Shaving soaps are very personal in the way they react on
a persons skin so try different ones.

One caution acne often involves some difficult to kill
bacteria. Do not share kit.

Straight Shaving exfoliates and cleans the skin very well. Addionally, I expect Straight Shaving to help with decreasing the Acne that could be caused by shaving with Cartridges.

Perhaps he can shave just straight shave certain areas of the face and test it out.

Pabster

One other quick thing, depending on what he is using now but often the ingrediants in the canned goo can clog pores and make acne worse, as others have said moving first to a good quality soap/ cream might help by itself. I noticed this when I was younger if I switched to canned shaving cream my face would break up, when I went back to a brush and soap it would clear up and that was only using cheap shaving soap.

Someone (can't remember who) also posted a link about a castor oil mix that used occasionally will help with skin issues. I saved the link on my home pc but not here at werk. Personally I've found that in generall my acne issues have gotten better since switching to str8's. I do have pretty finicky skin (amongst other issues) though so I'll still bump-up if I use the same soap for too long a time but all in all, it's good. He'll just need to be nice and ginger in any of the areas that the blemishes are "raised".

Someone mentioned that cartridge razors can make acne worse. How?

Tell your friend to get this stuff and use it: Mario Bedescu Drying Lotion. This product is the best topical overnight treatment for acne. I don't know how to place a link for you but I will try at the end of this thread. Also a facial cleanser to use daily as well as a Toner after each wash. Apply drying lotion to pimples on a clean face via a q tip. Go to bed, wake up and the zit is gone. Don't shake the product in its bottle.
Drying Lotion | Acne Products - Mario Badescu Skin Care
Go look that up. I get mine at Nordstroms or it can be purchased online.

I had acne before I started shaving with a straight. What I did was buy the set at walmart with bowl brush and soap and just wash my face really good once or twice a day. It really helped clear up the acne, didn't clear it completely but helped alot!

Originally Posted by 15straightrazor

I had acne before I started shaving with a straight. What I did was buy the set at walmart with bowl brush and soap and just wash my face really good once or twice a day. It really helped clear up the acne, didn't clear it completely but helped alot!

+1 washing is a good thing.
Also with a young face just shave once or twice a week
and it is OK to lather, rinse and dry more often than you shave,
like once a day. Rinsing ALL the soap off can be important.