Thread: Castle Forbes Pre-shave

Originally Posted by Obie

Jack,

Try to keep the pressure extremely light on your neck. Also, try not to shave against the grain on the neck, because that could give you skin irritation and ingrown hairs. Castle Forbes will help somewhat, but still. As for the freshly honed razor being harder on the skin, I don't agree with that thought — as long as you prepare your face properly, apply no pressure with the razor and maintain the proper angle.

I shaved this morning and had a very good shave. Good for now I mean. The remaining stubble on my neck after one pass was gone so I didn't need to shave that area twice. I also used very light pressure especially on that area. My skin feels good, no irritation at all. I did something I regret though. I used wool fat soap instead of the other one I've gotten recently. It is Taylor of Old Bond Street for sensitive skin. I should have used it while using extrememly light pressure to eliminate possible problems only one problem at a time. Doing two things at once (lighter pressure and different soap) doesn't let me know which helped me. Maybe both. I already have the opinion I like the wool fat more than the Taylor which is a cream. I have a feeling the lighter pressure helped more than anything though. That just makes sense. Using too much pressure with a sharp tool on skin is just asking for trouble. I'm wondering if using lighter pressure not only reduced the irritation but also resulted in a closer shave, eliminating the need for a second pass. I do not have a heavy beard.

Originally Posted by mdwright

For me, Shave Secret (cheap at Walmart) works well as part of my routine. Shower with Suave conditioner, leave beard wet, Shave Secret, lather, shave, ahhhh!

I ordered come Castle Forbes (small bottle) but I'm going to get some Shave Secret the next time I'm in Wal Mart. I looked it up on my pc and at that price it would be nice if it worked well. I'll be using both to compare though.

Originally Posted by Jack0458

Here's my situation. After I shave my neck area is tender as if my nerve endings are closer to the surface. I'm thinking this is razor burn. I've had this feeling before but not consistently. Now it's happening after every shave. I do shave that area twice though because one pass leaves a little stubble. I have only been shaving that area twice recently. That may be why I'm having problems now. I need to do something to stop this.

I've read a couple of times that a freshly honed razor is a bit harder on skin than it is after a couple or a few shaves with just stropping in between. This may be something that is different with different people. Does anyone agree with this theory?

I'm almost one year new to straight razor shaving and have never used any pre-shave. After reading this thread I've decided to get some Castle Forbes pre-shave to see if I like it. I think I have sensitive skin but how do you know? It's not like I can try other skin for comparison. All I know is I'm very sensitive to how my neck feels after a shave.

Does how I described my neck feeling sound like razor burn? If so, how do other's correct this problem?

Thanks for any help.

I can tell you how to find razor burn, but you might not like the process. A big alum block wet and spread across a wet face will absolutely fire up the razor burn areas. I was having razor burn issues on my neck originally.

I found these items to be best at decreasing razor burn:

1- pre-shave
2- well understood beard map
3- A very sharp blade used at the right angle (lowest for ATG)
4- proper skin stretching
5- good lather well applied
6- cold water rinse and followed by moisturizer

On the pre-shave, I have tried all of the products mentioned here, and they all work to different degrees. I have finally settled on either a hot shower, or a hot lather and then apply a hot towel on top for a couple of minutes. Soft whiskers are much easier to shave.

Your beard map helps to do your beard reduction in a WTG, XTG, ATG order. At least on my face I can go WTG for two or three passes with no irritation. Which direction WTG actually is changes across my face based on the beard map. By the time I get to ATG, there is very little beard left.

A very sharp blade does not pull or tug, so you can apply extremely light to no pressure; and particularly ATG you can use a very low blade angle (spine touching the skin) and no pressure.

Skin stretching or skin traction lets you get the whiskers to stand up more. The direction you stretch in takes you right back to you beard map. You can stretch to stand up the whiskers and you can stretch skin to more flat places on your face. Combined with funny faces and different head positions, you can make shaving you neck much more like shaving your cheek. Not exactly like shaving your cheek but a lot closer to it.

When going ATG I use a thinner more watery lather, not running off my face, but not a pile of whipped cream either. The whiskers are so short after WTG, and XTG they don't even rise above the thickness of the blade. At least for me a thinner lather works a little better on the ATG and clean up spots.

A cold water rinse stops weepers and closes the pores, a good sensitive skin moisturizer calms everything down. If I want to check results, I can man up and run an alum block across my face.

Before I put everything here together into one shave, the Alum block was nicknamed 'napalm' -- I mean my face would be on fire. Same too with a alcohol based after shave, for a long time I just went with cold water and moisturizer so my face wasn't more tender.

Today I can get a BBS shave on my neck, and hit it with alcohol based after shave and not feel more than a tingle. Which means I didn't tear the skin up, it probably took around 50 shaves and a lot of experimenting to get there.

Good luck!

Best,

Ed

Jack,

Good show. Yes, keep the pressure light and the angle between 20 and 30 degrees for the most part. That is a general number. Keep your strokes short and avoid going over the same spot excessively. Castle Forbes pre-shave will help.

You're on your way, my friend. Embrace the whole ritual of straight razor and wet shaving. Remember, this is a lifetime experience, and it gets better with every shave.

Finally, remember that it is far more important to get a comfortable shave rather than a perfect shave.

Originally Posted by EdHutton

I can tell you how to find razor burn, but you might not like the process. A big alum block wet and spread across a wet face will absolutely fire up the razor burn areas. I was having razor burn issues on my neck originally.

I found these items to be best at decreasing razor burn:

1- pre-shave
2- well understood beard map
3- A very sharp blade used at the right angle (lowest for ATG)
4- proper skin stretching
5- good lather well applied
6- cold water rinse and followed by moisturizer

On the pre-shave, I have tried all of the products mentioned here, and they all work to different degrees. I have finally settled on either a hot shower, or a hot lather and then apply a hot towel on top for a couple of minutes. Soft whiskers are much easier to shave.

Your beard map helps to do your beard reduction in a WTG, XTG, ATG order. At least on my face I can go WTG for two or three passes with no irritation. Which direction WTG actually is changes across my face based on the beard map. By the time I get to ATG, there is very little beard left.

A very sharp blade does not pull or tug, so you can apply extremely light to no pressure; and particularly ATG you can use a very low blade angle (spine touching the skin) and no pressure.

Skin stretching or skin traction lets you get the whiskers to stand up more. The direction you stretch in takes you right back to you beard map. You can stretch to stand up the whiskers and you can stretch skin to more flat places on your face. Combined with funny faces and different head positions, you can make shaving you neck much more like shaving your cheek. Not exactly like shaving your cheek but a lot closer to it.

When going ATG I use a thinner more watery lather, not running off my face, but not a pile of whipped cream either. The whiskers are so short after WTG, and XTG they don't even rise above the thickness of the blade. At least for me a thinner lather works a little better on the ATG and clean up spots.

A cold water rinse stops weepers and closes the pores, a good sensitive skin moisturizer calms everything down. If I want to check results, I can man up and run an alum block across my face.

Before I put everything here together into one shave, the Alum block was nicknamed 'napalm' -- I mean my face would be on fire. Same too with a alcohol based after shave, for a long time I just went with cold water and moisturizer so my face wasn't more tender.

Today I can get a BBS shave on my neck, and hit it with alcohol based after shave and not feel more than a tingle. Which means I didn't tear the skin up, it probably took around 50 shaves and a lot of experimenting to get there.

Good luck!

Best,

Ed

Great post. Lots of great advice it looks like. Especially the "learn or burn" theory using an alumn block.

Is this right?
WTG= With The Grain (direction the whiskers would normally lay down?)
XTG= Across The Grain (90 degrees of the way they would lay?)
ATG= Against The Grain (180 degrees, directly opposite direction of the way they would lay?)

How do you determine your beard map? Someone else said let it grow a few days to see how it grows. I think he meant which direction different areas lay.

I'm beginning to think learning to shave with a straight razor might take me the better part of a couple weeks.

You have the acronyms down pat. The challenge is the direction on your face can change region by region as to which way is WTG (or any of the others). The hair on my neck comes down my trachea at the top but turns out towards my ears traveling across my neck sideways (trachea towards ear). So just under my chin, WTG is straight down my trachea. A little further down WTG is from trachea straight across my neck horizontally toward my ear. Going the wrong way on the wrong pass can cause a lot of irritation. I always go in the order: WTG, XTG, and then ATG last.

I don't remember where I found this blank picture, but it was probably on SRP someplace.



Let your beard grow out a bit, your finger tips can feel which way WTG and ATG is for each region of your face. Record the WTG direction with little arrows on the picture. It took me a couple of tries to refine it, because I had a couple of small patches (size of my thumb) which were little islands going against the grain in that region.

This next title is really good too (in the group library):

Search for Shaving passes - skip down to blade angle and skin stretching.

The challenge is there is a lot going on when you shave with a SR. After a while you get some things locked in and they start becoming automatic. Someone else (Obie?) gave the best advice I ever took: work for comfortable first and close shaves will follow.

I've driven a stick (manual transmission) my whole life. I remember it was interesting to learn as a teenager. Today I don't even think about it. My arm, leg, and ears keep the vehicle in the right gear automatically.

The SR is not like that yet, but little by little there are less things to think about. It does get easier. I've only been doing this for a few months. I'm still learning too. Only this week I figured out that a subtle reposition of my thumb on a grip gets me a better and more consistent blade angle.

Once you get past irritation and so so shaves, it becomes a lot more fun.

Best,

Ed

Originally Posted by EdHutton

Only this week I figured out that a subtle reposition of my thumb on a grip gets me a better and more consistent blade angle.

Once you get past irritation and so so shaves, it becomes a lot more fun.

Best,

Ed

I remember someone (probably you) mention a slight change in how to hold the razor making a big difference in a specific area. Then I remembered on my first several attempts to shave I found it SO hard to get a comfortable position. I had watched videos but didn't get it. I watched another couple and tried to duplicate what I saw. I was on my way then. I was instantly promoted to meat cutter. I don't nick myself as often now but I do sometimes. Worse part about that is having to remember where I have a nick and shave around it the next day. Those previous wounds are very unforgiving. I've done things in the past that I knew to force myself to concentrate and focus before I did anything. I'm finding thinking about anything other than the razor when shaving is risky. What's funny is sometimes I feel like I've sliced myself but there isn't a cut. Other times I will look in the mirror and there's a tiny nick I didn't feel when it happened. Wierd.

The only direction I've shaved so far is straight down. Except for the jawbone. There I pull my cheek up with the other hand and shave from the front of my face towards my ear. Then under the jawbone I go straight down my neck again. I'll try to figure out a map.

One piece of advice I did follow when I started was shaving just my cheeks. After a while I did my neck and later my chin. I haven't shaved my mustache off yet. I think I want to keep it but I'm also curious about how to shave there. It will always grow back. When I do shave it should I trim it with scissors first or just go for it with my razor. I used scissors first on my beard. But it started out much thicker. Are there any other special tips when dealing with the upper lip area?

[QUOTE=Jack0458;1382620
Are there any other special tips when dealing with the upper lip area?[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry I can't help you with the upper lip. I haven't seem my upper lip area in 37 years. The moustache has been with me a long time.

Definitely getting the right direction for 'your particular beard pattern' and we are all different, is going to help with comfort and lack of irritation big time. It sure did for me.

I'll have to pass the ball on upper lip to someone else!

Best,

Ed

Nicks and cuts are less often than initially, but I still get a nick occasionally now. I am sure there are more in my future. Oddly like you I seldom feel them, suddenly there is a little red dot on my cheek. Even more oddly my chin and neck are much more difficult to shave, but I usually nick a cheek.

I think because I pay more attention to the chin and neck. I'm probably get complacent about my cheek. Well except for near my ears where I pay close attention.

Usually the nicks are well healed by the next day and I just shave over the same area. I have had about three cuts where I had to avoid shaving there for more than a day to heal up. I think I'm lucky and heal pretty quickly.

Best,

Ed

Slight change in razor grip? Yes that was me. I have to shave sideways across my neck. I've been doing it well for several weeks now, but I first noticed my right hand did it better than my left hand. So studied the right hand (my dominant hand) and noticed I was moving my thumb further off axis on the jimps. So I mirrored the same thumb position on my left hand and suddenly the left hand was working much better. I frequently use one hand to teach the other so to speak.

I think it is pretty cool that a subtle change in grip makes a difference. Initially I was just happy to avoid cuts and nicks and razor burn. I'm getting pickier now

Best,

Ed

Gentlemen,

We seem to be drifting way off topic in this thread since the discussion centers on the pre-shave Castle Forbes. Thanks.