Thread: Noobs with “Sensitive Skin”

Originally Posted by outback

In short....they've not become tempered to the blade.

The skin becomes accustomed to the exfoliation a straight brings to the shave. Agreed..!, with proper lather and prep, angle, ect., it greatly reduces the effects.

But what I've noticed over my thirty some years with just straights, is how easily I can maneuver the blade on my skin, without carving into my face. If I would have tried some of the passes I do now, fifteen years ago....I'd look like I was in a train wreck. So the skin gets tougher IMO.

I hear you Mike. I mean, I sometimes resemble a dude with a scythe more than a dude with a straight in his hands. And I always do long flowing strokes now vs short scrapes BUT, my hands have gotten a lot better - as has yours. I’m not sure aside from the dullness of age, that our skin got tougher. I really don’t. But I’m positive your hands got better.

Originally Posted by earcutter

... I’m not sure aside from the dullness of age, that our skin got tougher. I really don’t. But I’m positive your hands got better.

Mine got looser and stretching became more important. now I can pull my neck skin up the my sideburn area

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

Mine got looser and stretching became more important. now I can pull my neck skin up the my sideburn area

That’s just how some dogs roll Harold... just how some dogs roll.

For the record, I almost never drool

If you truly have sensitive skin that is something you are well aware of well before you do any shaving. Various soaps and skin preps will cause problems.

The folks who complain once they start shaving either have issues with the shave process or they may have skin a bit on the sensitive side which gets inflamed easily or may encounter some shaving products causing them problems. Of course then there are possible allergy issues but those are another story.

I know im a bit sensitive to menthol. It makes it hard to shave when you cant see!

Whenever I hear people lament about their “steel wire beard growth” that defies all sorts of blades I wonder how their pre-shave routine looks like.

Certain things in life will suffer if you try to rush them...



B.

I have sensitive skin, it is not nearly as sensitive as it was when I used the multi blade things. Better soap, better lather, better technique and it’s a whole lot less sensitive now. I can get irritation the second I let one of those items slip. I have to say no matter how bad my shaves have been nothing compares to the bleeding rash I got if I tried to shave with a multi blade more than twice a week.

My first shaves with the straight resulted in a few nick's and weepers, but no apparent razor burn, until I applied the aftershave... But over time the nick's and stinging neck went away.
Some seem to believe that beard preparation, slick creamy lather, a shave ready razor, skin stretching, proper blade pressure and angle, stroke dynamics, and post shave treatment are responsible for this amazing change of state. Count them, there are eight variables that a shaver would need to succeed with to get the proverbial CCS. What are the odds of that happening? Assuming a 50/50 chance on any one, the odds of pulling all these off on any given shave is 0.5**8=1/256. Pretty damn slim. Add to that, in order to have a successful shaving career, or whatever one would call it, you would need to maintain the razor in it's shave ready state, requiring successful honing and stropping results. Two more variables. Odds of a successful shaving career: 0.5**10= 1/1024.
Being the pessimist I am, and seeing this glass as not half empty, but totally empty: I'm with outback, and believe my skin got tougher; the only reasonable conclusion a dimwitted mathematician like myself can come to.

Originally Posted by cau

My first shaves with the straight resulted in a few nick's and weepers, but no apparent razor burn, until I applied the aftershave... But over time the nick's and stinging neck went away.
Some seem to believe that beard preparation, slick creamy lather, a shave ready razor, skin stretching, proper blade pressure and angle, stroke dynamics, and post shave treatment are responsible for this amazing change of state. Count them, there are eight variables that a shaver would need to succeed with to get the proverbial CCS. What are the odds of that happening? Assuming a 50/50 chance on any one, the odds of pulling all these off on any given shave is 0.5**8=1/256. Pretty damn slim. Add to that, in order to have a successful shaving career, or whatever one would call it, you would need to maintain the razor in it's shave ready state, requiring successful honing and stropping results. Two more variables. Odds of a successful shaving career: 0.5**10= 1/1024.
Being the pessimist I am, and seeing this glass as not half empty, but totally empty: I'm with outback, and believe my skin got tougher; the only reasonable conclusion a dimwitted mathematician like myself can come to.

Math is sexy, and when you put it that way... well, when you put it that way, no man with a rifle considering all the variables that go into making a kill shot, would be able to hit squat past a mere yard either lol!!! And unless you’re living under a rock, you know that’s just not the case.

You really ARE a pessimist! It shows in your bias equations. That said, I literally did laugh out load reading your post. Well played. Maybe you and outback are on to something.