Thread: Stainless steel allergy question

This thread is 13 years old
Maybe someone will reply

Cheap (as in "quality", not necessarily "price") disposable razors often cause this. For example, BiC "Silky Touch" (twin-blade) does this to me; Gillette "Trac II" (twin-blade cartridge) does not. Go figure.

A few years ago I bought a nickel test kit, and found a bunch of my DE and SE razors to be "culprits". Sent 'em to Gasman. There's no "fix" for it -- sue "The Guy Upstairs".

There are a lot more alternatives today than there were back in 2011 when this thread was initiated.

There can be many different causes of irritation during shaving. There can be allergic reactions to the nickel used in some stainless steels. If this is the case, you can use a carbon steel blade such as Treet Classic Carbon. Of course, shaving with a straight razor forged from carbon steel might be the answer, but it introduces a different set of parameters.

Even using a stainless blade with multiple layers of coating such as the blades produced by Derby might help. Those blades are coated with chromium, ceramic, platinum, and tungsten. Those coatings might minimise the contact with the underlying stainless steel. For those with a mild beard like most women and some men, the Derby Extra blades might be sharp enough.

In the past decade, artisan shaving soap producers have worked to produce shaving soaps that are far more skin friendly than soaps available when this thread was first started. There are preshaves that can prepare sensitive skin for the shave, shaving soaps with skin protecting and nourishing ingredients, and aftershave lotions, serums and balms that can heal and moisturize the skin after the shave.

While I don't have any allergies that I know of, I do have very sensitive skin prone to irritation. The artisans I have found to make some of the most skin friendly products are: Grooming Dept/Aion Skincare, Zingari Man, and Gentleman's Nod, although there are several others as well. Although the later two artisans seem to emphasize the male shaver, I would not hesitate to recommend their products to either gender.

Sometimes scent ingredients in shaving products can cause irritation. In my case, I am sensitive to lemon, lime, grapefruit, mint, menthol, cinnamon and clove. I have to be careful in using products that contain any of these ingredients, but small quantities might not trigger irritation.

One thing you can do to test sensitivity is to apply a product on the inside of your elbow. Leave it on for a hour and then wash it off. If there is any irritation, avoid that specific product.

Originally Posted by RayClem

For those with a mild beard like most women and some men, the Derby Extra blades might be sharp enough.

I will say one thing about those Derby Extra blades, they work well for me. I get 7 days of four pass face lathered shaves from one before I pitch it. When I used straight razors, I did the same four pass shaves every day. They are sharp enough for my girly man beard.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I will say one thing about those Derby Extra blades, they work well for me. I get 7 days of four pass face lathered shaves from one before I pitch it. When I used straight razors, I did the same four pass shaves every day. They are sharp enough for my girly man beard.

Bob

While the Derby Extra blade is the best known of the Derby blades, it is only one of the options. While the Derby Extra blade is not sharp enough for me, I can get good shaves from the Derby Premium and USTA blades. The Bluebird blade is also good. I believe Derby is also the manufactuer of the blades sold by Parker Razor.

I also can't see a stainless-steel DE blade causing an allergic reaction from shaving with it. I think it takes prolonged contact with any metal to get an allergic reaction. The boss had an allergic reaction used to pin her ankle together and people have had allergic reaction to watch and ring metals after wearing them for a while.

Bob