Noobs with “Sensitive Skin”

Going to get flamed here me thinks, but... you think most noobs who bemoan thier sensitive skin are nothing more than men who can’t lather up a good soap or haven’t gotten past the point of razor burn? I mean why do so many noobs have “sensitive skin?”

Seriously?

I mean I remember when I started, I got razor burn like a champ! Years of pushing down hard on my old plastic razors made it impossible for me to tread lightly on my tools!

But it couldn’t be me, so I blamed it on my “sensitive skin.”

Then as time passed, I’d make a lousy lather, most of the time because I was cheap and didn’t swirl enough on the soap, or apply enough cream, and then after I got another crappy shave that was irritating... yup, sensitive skin.

I bemoaned my sensitive skin for years. It was never sensitive skin, it was me messing up. What’s worse was, buying some soaps for sensitive skin meant less tallow or glycerin or whatever, exasperating the situation!

Personally, I think 90% of dudes who are crying the blues talking on how sensitive thier skin is, is nothing more than guys who need to slow down and learn the art better! Stop applying so much pressure! Learn to make a good lather! Don’t be cheap like me!

Signed - the curmudgeon

It may not be sensitive skin. They mostly buy new razors with factory edges. Don't have proper angle, pressure or lather. If you don't start with a properly honed razor you ha e made your first mistake. Not useing the right angle or pressure is mistake number two. Dry lather does not lubricate, mistake number three. Now you think it's your sensitive. Not!

This is so true it hurts.
I too thought i had sensitive skin. But i think my big mistake was too much preasure. When i figured out that a keen edge will slide right thru whiskers with next to no force, meaning the gram weight of the blade, just enough preasure to hold the razor against the skin and no more, then all came together.

I dont have sensitive skin! Now, if a person has been wet shaving for years with DE's and or SE's and or Straights, and still says he has sensitive skin, i will believe him. Like when i found out Obie has sinsitive skin. I fully believe him. Now a newbie, yes it is a possibility but not likely.

Exactly Jerry.

I can attest to the sensitive skin ideal. I lamented shaving with a fired passion like a burning thousand suns. Simply stated for years shaving hurt. I switched to a straight with mostly nostalgic thinking but little hope that comfort would follow. Instead what I found is that as my skills got better my comfort came in spades. I built slowly and now can daily shave with no lingering discomfort. I feel better lathering with focus on better creams and/or soaps has gotten me here. So to summarize I feel sensitive skin is a true thing but that time, patience, and dedication will guide the sensitive to a better shave life.

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Originally Posted by Theoman

I can attest to the sensitive skin ideal. I lamented shaving with a fired passion like a burning thousand suns. Simply stated for years shaving hurt. I switched to a straight with mostly nostalgic thinking but little hope that comfort would follow. Instead what I found is that as my skills got better my comfort came in spades. I built slowly and now can daily shave with no lingering discomfort. I feel better lathering with focus on better creams and/or soaps has gotten me here. So to summarize I feel sensitive skin is a true thing but that time, patience, and dedication will guide the sensitive to a better shave life.

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Much better worded than mine Theo - thank you and congrats man!! A life of awful shaves is no life at all!

I wish i could put words together lime thats. Bravo. It is on the money. I think its the main reason men hate to shave. They havent found the comfort that it can give.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Mine got looser and stretching became more important. now I can pull my neck skin up the my sideburn area :rofl2:

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Originally Posted by Haroldg48

Mine got looser and stretching became more important. now I can pull my neck skin up the my sideburn area :rofl2:

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


Attachment 293981

For the record, I almost never drool :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:

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.

Bad typing and auto correct is the answer. Apparently I need to proof read better before I post.

I can't agree more with what has been said so far. WRT beginners to the wet shaving world having problems the cause is, with rare exceptions, staring back at you from the mirror. A bitter pill to swallow but there it is.

Bob

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Originally Posted by RezDog

Bad typing and auto correct is the answer. Apparently I need to proof read better before I post.

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Sorry man, I totally went somewhere else with that! I didn’t mean to call out auto correct lol! Otherwise I’d be called out all the time lol!

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Originally Posted by BobH

... the cause is, with rare exceptions, staring back at you from the mirror. A bitter pill to swallow but there it is.

Bob

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Nice Bob! I love it.

Some people who claim to have sensitive skin may have poor equipment, or poor technique; but some of us really do have sensitive skin.

I have a hereditary condition called rosacea that is characterized by an abundance of tiny blood vessels just under the skin. My skin is quite thin and easily irritated. i look like I am sun burned, even when I have not been out in the sun. Due to my complexion, I get sunburned easily, but my skin is also easily irritated by wind, by cold, by low humidity, by shaving and by some scents such as lime, clove, and menthol. I bowl lather as my face won't tolerate face lathering. Unfortunately, rosacea is a condition that worsens with age. Having a fast growing, tough, white beard does not help the situation, either.

I shave with a straight razor and hone my own razors. I can only get 5-6 shaves off an edge before it becomes too dull for my beard or too harsh for my skin. I use 0.5, 0.25 and 0.10 micron CBN after honing to polish the edge. I strop 75 laps on cloth and 100 laps on lather before every shave in an attempt to get the keenest, smoothest edge I can. If everything goes right I do get great shaves.

Rosacea is a thing, and i’m Glad you’re winning! Nice. But I’m pretty sure you knew you had rosacea before you started wet shaving. I’d hesitate to guess you got into wet shaving because of it!

Either way, congrats!

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.

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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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by earcutter

Rosacea is a thing, and i’m Glad you’re winning! Nice. But I’m pretty sure you knew you had rosacea before you started wet shaving. I’d hesitate to guess you got into wet shaving because of it!

Either way, congrats!

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I always knew I had the problem with Rosacea, but never really knew what to call it until I went to an eye doctor who also has Rosacea. He indicated I had ocular Rosacea as well. I certainly get closer, more comfortable shaves using well honed straight razors and great soaps than I ever got with other methods.

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Originally Posted by cau

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.

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An optimist sees the glass as half full; a pessimist sees the glass as half empty; an engineer sees the glass and concludes that it is twice as big as it needs to be to contain the contents.

So the answer to the shaving situation is to adjust the size of the glass. That means we learn to control the variables that determine the quality of the shave. It may well take you several years of shaving to optimize the quality of your shave: finding the right razors and shaving techniques, finding the right hones and honing techniques, finding the right strops and stropping techniques, and finding the right soaps, creams, brushes, and lathering techniques. But if you approach the task of shaving as an engineer would, you will eventually determine the right combination to optimize the quality of your shave and your enjoyment of it. There is even a technique called "experimental design" that call allow you to maximize the amount of information gathered on multiple variables in the least number of experiments.

For those of you who have not already guessed from my posts, I was trained as a chemical engineer.

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Originally Posted by RayClem

For those of you who have not already guessed from my posts, I was trained as a chemical engineer.

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RayClem,
Shouldn't that be RayChem instead of RayClem? EE here.

I am with earcutter on this one. Bad technique and bad edges. I don't buy the skin gets thicker theory. I have been shaving for years since I will be 42 soon and before straights I used DE Feathers for 6 years. First shave with straight burned like hell. Feathers will burn you if you don't use the DE correctly no matter how long have you been shaving. Same with the straight, a bad hone or testing a new stone and the alum wakes me up:)

Edges - a well honed straight will leave my face smooth and without irritation. Even when I was at it for couple months and got a razor honed by Glen I could feel the difference.

Prep - I believe it only takes you to a certain point. Like cutting your nails before or after shower. Keratin, it gets softer with hydration but if you spend the whole day in water your nails wont fall apart. There is a limit to how much you can hydrate. Just my opinion of course.

Trully sensitive skin - yes, some people have it and they know.

Bottom line, if a noob complains of sensitive skin I smile and think it's the technique or the edge.

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Originally Posted by Theoman

I feel better lathering with focus on better creams and/or soaps has gotten me here.

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OMG this. My first few shaves were terrible. Between my newbish skills, and a "not really the best" soap and brush it was a disaster waiting to happen. I think the one thing I really didn't take into account is - as much skill is more important than equipment, equipment becomes a lot more important when you're skill isn't that refined yet.

If you're a newbie just learning i think "how good your equipment is" counts for a lot more. I wasn't that good, my skin wasn't used to shaving much - much less with a straight, so having a soap or cream and brush, as well as pre-shave that helps create better lather, or lessens the effect on skin REALLY helps. OFC with better skill, you don't need to rely on ensuring you have the best equipment, but i feel as a newbie it really helps. Honestly the moment I bought a nice brush and soap/cream, rather than a $10 brush and soap i got, it hurt a LOT less. Except for 2 tricky spots i came out with NO blood, literally the previous time I'd shaved i was bleeding all over the place.

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Originally Posted by Tjh

OMG this. My first few shaves were terrible. Between my newbish skills, and a "not really the best" soap and brush it was a disaster waiting to happen. I think the one thing I really didn't take into account is - as much skill is more important than equipment, equipment becomes a lot more important when you're skill isn't that refined yet.

If you're a newbie just learning i think "how good your equipment is" counts for a lot more. I wasn't that good, my skin wasn't used to shaving much - much less with a straight, so having a soap or cream and brush, as well as pre-shave that helps create better lather, or lessens the effect on skin REALLY helps. OFC with better skill, you don't need to rely on ensuring you have the best equipment, but i feel as a newbie it really helps. Honestly the moment I bought a nice brush and soap/cream, rather than a $10 brush and soap i got, it hurt a LOT less. Except for 2 tricky spots i came out with NO blood, literally the previous time I'd shaved i was bleeding all over the place.

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I guess that is another way of looking at it if you are a beginner as far as "better" gear goes. You could also say that by adding items to your shaving routine, buying "better" brushes, razors and strops may lessen the effect of poor shaving, lathering and stropping technique it could also hide some basic mistakes you are making. It could actually slow your progress toward a consistently good shave too.

You are right though in that once you get proficient at getting consistently good shaves you will find that revisiting your inexpensive brush and soap combinations that they really do work well. You may even find that you can do away with a pre shave routine as well. It's a catch 22 thing.

Bob

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Originally Posted by earcutter

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.

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After a while it’s all just scar tissue anyway. :rofl2: