Desperate for moisture!!

My entire life of shaving i have always had irritated skin after shaving. I dont shave up. I just do a WTG then ATG left and ATG right. I have tried every i think, store brand aftershave and none of them leave my skin hydrated. I always have chapped skin after a good 3 pass shave. I havent taken the leap of faith into more expensive balms/lotions yet. I used some Art of Shaving aftershave lotion from a sampler i got at a local mens store. It was great!! my skin was rejuvinated and moisturized the entire day. A little greasy, but that doesnt bother me. I went to buy the big bottle and it was 38 bucks!!! im on a tight budget. Can anyone tell me of a great after shave lotion that will give me this effect on my face, not my wallet?

Never tried the AoS balm but I use Niveas as Moisturising balm and it's great on cold winter days when you just get dry skin in an instant. I think its cheaper then 38 bucks too. :)

how is that stuff? is it thick and creamy or is it a liquid

Try using Corn Huskers Lotion. It's actualy for dry rough hands, but it may work for you. I know I've used it from time to time in the winter if thigs seem to dry.

Hey Zee, I have both AoS's unscented balm and the under $10 Nivea shaving balm... I think that the AoS is definitely a better product, with the Nivea feeling a bit greasier while not providing as much irritation relief or moisturizing; BUT for the price Nivea is certainly the go to product, and it is not bad at what it does.

Budget... check out baby oil baby lotion (just a little bit)
makes sense after a BBS.

You may want to check out the QED Aftershave Skin Conditioners: Shop for Men's Shaving and Skincare Products - Geo F. Trumper Taylor of Old Bond Street Merkur Razors Proraso Savile Row Speick Tabac Musgo Real QED Soaps

A tiny bit goes a LONG way and they're undoubtedly the most moisturizing balms I've come across.

I find shaving with cold water (yes, I'm still doing it, even in the middle of winter) doesn't remove the oil from my skin like hot water seemed to do. Today I didn't use any balm or oil and my skin is soft and smooth. Actually, I never Need to use a balm - I just apply all these products to fill the holes in my life caused by my own general incompetence. And it's working! :)

But if you're looking for things to try I'd thoroughly recommend the Nivea. You might also try applying olive oil to your face while you're in the shower - I found it soaks in and then when you shave you remove the olive oil and not your own. But as I say, since switching to cold water all of these problems went away for me.

Edit: I also found drinking enough water throughout the day can make a difference.

Zee,

I use E45 moisturising lotion; it is very good and quite in-expensive (for the UK). at ca 5 GBP/500 mL I don't know if it is available in the US.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Mama Bear Soaps also make a great aftershave. they have a summer and winter version where the winter is moremoisturizing. i have the summer style and it moisturizes my skin better than others i have used so i would assume the winter would be way better. the nivea is good but to oily feeling for me.

AFTERSHAVE

Thats some info guys, thanks. Im going to pick up the nivea for now. Ill probably try the cold water and olive oil too, just for kicks. Im checking up on the Mama Bear, E45 and QED too.

You need to check out jojoba oil.

"This natural oil is light golden in color and is odorless. Apart from being quite inexpensive and easy available, it has several other advantages. Jojoba oil does not have any toxic effect and rarely causes allergic reactions. It has a rich content of vitamin E that helps in preventing wrinkles on the skin. It acts as a natural antioxidant too. It is effective in bringing down skin inflammations and is capable of killing some skin bacteria. Jojoba oil provides the required moisture to the skin without blocking the skin pores."

I use it as a pre-shave and an after-shave.

I'd go with Trumpers skin food. That stuff is brilliant and a medium size bottle will last you about a year or so, even with daily use. A little goes a long way..!

If the problems are so severe as you describe, rather than trying out random products, which may or may not help you, I would consult with a dermatologist. I have used the Art of Shaving balm and it is very good. I also like the Truefitt & Hill. Both of these are great but definitely not cheap, I have also heard wonders about Baxter of CA. http://straightrazorpalace.com/after...ave.html?ltr=B

http://straightrazorpalace.com/after...lm-awsome.html

Al raz.

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Originally Posted by Zee

My entire life of shaving i have always had irritated skin after shaving. I dont shave up. I just do a WTG then ATG left and ATG right. I have tried every i think, store brand aftershave and none of them leave my skin hydrated. I always have chapped skin after a good 3 pass shave. I havent taken the leap of faith into more expensive balms/lotions yet. I used some Art of Shaving aftershave lotion from a sampler i got at a local mens store. It was great!! my skin was rejuvinated and moisturized the entire day. A little greasy, but that doesnt bother me. I went to buy the big bottle and it was 38 bucks!!! im on a tight budget. Can anyone tell me of a great after shave lotion that will give me this effect on my face, not my wallet?

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It has been mentioned in part already on this post; but I thought I would add my twist to it.

Corn Huskers Lotion - superduper cheap from Wall Mart or similar store. It is almost pure colegen which is great for the skin. It smells just a little like baby powder; but fades quick, and is not greasy. The bottle is clear plastic with a yellow label. You only need a tiny tiny bit to do the trick. It is really thick and goes a long way. If I use just plain Corn Huskers it is usually no bigger than the size of a dime for my entire face.

Witch Hazel (any brand preferably unscented) - also superduper cheap from any grocery store, drug store, Wall Mart etc...

Now find yourslef a bottle, it can be anything really. Use what ever you prefer.

Mix the Corn Huskers and Witch Hazel about 60/40. If you want it thicker add more Corn Huskers. Thinner add more Witch Hazel.

You have a just made an all purpose aftershave for well under 5$, and it should last you at least six months unless you bathe in it. If you really wanted to you could get a little of your favorite esential oil, and turn it into a custom scented aftershave. You can even full on cheat by adding a few drops of your favorite colonge to the mix.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zee

how is that stuff? is it thick and creamy or is it a liquid

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More like cream than liquid but still not as creamy as a lotion.

You don't mention what product you are using for shaving, but instead of concentrating solely on the aftershave part may be using something more moisturizing before that would go a long way to help.

When looking at price a better comparison is cost/shave, not cost/package. A product that costs two times more for a given quantity, but you need only a quarter of the amount you'd normally use is actually two times cheaper.

Sffone The jojoba looks like a good idea.

1adam12 I am SO gunna do the Corn Huskers Lotion and Witch Hazel idea. That sounds great. I off to CVS now!

After trying many different creams/balms both cheap and expensive, I find that the best remedy for dry skin during the danish winters is almond oil - it seems to moisturize more than olive oil while at the same time being less greasy, so it doesn't make the skin look shiny. After shaving I wet my hands with water and 2-3 drops of the oil before applying to my face.

I haven't tried witch hazel or jojoba oil, so I can't compare with those, but based on my experience with various kinds of oil for this purpose I can say that their properties vary greatly depending on what kind it is.

Also, the dryness of your skin can partly be alleviated by chosing a non-soap based cleanser (dermalogica and neutrogena are good but also expensive), and a shaving cream instead of a soap. Palmolive shave cream is cheap, widely available and very good, although the smell is perhaps not for everyone. The most moisturizing shaving cream I've tried was a kind of gel, canned, from Neutrogena - it did nothing to soften the beard, but otherwise left my skin feeling very good.

Being a little bit of a contrarian, I doubt finding a better cream is your answer. For your description, it might improve things. But, my hunch is that there is more room for improvement in shaving technique. And, there are 1001 different things to try in technique! So, let me mention just one that helped me a lot. It works great for me, but I haven't heard it mentioned that I recall from other SRP members. So, maybe the technique below isn't generally applicable.

The toughest part of my beard is on my chin. Initially, my shaves there left my skin irritated and burned no matter how light and carefully I shaved. What turned the trick for me was actually three aspects of blade angle.

#1 - Slices and Scything shave motions.

I started using slices and scything motions.

#2 - Moving from WTG to Less Than ATG

I started shaving WTG, and then shaving at something less than XTG for my next pass. Probably, my second pass is WTG+60 degrees; not quite the 90 degrees that it would take to move to true XTG.

#3 - Blade Elevation

I consider WTG the most important pass. I have to reduce the beard to very close to skin level with the WTG pass or it is irritation in spades if I go on to XTG. But, and here is where most of my irritation came from, even using a very sharp Lynn Abrams honed blade, unstropped, straight from his hone, it took multiple WTG passes to get to skin level. I start at about 10 degrees elevation with the first WTG pass. Lather the area of the blade pass, and do it again. With each pass I raise the angle of the blade a little. After several passes I am down to skin level. But, (probably due to a combination of tough whiskers and somewhat sensitive skin), sometimes after several such passes, my face is irritated and uncomfortable. Arrrgh!

After a pass or two, I have MOST of the whiskers cut down to skin level. But, there are stragglers out there that require several more passes. And, the extra passes required to nip off the stragglers is what moves me into irritation.

The technique that worked for me was to elevate the blade to a very steep angle, maybe 60 or 70 degrees for the final "nip off the stragglers" passes. With this angle, it can almost be described as scraping off whiskers.

I have found that if I use a very, very light touch, skimming the blade over the skin at a steep angle, it doesn't irritate my skin at all. I can take as many passes with the blade at this angle as I need to remove the stragglers. (Stretching the skin to make the stragglers stand up is very important.)

I've had problems with dry skin before. I just started using the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) and it does a great job of hydrating my face. You may want to look into it. Alternatively, you can try using a pre-shave oil - that may help keep some of the moisture in your face.

The Oil Cleansing Method - A simple, cleansing facial massage for clear skin!