Thread: Still struggling with soreness

I have been shaving every other day and I can totally relate to the frustration because you want to shave every day!

Originally Posted by bill3152

Cold water shave,pre shave, using scentless creams and soaps, bowl lathering, and NO pressure.

A1+++++ Quit the hot water. Lay the spine almost touching your skin and use very little pressure. Listen to the sound as the razor cuts the hair, breathe and have fun with this.

I agree with the "Quit the hot water." Water that is too hot may soften your skin and make it more susceptible to weepers and irritation. Try warm water that is comfortable on your skin, and also try skipping the hot towel treatment. Although it feels good, it's not really necessary and, again, may be contributing to the weepers. Just give it a try and see how it goes. A simple shave with warm water and your soap/cream. Good luck.

I could try a warm water shave. I've tried a cold water shave a couple of times with no noticeable difference - except that my hands get freezing cold!

Originally Posted by phunni

Another potentially significant fact is that I have sensitive and dry skin. The former you could probably gather from my post anyway.

Try this and see if it helps. Use a moisturizer before going to bed. I actually use L'Occitane hand cream the night before I shave if my shaves have not been very good. I know that L'Occitane hand cream is pretty heavy stuff but it sinks in fairly rapidly but the shaves are just great!

Just try a variation of that and see what you come up with. It certainly can't hurt and I was amazed how dry skin, for me, translated to a bad shave.....go figure!


Later,
R

I actually bought some moisturiser this very morning to do just that. I figure last thing at night moisturising is a good idea.

I personally also suffer from sensitive and dry skin. What helps for me is to use a fairly generous amount of aftershave balm for sensitive skin and really massage it in. I can stand 3 passes (xtg, wtg and atg) fairly easily now, no razor burn (though I have not perfected my shave by any stretch of the imagination, still quite a bit of stubble on the jawbone).

EDIT

What also really helped for me was going to my GP with my complaints. She gave me a very light duty balm that has worked wonders for my skin.

Originally Posted by rjezuit

If you used the same prep while NOT using a straight, how does your skin react?

Tried this today. Virtually no irritation at all.

Next shave am just going to try and focus on zero pressure for the entire shave. I think cartridge shaving has taught me that pressure = close and it's taking a while to unlearn this instinct.

The other thing I wonder about sometimes for myself is that irritation is a vicious circle. I find that when I have a rough shave, I really need to stop shaving for a few days. Otherwise, what happens (I think) is that your skin gets irritated and cause micro-swelling. Unless you wait for that to fully recover, I think the inflammation raises the skin causing it to more easily get nicked up again. I liken it to when you bite the inside of your lip. You keep biting it because after the first time the location swells up making it only easier to bite on.

And this is independent of the shaving system. Only Saturday I had my daughter's recital and I had to shave at noon with very little time. I pulled out the DE for 10 min and I told myself I would only go WTG. It wasn't that great. Then yesterday was Easter of course. I pulled out the straight and also only WTG but my neck really didn't want a razor anywhere near it. I shaved it anyway but man it was rough. So I didn't shave this AM but I know I have to tonight for a business trip at 4:30 tomorrow AM. I'm screwed...

Yeah,I gave my face a few days break last week and then only shaved with a cartridge razor. I'm definitely letting it recover properly. Will hopefully be ready to shave with a straight again tomorrow.