Thread: Nasty Shave

I just had a really bad shave and I'd love some feedback.

Yesterday my Classic Shaving brand Sandalwood soap arrived. This morning I did my new routine:

hot water and brush in the mug (full to the brim),
lots of hot water on my face, rubbed in really well,
100 strokes on my 3" red Latigo practice strop (I'm going to upgrade to a Tony Miller or SRD Latigo/fabric when I can afford it),
more hot water on my face,
dump the mug,
squeeze the brush,
start whipping up lather,
when it forms peaks, I put it on my face with light circular motions,
one pass WTG on my cheeks/sideburns, upper lip, and neck, (I wear a "chin curtain" beard and the hair on my neck below the beard grows upward, toward my chin, so WTG is actually south to north)

Almost immediately I started to feel the burn. Not like a rough shave burn, it wasn't any rougher than before. More like a bad sun burn; really dry, sharp, prickly, anywhere the lather was. I rinsed with lots of ice cold water and after about ten minutes, I was starting to feel better. I tried an experiment and re-lathered. The pain came back almost immediately. More ice-cold water and lotion helped.

Three questions:

1.) How is my routine?

2.) The Classic Soap is supposed to be good. Could it be the sandalwood oil that irritates?

3.) This is the second soap I've tried, the first was a gift from some gift shop. I can't seem to get good lather no matter how much or little water I use. It always ends up like the foam on top of a pint of beer. Just like the beer, it looks thick, but quickly disappears. When I use the CT&E cream, it looks like whipped cream or yogurt: shinny and think, lasts all the way to the end of the shave. Is this the best I can get from soap? does the quality of my brush matter? Any other tips on creamy lather?

Thanks,

-- Aubrey

If it were me, I would alter the direction of the shave. The hair on my neck grows sideways, but I use a standard shaving method and it turns out better than trying to figure out the direction of growth. I always start with a first pass where everything gets treated with a north to south regardless how it grows. The second pass is a XTG starting from the midline and going toward the ear regardless of direction of growth. The third pass is always south to north. I've tried some of that fancier stuff where you try to figure out the direction of hair growth and then change your workflow based off that, but the shave have always been inferior in comparison. Try getting back to the basics.

As for the soap, I've tried CS soaps and find them entirely mediocre. They're certainly better than Williams and Conk IMHO, but vastly inferior to Mama Bear's which costs the same amount of dough.

Last item of concern is how much pressure you're using. I came directly from using a M3 razor and it took me quite a while to get the muscle memory down to use little pressure...I had been using a ton of pressure on those M3 razor for decades and it's a tough habit to break.

do you use any pressure while you shave? is your razor sharp enough?
if not then be patient. you just bought razor from me. i will ship it to day on Monday you will get it. just wait a little.

Sorry to hear about your experience. Several things could be happening:

1) You could be allergic to one or more ingredients in the soap, sandalwood oil is notorious for allergies. I would suggest to stop using this soap and consult with your dermatologist.

2) Your lather was too dry and the chemicals were applied at a higher concentration than intended. If this is the case, hydrate the lather more.

3) You used too much pressure while shaving. Not sure this is the culprit but often applying too much pressure can give you that burning sensation.

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Your routine seems reasonable.

For lathering tips, you may want to review the wiki, it contains lots of information on the subject. Perhaps this video would help:

YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather