Thread: Nmber of Days

I think you might be still in your learning phase. Dont kid yourself it takes a bit of time believe me. But after a while the weepers and the cuts dont happen as much or at all. When I started, aftershave was like douseing my face in battery acid. Now I hardly feel any real pain or have the need for the alum block. I also think that stropping can never be overdone. Alot of razor burn I feel is due to unsufficient stropping. When in doubt strop it some more. J.M.H.O.
Darl

Originally Posted by crouton976

....it's possible you can train your skin to shave every day if you do it for a period of time... it's quite amazing how adaptive and resilient the human body is.

It's actually a myth that your skin will "toughen up" over time, unless of course we're talking about a span of decades. After the initial break-in period when one starts to use a straight or DE (where the skin gets accustomed to the extra exfolative effects of those types of razors) if your skin can't hack daily shaving that's just reality. Shaving daily will just become an exercise in futility and pain. That's why it's every other day for me, perhaps more since I have a job that doesn't require me to be clean shaven every single day.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

It's actually a myth that your skin will "toughen up" over time, unless of course we're talking about a span of decades. After the initial break-in period when one starts to use a straight or DE (where the skin gets accustomed to the extra exfolative effects of those types of razors) if your skin can't hack daily shaving that's just reality. Shaving daily will just become an exercise in futility and pain. That's why it's every other day for me, perhaps more since I have a job that doesn't require me to be clean shaven every single day.

I am sure I have read this elsewhere, and it kind of makes sense, especially as after shaving we generally use a swathe of products to keep our skin nice. And also as you say, we exfoliate, so any tougher outer layer would be removed, as opposed to a manual labourers hands, which will toughen over time due to layers of skin not being abraded away, if on the other hand that labourer were to use pummice etc to remove all of the toughened skin, they would get blisters everyday.
Well that's just my take on it anyway but I am no beautician.

Usually don't disagree with you Ryan, but do on this one. Not sure if its the shaving or the products that you use after shaving that makes the difference but there is a change in your skins tolerance for what it'll take from a razor.
(Or its that you've just rounded off the bumps and built up scar tissue(:-)

Shoot Darl, you and me both know that I will always be in my learning phase. And brother, it sure is fun.

Originally Posted by Tarkus

I think you might be still in your learning phase. Dont kid yourself it takes a bit of time believe me. But after a while the weepers and the cuts dont happen as much or at all. When I started, aftershave was like douseing my face in battery acid. Now I hardly feel any real pain or have the need for the alum block. I also think that stropping can never be overdone. Alot of razor burn I feel is due to unsufficient stropping. When in doubt strop it some more. J.M.H.O.
Darl

Originally Posted by WW243

Shoot Darl, you and me both know that I will always be in my learning phase. And brother, it sure is fun.

I think were both in perpetual learning phase.

Originally Posted by Johnus

Usually don't disagree with you Ryan, but do on this one. Not sure if its the shaving or the products that you use after shaving that makes the difference but there is a change in your skins tolerance for what it'll take from a razor.
(Or its that you've just rounded off the bumps and built up scar tissue(:-)

Thanks for your comments John (at least I assume your name is John )

I can only speak from my own experience and second hand accounts from friends and acquaintances. And I'm certainly not a dermatologist, but I do know that there are vast differences in skin types and I can only guess the reasons why some can't shave daily. Rate of skin regeneration would be one guess. Skin softness would be another. In my case, my skin is fairly soft even at my age, even after many many years of shaving; it also tends to be on the oily side, which would certainly account for why it remains soft. I anticipate by the time I'm 70 it will be dry and leathery like any old codger

The funny thing is I can use any shaving cream/soap or aftershave, no matter how high the alcohol content, without any ill effects at all. Many members can't claim the same, yet they can shave daily without any problems. I wrote a blog about this some time ago about the differences between abrasion sensitivity vs chemical sensitivity. If you're lucky you'll have neither, but both conditions aren't as rare as some would think, in fact it's quite common. It's the ultimate case of YMMV.

Yes, it is John . Going on 66 and am a little concerned about my skin. 2 reasons: father live till he was 94, and after 70 I remember his skin 'thinning' out. He was into natural remedies and used olive oil as a conditioner. (Didn't really work(:-(
2nd reason is that I have a preteen daughter and don't want to look like her great grand father. Shaving with a str8 and using good soaps, alum, toners and moisturisers seems to help.

The word "patooty", an alternative spelling for "patootie", generally refers to the buttocks. If you are shaving every day, doing it while sitting down, and your buttocks are turning red, you might consider a change of underwear. If you are actually shaving your buttocks, you can probably skip a week or so.

Naturally your face will feel "tougher" if you shave every other day rather than every day, but you should still be able to shave daily with closeness and comfort. I can achieve that with a safety razor or straight razor, but during all those years I used multi-blade razors it was miserable because I had to shave every day and my face was irritated all the time.