Thread: For sensitive skin: first pass with electric

My father used to use an electric razor and made a point of shaving his neck first. His reasoning was that when the area that contacted the skin got warm that was where the irritation came from. Shaving the neck before the heat built up seemed to help him. Of course he's dead now, but I don't think it was the razor that took him out.

I guess it just goes to show that we are all different.

I've tried an electric at 3 or 4 different times of my life as the technology changed in hopes that it might be the solution to the irritation I had when shaving. In every case the electric made my entire face red and raw.

Cartridge blades were a little better, but the best shave I've had is with a straight razor. I might try a DE sometime, just to compare.

Originally Posted by vitalMyth

even with a DE? this seems intuitive to me for SR, but with a DE it seems like a single ATG pass on a few-days-old beard would cause clogging?

I've shaved my entire head with an OC gillette and never had an issue with clogging. This was after at least a weeks worth of growth.

Have you tried doing two DE passes prior to the shower, and then a final pass after the shower?

That seems to be the other variable involved here...
Maybe it's not the electric, but the shower between that is helping you out.

@ Opening Poster,

A good shave is a combination of a smooth face and a no irritation of the skin.

If 3 passes is too much why not one or 2? If your beard hairs are thin as you describe you might be able to get a good shave going against the grain only. Or try XTG or WTG only.

My skin would not tolerate 3 pass shaves. I do ATG only. Works for me.

Originally Posted by Kees

@ Opening Poster,

A good shave is a combination of a smooth face and a no irritation of the skin.

If 3 passes is too much why not one or 2? If your beard hairs are thin as you describe you might be able to get a good shave going against the grain only. Or try XTG or WTG only.

My skin would not tolerate 3 pass shaves. I do ATG only. Works for me.

i've been doing the same the past few days with good results. i had read several people raving about multi-pass stubble reduction, and when i started doing it, i noticed an improvement in my results. but at this point i am pretty sure that the benefit was just from the lather sitting on my beard and softening it for a couple minutes, rather than from the first couple passes themselves. i'm now just doing a single pass XTG in sensitive areas and ATG elsewhere, but i have been applying the lather to my face and letting it sit for 60 seconds, rinsing, then re-lathering before my single-pass shave. it's been great, and no irritation.

thanks for suggestions all!