Thread: Help! Confused.

Originally Posted by stonebraker

Let your face rest. If you have irritation and you shave on top of that it can make for a very painful experience. If you are shaving with a dry lather......that could be your irritation problem. If you see flaky stuff all over the place, add more water. Dry shave cream is like shaving with sandpaper on your face. I think it grabs the blade better than the hair does.

I think canned foam is basically dry, at least it felt that way to me. It gave me absolutely no protection. (I wonder if the Gillette Foamy and comparable products were cheapened over the years.)

When I used canned gel like Edge it would gunk up between the blades of my multiblade razor and I couldn't rinse that area off. So I pressed harder and cut through the intended protection it was supposed to give.

I turned to DE and straight razors out of necessity. As time went on I paid more and more for irritation and mediocre results. Unlike some people, I never could achieve consistently good and reasonably comfortable results in 40 years of trying. I'm so glad I'm off that merry go round.

I think I will try the cold water shave and drying the face before applying the lather! I think I had my face too wet and the lather was disappearing too soon. Thanks again for that link!

Originally Posted by Jetmech

The soap is used, not to soften the beard, but to produce exactly the opposite effect—namely, to make the hair stiff and brittle, so that they will present a firm and resisting surface to the razor.

Man, I tell you what, everybody has hair that is different. We can say the said effect will be this or is supposed to be this but everybody has different hair. My hair is stiff enough what I need is to soften it as much as possible. Really, when I grow a beard the first few weeks is like I have barbed wire sprouting from my face. People can write such and such, you should do this but the bottom line is find out what works for you. Cold splash shaving has never worked for me. Yes, I can do it but I would prefer not to. Prep is king, weather it be a splash of water, Proraso, oil or some voodoo ritual. Do what makes the shave a memorable experience.

Originally Posted by Jetmech

...My only worry though is that when my razor does need refreshing with CrOx that I won't realize it and still think it's my technique. Everything I've read says the only true test is the shaving test to tell when it needs refreshing. Well, you see my dilemma. Razor grabs, technique or refresh? But like Chevhead said, if I'm getting a good one every 2nd or 3rd shave it's probably my lack of skill...

Everybody's hair is different, so it's hard to say, but I'd advise that you shouldn't even be thinking about refreshing the edge yet, not unless you've dulled the edge a little by poor stropping. You should be able to go for a month to six weeks before the first honing. I myself would recommend a nice Shapton 16k rather than CrOx. Ten laps on the Shapton will bring the edge right back, and it's hard to mess up while doing only 10 laps on a nice flat hard hone. Bearing in mind that I've never actually used CrOx, I feel it may be easier to dull the edge more using CrOx (esp if not using a paddle strop) than with a nice hard flat hone.

What you probably need, is another truly shave ready razor. I know that sounds like I'm an enabler of RAD, but you can't go past a comparison blade. If you have only one razor, you'll be standing there in the bathroom scratching your head and thinking "Now, is it just ME or did this thing used to be sharper than this???"

I've read the thing about soap having the purpose of stiffening the hairs and I disagree with that. They also used to say putting a razor away for a few days allowed the edge to rest. They also used to sell heroin for common headaches. I feel cream or soap DOES soften the hair. Also, remember that a major use of cream or soap is to provide both GLIDE and CUSHION regardless of what it actually does to the hair strands. GLIDE and CUSHION are in my opinion of equal importance to each other esp for straight shaving. One may wish more glide than cushion for DE shaving.

Have you tried a pre-shave cream? Proraso pre-shave is REALLY good for beginners, I used to use it ALL the time. It really provides a very slick amount of glide; you lather straight over it. I'd very highly recommend that beginners use this pre-shave cream with a good cream (Musgo Real and Body Shop Macca Root for instance). In all seriousness, if one used Proraso Pre-shave cream, and Musgo Real cream or Body Shop Macca Root cream (there are many other easy to lather good creams, but these two are common and cheap), then in my opinion and experience you really have the prep part pegged. You really can't go wrong with that combo as far as prep is concerned. Added to that, shower before the shave, maybe apply hair conditioner to the beard whilst in the shower (and leave it in while showering; wash it off at the end of the shower), apply hot water to face, apply the Proraso pre-shave, make the lather, apply it over the pre-shave cream, strop and then shave I think you'll have a really nice prep sorted...


Carl

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Everybody's hair is different, so it's hard to say, but I'd advise that you shouldn't even be thinking about references the edge yet, not unless you've dulled the edge a little by poor stropping. You should be able to go for a month to six weeks before the first honing. I myself would recommend a nice Shapton 16k rather than CrOx. ten laps on the Shapton will bring the edge right back, and it's hard to mess up while doing only 10 laps on a nice flat hard hone. Bearing in mind that I've never actually used CrOx, I feel it may be easier to dull the edge more using CrOx (esp if not using a paddle strop) than with a nice hard flat hone.

What you probably need, is another truly shave ready razor. I know that sounds like I'm an enabler of RAD, but you can't go past a comparison blade. If you have only one razor, you'll be standing there in the bathroom scratching your head and thinking "Now, is it just ME or did this thing used to be sharper than this???"

I've read the thing about soap having the purpose of stiffening the hairs and I disagree with that. They also used to say putting a razor away for a few days allowed the edge to rest. They also used to sell heroin for common headaches. I feel cream or soap DOES soften the hair. Also, remember that a major use of cream or soap is to provide both GLIDE and CUSHION regardless of what it actually does to the hair strands. GLIDE and CUSHION are in my opinion of equal importance to each other.

have you tried a pre-shave cream? Proraso pre-shave is REALLY good for beginners, I used to use it ALL the time. It really provides a very slick amount of glide; you lather straight over it. I'd very highly recommend that beginners use this pre-shave cream with a good cream (Musgo Real and Body Shop Macca Root for instance). In all seriousness, if one used Proraso Pre-shave cream, and Musgo real cream or Body Shop Macca Root cream, then in my opinion and experience you really have the prep part pegged. You really can't go wrong with that combo as far as prep is concerned. Added to that, shower before the shave, maybe apply hair conditioner to the beard whilst in the shower (and leave it in while showering; wash it off at the end of the shower), apply hot water to face, apply the Proraso pre-shave, make the lather, apply it over the pre-shave cream, strop and then shave I think you'll have a really nice prep sorted...


Carl

+1 on the comparison blade. I got an inexpensive shave ready blade from the Classifieds section as my second razor, basically to convince myself that my other one was shave ready.

Honestly I get about the same results either at cold (ambient) or hot water temperature. I think the book's recommendation means that for people with certain types of hair and/or skin the results with cold water are significantly better. I stick with it because my "hot" tap water was lukewarm at best so I had an electric kettle and it was a pain to wait for it to heat up.

Another thing to note is that some soaps don't lather well in cold water. When I switched I had to grate the puck I was using in a cheese grater and that solved the problem.

But I am enthusiastic about cold water shaving and if someone is having trouble with either poor shaves or irritation I don't hesitate to recommend it.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

+1 on the comparison blade. I got an inexpensive shave ready blade from the Classifieds section as my second razor, basically to convince myself that my other one was shave ready.

Honestly I get about the same results either at cold (ambient) or hot water temperature. I think the book's recommendation means that for people with certain types of hair and/or skin the results with cold water are significantly better. I stick with it because my "hot" tap water was lukewarm at best so I had an electric kettle and it was a pain to wait for it to heat up.

Another thing to note is that some soaps don't lather well in cold water. When I switched I had to grate the puck I was using in a cheese grater and that solved the problem.

But I am enthusiastic about cold water shaving and if someone is having trouble with either poor shaves or irritation I don't hesitate to recommend it.

Yeah, agreed. I think I just LIKE hot water for a shave, esp in Winter. I have used icy cold water from the fridge on really hot mornings in Summer and it's great, esp with Proraso soap! I always recommend creams for beginners, just because for me they are easier to create a nice lather. Maybe it's just that I'm bad at creating lathers from soaps! Shaving is so individual, isn't it? Giving advice on shaving is like giving advice to someone about what to look at in an art gallery. How many times have you heard someone say "That's not ART!!"...

Been using cold water for shaving going on 4 months now and start with a wet face as I face lather. Works as well as hot water shaving did and eliminates the need for and waste of hot water. So i would say at the very least you loose nothing by trying it.

Bob

Originally Posted by Jetmech

Ok, I read the online book "Shaving Made Easy" provided in a link by CaliforniaCajun and there is some advice in the book that is contrary to all the preshave prep I've read on this site and others.

"The popular impression is that the soap is used for the purpose of softening the beard, in which condition it is supposed to be most easily cut. This is a mistake. The soap is used, not to soften the beard, but to produce exactly the opposite effect—namely, to make the hair stiff and brittle, so that they will present a firm and resisting surface to the razor.
Now in this natural oily condition, it is very dif- ficult to cut the hair with a razor, and it becomes even more difficult if the beard be made still softer by the application of hot water. Many do this, and it is no wonder they find shaving difficult. When this is done, the hairs become soft and limp, and the razor will either slip over them entirely, or else cut partly into them, bend them back and sHce them lengthwise, all the while pulling and straining them at the roots, and making the process of shaving most painful.
For the sake of cleanliness, the face should, of course, be washed previous to shaving in order to remove any dirt or grit from the beard, which might dull the razor ; but before applying the lather, the face should be well dried with a towel."

So no hot water, and a dry face before lather. Then later on it says to apply a hot towel after the shave to open the pores and then apply the aftershave. Anyone try this? I know with a cartridge razor when I shaved without first taking a hot shower or applying a hot wash cloth the blade tugged and pulled.

I've been DE shaving for years and one of the best tips i received was to make sure your face is wet, hence the phrase "wet shave" . I suppose different strokes for different folks

All valid arguments. I mean barbers having been using hot towels for how long? As far as drying the face first, I'll find out. My face technically will still be wet with the lather. I just found on the last shave that when I applied the really hot water right before applying the lather it made the spots that got irritated las time get irritated before I even started shaving, then I have to shave over them. I'll try anything once.

Carl, I have been looking at the Proraso sensitive skin pre-shave and the creme as well. And, I've been thinking about buying a second blade for this very reason. And the fact that if I decide to send it out to get honed I will have one to use. I'm still debating this. You said a month to six weeks before first honing. I was thinking times between honing would be longer and that you could just refresh a little using CrOx. I wouldn't be using it on a strop. Probably some Poplar that I have laying around.

Cold water it is! Less irritation. I didn't shower before and after I washed my face I dried it off before applying the lather. I could tell the lather was thicker this way. Followed with cold water rinse.