Thread: Facial Destruction

Gents I nailed an attempt honing a while back, last two times I've shaved with a blade I've honed the test shave of the cheek tests out fine but it destroys the rest of my face in an agonizing day and a half of pure hell. My face is redder then a tomato. What could I be doing wrong?

There are two things that do that for me, the red faced part that is. One is an incomplete bevel, where it get very close but not enough for a proper shave and the other is my Sigma 13K hone as a finisher. I have no idea why I cannot use that hone but almost every blade I do it just kills me. My friend Robert uses the same hone in his progression and his edges are fine. My guess is that I am over honing on the 13K and killing my edge. So it could be your finisher or if you use a pasted strop to finish with that could be the case also. What are you using to a loupe?

P.S.
I'm sure I could shave my cheeks with a sharpened spoon and it would be fine, my neck, mustache and chin are a cat of a different color.

A few things to consider:

- make sure your angles are low and your pressure light. When either (or both) creep up, it's easy to get irritation.

- consider your face prep. Have you skipped anything or taken shortcuts?

- are those bits of your face less used to the straight?

Originally Posted by RezDog

There are two things that do that for me, the red faced part that is. One is an incomplete bevel, where it get very close but not enough for a proper shave and the other is my Sigma 13K hone as a finisher. I have no idea why I cannot use that hone but almost every blade I do it just kills me. My friend Robert uses the same hone in his progression and his edges are fine. My guess is that I am over honing on the 13K and killing my edge. So it could be your finisher or if you use a pasted strop to finish with that could be the case also. What are you using to a loupe?

P.S.
I'm sure I could shave my cheeks with a sharpened spoon and it would be fine, my neck, mustache and chin are a cat of a different color.

Interesting, I finish with a coticule, though this time I used chromium oxide because I thought it would make it better then last time. I don't know if it could be an incomplete bevel I have a 30x loupe and it was 1k scratches all the way up .

Originally Posted by Cangooner

A few things to consider:

- make sure your angles are low and your pressure right. When either (or both) creep up, it's easy to get irritation.

- consider your face prep. Have you skipped anything or taken shortcuts?

- are those bits of your face less used to the straight?

They are the cheeks and the chin, I took a hot shower and lathered up my usual way. This has been odd since usually I have been having success. If I overhoned on a low grit would it stay with my until the end of my progression. They are aggressive edges and the coticule is supposed to and has given me soft smooth edges with no pull or anything.

too mush pressure on the low grits and make for a chippy finish.
maybe try straight off your coticule
maybe try a cold shave
to check your bevel set with your loupe look almost straight down on the apex, not at the side of the bevel. There should be no easily identified line of white running down it and no large white sections. Once you have a perfect bevel, kill it very lightly, like with a thumb nail test, and then tune it back up with some very light laps on the 1K. Actually if you kill your edge then look at it with the loupe that should show you what an incomplete bevel looks like. Just a fine white line from tip to heel when looking almost straight at the apex.

I think most problems I have with a shave 9 times out of 10 is pressure. That is when I know the razor is shave ready. If I try to rush or not paying much attention and end up pressing the razor too hard to the skin it will cause a less than comfortable shave unless I lighten up on the pressure. I find that most times the problems with pressure are on my neck where it is harder to see. Let the razor do the work.

I was using a low grit with circles to try and grind it down evenly. It was a GD with thick spines, I've got it shaving before just after doing al those circles I didn't kill the edge after. Maybe that is the problem, as for pressure I went light as can be for the shave.

A harsh edge? Think back. What did you do different? How are the razors different? If it shaves the cheeks fine and the rest of the face rough, think about blade angle. Is it a different grind than you are used to? Have you made any other changes in prep, etc?
Finally, I sometimes go too far. Some laps on CroOx and a pile of fabric/leather will smooth them out usually.

Got me. A GD. Anytime you get one of those stiff, subpar steel, no personality things shaving, it WILL be harsh.
Sorry to have wasted your time. My Bad.......

I've honed a few razors, not a pro by any means but I can get a comfortable shave from my razors.
A while back I start to spending more time on the hones than normal in my effort to perhaps obtain the ever elusive finest, sharpest and most comfortable shave.
I can't remember which razor it was but I got it extremely sharp. Easily pass the HHT but when shaving it felt uncomfortable. Actually it was more than a bit uncomfortable, it was like shaving with one of my wife's scerated kitchen knives. But I kept going, shaving the entire face two passes.
Red faced, no amount of after shave balm could put out the fire.
My take on it was that the razor was too sharp, honed thru the edge, jagged, rough and unforgiving.

Originally Posted by Raol

I've honed a few razors, not a pro by any means but I can get a comfortable shave from my razors.
A while back I start to spending more time on the hones than normal in my effort to perhaps obtain the ever elusive finest, sharpest and most comfortable shave.
I can't remember which razor it was but I got it extremely sharp. Easily pass the HHT but when shaving it felt uncomfortable. Actually it was more than a bit uncomfortable, it was like shaving with one of my wife's scerated kitchen knives. But I kept going, shaving the entire face two passes.
Red faced, no amount of after shave balm could put out the fire.
My take on it was that the razor was too sharp, honed thru the edge, jagged, rough and unforgiving.

Story of my life today. I feel ya.