Week 2 and starting to have problems.

[Straightandproud]

Newbie here again.
Ok, so I'm on week 2 of straight razor shaving and have successfully shaved 5 times. The first 3 were pretty slow and very satisfying. Then I started to see a problem. I am now starting to get a pretty good case of razor burn/ingrown hairs. I am showering first, using quality soaps (Strop Shop Baker Street and Kell's Black Tea, Energy) and stropping the razor adequately. I am not using anything but quality soap. Is this a sign that I need to seek out a pre or post shave treatment? Or should I just suck it up and work on my shaving technique? I am at a point where I feel I might need to give my face a week or so to heal up but really don't want to.

[tintin]

I found i get ingrown hairs from shaving in the wrong direction ie. against the grain. have you mapped out your hair growth direction? as for razor burn make sure you are using enough pressure to just wipe off the lather and keep your skin stretched tight JMHO.(i found that too many passes irritates my skin as well, sometimes i just let the shave be good enough. there's always tomorrow.

[Straightandproud]

I would not go as far as to say that I have "mapped out" my hair growth, but I do make a point to go with the grain entirely. I have been shaving my whole face, washing and re-lathering, then making a second pass. Probably leave it at one pass for a while. But why am I just now seeing this problem? Why not on the first 3 shaves? Am I overdoing it by shaving every other day at first?

[BobH]

I have no idea on the ingrown hairs, never really suffered from them fortunately. The razor burn you are getting may be due to using too much pressure on the blade and or the wrong angle. Use next to no pressure on the blade and have a gap between the spine and face of between 2 to 3 spine widths.

You could also have dulled the razor by poor stropping technique. Very few people strop a razor "adequately" in the beginning. I sure did not and dulled the razor very quickly with poor stropping at the start.

To help sooth the irritation you could use a good after shave balm such a Nivea extreme comfort.

Bob

[MJC]

I have no idea on the ingrown hairs, never really suffered from them fortunately. The razor burn you are getting may be due to using too much pressure on the blade and or the wrong angle. Use next to no pressure on the blade and have a gap between the spine and face of between 2 to 3 spine widths.

You could also have dulled the razor by poor stropping technique. Very few people strop a razor "adequately" in the beginning. I sure did not and dulled the razor very quickly with poor stropping at the start.

To help sooth the irritation you could use a good after shave balm such a Nivea extreme comfort.

Bob

+1 BobH wrote my post for me...

It is all about the edge. And the better your edge the easier it is to learn - unfortunately when we are atarting out edge care is one of the skills we are trying to master.

Hang in there - Smoother shaving is around the corner...

[Straightandproud]

Sounds like my razor is dulling and my stropping is incorrect. I strop 20 round trips on linen and 50 on leather before every shave. Do I need to have the razor professionally sharpened again or can I bring the edge back on the strop?

[tcrideshd]

I,m in agreement with just about everything said , 5 shaves does not an experienced shaver. It takes months ,, I shave everyday, it took at least 50 shaves to have the technique right. As for stropping we all think we're doing good in the beginning, then we learn we haven't. Your description says now the shaves are irritating , good sign , blade was sharp on the first shave , now another opinion, some soaps can cause irritation, I have heard several guys who can't take tea tree oil. Maybe that's in your soap? Some guys have to use sensitive skin creams ,, I don't think your over doing, because 5 shaves in 2 weeks isn't much , also it does take time for your face to get used to it. Maybe as your confidence is growing , your being more aggressive with the blade, There are many things that can be happening, try a different soap " eliminate 1 item at a time Good luck. And also do you know your edge is as sharp as before? Tc

[BobH]

Sounds like my razor is dulling and my stropping is incorrect. I strop 20 round trips on linen and 50 on leather before every shave. Do I need to have the razor professionally sharpened again or can I bring the edge back on the strop?

If your razor has been dulled by incorrect stropping and not poor shaving technique then more incorrect stropping won't bring it back. OTH there is no harm in trying by increasing the number of strokes on leather to see if that helps.

Stropping like shaving needs next to no pressure on the blade.

Bob

[cubancigar2000]

I would bet the edge is not as shave ready as it could be

[10Pups]

If your using a hanging strop....lay it down on a table and try stropping that way. You may be stropping with too much slack or to much pressure. This method will eliminate both of those mistakes. And strop till you drop. In other words double, your laps. I won't go into testing for sharpness because it probably won't do you any good at this point but if you follow all the advice above and it doesn't work , I suggest you find a mentor that can touch up your razor and help your stropping technique.