Thread: Castle Forbes Pre-shave

Castle Forbes is the best; I do break out the tobs jermyn street shave gel now and again.

I stated before that I've never been a fan of pre shave oils. But this one being water based interests me. I can see this potentially being of benefit to me. But at $40, it might be a while before I get around to trying it.

I'm a huge fan of the stuff. Like you, I hate the feel of oils & I really don't see the point in re-waterproofing my beard... I do notice a little bit more protection from skin irritation when using it & it has just a touch of beard-softening going on. Not earth-shattering, mind you, but just a little extra.

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.

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.

My advice would be this; let your beard grow for a few days and study which way your hair grows around your neck. If like me your hair could grow in several different ways so you could be going against the grain which would easily lead to shaving rash. I have to break my neck into three different parts which although takes a bit more time and care eliminates the rash/ irritation that I used to get.
IMO a newly honed razor is not aggressive unless you go a bit ott with a diamond paste.
Good luck

Mark

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.

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!

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.