Still struggling with soreness

I've been using a straight razor (or, at first, a shavette) more or less every other day now for a couple of months. I knew it was going to take a while, but I honestly expected to progress more quickly than this! I am getting reasonable quality shaves, but, after almost every shave, I'm left with a face that is hot, red and sore for at least the rest of the day. Some parts of my face are worse than others - my upper lip is very sensitive. I only give it one pass (WTG), but, however carefully I shave, I always get some weepers and am left sore.

I figured that if I detail my entire shaving process then some of you guys might have some tips as to how I can make the shave more comfortable. I have already worked hard on getting little or no pressure and getting the angle of the blade right so, even if I'm not getting it right, I know that those aspects are important and will continue to try and improve them.

Firstly I splash my face with water as it comes out of the hot tap until it's too hot for me to handle anymore. At that point I fill my bowl with hot water and soak my brush (Bluebeard's Revenge synthetic) in the hot water. I then soak a flannel in the hot water and press it to my face for about 10 seconds or so.

Then I fill the sink with water as hot as I can stand it and use that water to wash my face. At this point I make up my lather (at the moment using Proraso Sensitive soap). I then soak my face in the hot water again before applying proraso pre-shave. Another soak and then I apply the lather. The last few times I have then massaged the lather in with my fingers before reapplying with the brush.

After all that I shave.

When I've finished shaving (usually a WTG pass followed by partial XTG and ATG passes) I splash my face with cold water before rubbing it vigorously with an alum block. I let the alum sit on my skin for a few minutes before washing it off. I then apply a skin toner and then, sometimes some more of the proraso pre-shave (I've heard it's good post as well). After that I use Nivea after shave balm and apply any shave cut healing gel that's required.

I no longer get very many bad cuts, but there are usually a few weepers, especially, as I've said, on my upper lip.

My razor is a Griffon Cutlery Works razor, which I sent out to the invisibleedge.co.uk to be honed.

I did wonder if perhaps my skin is too sensitive for a straight, but I've had a couple of shaves from a barber and they seem to manage to get it right without my skin being left too sore.

Has anyone got any tips or suggestions?

How's your stropping? Do you feel OK with that? The reason I ask is that it sounds as though the edge is not as sharp as it needs to be for you. Perhaps it also needs to be rehoned, but initially I'd look carefully and honestly at my stropping.

James.

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

Also, you shouldn't need the water to be as hot as you can stand it. Nice and warm is good for me, anyway.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

How's your stropping? Do you feel OK with that? The reason I ask is that it sounds as though the edge is not as sharp as it needs to be for you. Perhaps it also needs to be rehoned, but initially I'd look carefully and honestly at my stropping.

James.

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I feel fairly happy with my stropping. I've practised a lot. Perhaps I could strop a bit more - I usual do 50 laps before a shave.

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Originally Posted by rjezuit

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

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I've never tried that. I'll give that a go in a few days, when my face has had time to recover from today's shave.

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

My first thought would be pressure. I've been at this for a couple of years or so and have read that it takes at least 100 shaves to get to a point you could call acceptable; in my case I would put that number closer to 200. If I could go back in time and try and explain it to my younger self, younger self would not be able to grasp the advice. The pressure and touch that I've developed over time is so much lighter than my younger self would've believed to be effective it's hard to explain. The problem with this 'sport/hobby' is that there's no substitute for practice. Lighten up, don't get cocky.

(And then there's angle, state of your edge, stropping, lather quality, skin stretching, acne, scars, blah blah blah....)

Cold water shave,pre shave, using scentless creams and soaps, bowl lathering, and NO pressure. There are ways to alleviate the burn but the best way is to avoid it. As well as the various suggestion above. My breakthrough came when I finally realized the more pressure I used the more irritation and more stubble left behind. Watch that you are not stretching the stubble down.I was guilty of doing this for awhile, 5 passes and stubble was still there.

I found that when I started shaving with a straight I had to only do with the grain and across the grain for a few weeks. I looked for alcohol free aftershaves and if I really needed to go against the grain I would use my two blade razor, which I was trying to siphoned out of the picture at the time, to finish any spots I missed. I have really sensitive skin and a rough beard so I have the ultimate terrible combo but I found that aftershave lotion helps quite a bit. Also, maybe shave every other day or every three days until your skin feels more comfortable. For me in particular, it was tough to not want to shave with a straight every day because I was so intrigued and fascinated with it.

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

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Originally Posted by bill3152

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

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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!

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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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by rjezuit

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

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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.

Hey phunni,

A couple of guys mentioned angle of the blade, but I didn't see where you mentioned it. If I missed it, my apologies. I try to use the lowest angle of the blade I can and still have it shave. Creates more of a chance to cut the whisker cleanly and cuts down on the scraping of the skin which causes major irritation. If you're using a higher angle the blade will more scrape at the skin and whiskers, pulling at them until it finally cuts them. Also a lower angle will prolong the life of the edge between honings. Too high of an angle is tough on the razor, and the face. :gl:

Howard :)

Ok, just shaved and focused 100% on zero pressure, or as close as I can get. A few nicks - all in the problem chin and tache area - but a much more considerable shave. Seems like this may have been the issue all along. I think I was subconsciously using pressure as a habit from my cartridge razor days. There's still room for improvement, but I'm encouraged.