Thread: Very raw feeling face

Originally Posted by Ricpac

I have been shaving with the straight razor about 4 times now and I go wtg and atg, my cheeks mainly feel very raw after, my neck is fine ever this troublesome spot feels fine but my cheeks just feel rubbed raw. Am I pressing to hard? Normal but maybe some aftershave instead of toner??

Here are some videos that helped me a lot:

Originally Posted by Ricpac

I have been shaving with the straight razor about 4 times now and I go wtg and atg, my cheeks mainly feel very raw after, my neck is fine ever this troublesome spot feels fine but my cheeks just feel rubbed raw. Am I pressing to hard? Normal but maybe some aftershave instead of toner??

Here's one more helpful video:

There is very good advice in the previous posts. WRT stropping, it usually improves the edge making it more smooth. That is if you have good technique which you may not have in the beginning and you may be dulling or otherwise destroying the edge you already had pre stropping. You may want to start with a pro honed razor and skip the stropping the first time shaving with it to see what a good edge feels like to shave with. If it feels better than what you are used to then "part" of your problem was most likely a dull blade. If you strop that blade before you second shave with it and find the shave worse chances are you have dulled it by stropping. Sort of a damned if you and damned if you don't kind of thing when you first start out. Just a long way of saying be prepared to have your blade sharpened more frequently in the beginning untill you various shaving skills improve.

Bob

Anybody in ny mind teaching me lmao? It's a lot harder than I thought

I would cut out the the ATG pass for now. ATG shaving requires an optimally keen razor, an extrememly light touch and proper technique. I'm fairly certain at least 50% of your problem stems from this. Try two WTG passes or add XTG into your routine, but lay off ATG for the time being. You'll likely notice a difference right away.

Well I shaved again today and purposely shaved very light on my left side and on my right I used a little more pressure. When I was done. I relathered or another pass and felt my right cheek was already feeling raw. So my pressure is too much. Also today I nicked my strop while watching the YouTube video on stropping it nicked. Does this hurt me on my next strop?

Ah, I guess you know by now to just concentrate on the stropping alone. At the start I managed to nick my strop several times and I wasn't watching a video at the same time so don't feel too bad. If the nick is not too bad it can be repaired, just do a search on here for it. Hey at least you figured out the pressure thing.

Bob

You said 'Am I pressing too hard', which suggests you're pressing. There is no pressing. None. Pressing does not exist.

Now, who can tell me? What do we say about pressing?

Pressing is not necessary, as Carl stated. If you are following the advice on angles here and only using enough pressure to wipe away lather, one of two things will happen on the WTG pass: either your razor will shave the hair or it won't. If it does, it's probably sharp enough. If not, it's not. This is with no pressing.

You mentioned stropping 30 laps with linen and 30 with leather. The linen thing is debatable; do as many as 30 if you want to. The leather is a must, though, and in my opinion, 30 isn't enough on leather. I do 60, some do 50, others do 100, whatever, but if you are doing 30, you're probably under stropping in my opinion.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

You said 'Am I pressing too hard', which suggests you're pressing. There is no pressing. None. Pressing does not exist.

Now, who can tell me? What do we say about pressing?

Pressing does not exist, Mr. Schneider. There is no pressing.