Thread: The Great North.

Greetings from Toronto. I'm new here as of today and I have a few questions. About a year and a half ago I got a Parker Shavette as a gift, and I went right for it. Obviously there were beginner mistakes but I got better over time. I decided to expand my inventory of shaving supplies so I went out and bought a new brush, bowl, a styptic pencil (seems to be a lifesaver), Proraso pre shave cream, William's mug soap, some Wilkinson Sword Shaving soap (blue bowl), some light sandalwood scented soap, and I picked up a Feather Safety Razor. Now once and a while I'll have a perfect shave with my cheap setup, but recently I've found that I seem to keep getting more razor burn with what seems to be a pretty good routine. I start off with a hot shower, so I can get the whiskers nice and moist for the shave. Then I'll set my bowl and brush in some hot water to get ready for the soap, put my Proraso on, lather up whichever soap I feel like using, lather it up, apply it to my face and do my first pass with the grain, apply more soap for a second pass with the grain, and my last application and pass against the grain. I then rinse my face with cold water, use my styptic pencil if there are any nicks, and then I'll apply Aqua Velva ice blue (favorite scent in the world) and wave a towel in front of my face to dry it, after that I like to apply a moisturizer made by Lush called Cosmetic Lad. The scent is subtle and goes with the Ice Blue scent very well. Now this seems like a fairly solid routine to me yet I still seem to be left with razor burn and occasionally I will get some pimples from it. It was at its worst today so I decided to seek out some answers as to what I may be doing wrong. It happens with both my Shavette and my safety razor. I've been making sure to sleep on clean pillow cases and taking any precaution I can think of. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. I use Shark blades in my Shavette and feather or Wilkinson sword bless in my safety razor.

Zach, your pictures and description are exactly what happens if I try to shave everyday. The same also happens if I do three aggressive full passes and a touch up.
Have you tried letting your skin rest by shaving every 2 or 3 days, or only doing 2 passes?

And welcome to SRP.

I don't have too thick of a beard that comes in so I really only shave once every 3-4 days. Just today my skin seemed to be a much more red and sensitive and I hadn't shaved in almost 5 days so I really don't know.

Well, I'm don't know what to tell you...
It might be easier to isolate the problem. Do everything the same the next time, but switch one thing like brand of blades or aftershave lotion.

Any other ideas, Gents?

Hello, and welcome to SRP!! +1 on leatherstockiings advice!

I am with you on switching stuff out one product at a time. The other thought that can up right away was try one pass and try a cold water shave. I have heard some people with sensitive skin rave about the great cold shave.

How does it feel when shaving? is it uncomfortable on the neck?

I got bad razor burn a little while back and discovered that by making my lather a bit thicker and changing my shaving angle i could avoid it all together.

Check your technique at every stage and see if there are any improvements.

Welcome to SRP

Welcome to SRP Zach: I use Noxzema Moisturizing Cleansing Cream in my pre-shave routine. Immediately after my shave I use an alum block, rinse, an apply aftershave. The final step is the application of an aftershave balm.

My number one suggestion would be to discontinue the ATG pass for several days. See if this helps with the problem. You may also try adding the application of an alum block, substituting an aftershave balm in place of your moisturizer to your post shave routine.

Many wet shavers who experience lots of irritation skip hot water on their faces entirely. Wash your face with a glycerin bar of soap and rinse with cold water just before your shave.

I learned to wet shave using feather blades. They are very sharp and can cause irritation, especially in a three pass shave. I found the Rapira Platinum Lux with the (platinum coating) to be far less irritating. Good Luck in your Quest Zac

Hi Zach and welcome. I agree with the above, try cold water shaving, maybe leave out the aftershave an pre shave, but try only one of them at a time and for a few shaves, you could also try changing two at a time if each helps a bit. I would also look at angles, too steep an angle will give you burn, as will too much pressure, in both cases you are removing skin (more than just exfoliation). You could also try making your lather more or less moist.