Thread: straight razor shaving sensitive skin

Another cold water convert here; it made a world of a difference for me. I'm also very fond of Mitchell's Wool Fat.

I can't add a lot to the great advice you've already been given. All I'm going to say is ,
Use a very light touch stretch the skin shallow angle & short strokes, don't try to master it all at once slow down & use the shave as meditation ie; take time to get to know your face &Razor, Stick with one razor as you learn & you'll probably progress faster.
Try cold water shaving & face lathering.
Use shave sticks they are more or less unscented so that cuts out irritation from soap scents.
Cold water shaving has been a real game changer for me
I get little or no irritation now thanks to changing.
But it took about a week of Shaves before the eureka moment.
Good luck mate
Cheers Paul

I found that pressure is the biggest culprit for burn. Even after learning a light touch with a safety razor, I found that an even lighter touch was needed for straights. I saw someone here say to shave off the lather, not the hair, and for me, that worked perfectly. I went from beet red to being able to shave twice in a day if I want to with no burn.

I use Wm Neumann 1911 products (preshave oil, shaving cream, and balm) and find them to give a nice glide, and the balm soothes nicely after the shave. I also use cold water after the shave, but wash in hot water. All cold may work better for you. A razorock alum block after shaving and rinsing, before balm, also helps.

I'm curious about the suggestion to face lather. I tried it a few times and felt I was getting brush burn trying to build up a lather on my skin. I switched back to building the lather in a bowl. Is face lathering generally better for sensitive skin?

Originally Posted by SteveA

I'm curious about the suggestion to face lather. I tried it a few times and felt I was getting brush burn trying to build up a lather on my skin. I switched back to building the lather in a bowl. Is face lathering generally better for sensitive skin?

I do not have sensitive skin but I did give myself brush burn once from being too heavy handed face lathering with a new brush with good backbone. The lesson learned was that you do not need a lot of pressure on the brush to build a lather doing circular strokes face lather. Maybe try easing up on the pressure. Make sure you have enough product loaded and add more water a little at a time while you build the lather.

I have no idea if face lathering is better than bowl lathering for sensitive skin. My guess would be that bowl lathering would be better because all you are doing is spreading the already made lather with painting strokes which need no pressure.

Bob

Good thread and info. I have pretty sensitive skin and there are some good tips in here that will help me out. Thanks!

Very irritation prone skin; shaving and choice of laundry soap has always been something to watch out for. I like pretty much what evetyone else said, shaving sometimes every 24-hours or, mostly, every 36-48 hours with zero skin irritation.

-lots of water (or shower) preshave
-Noxema Skin Cream (or Proraso for the deeply pocketed)
-any soap or cream that doesn't bother my skin (for example, I like everything about Cella but it is awful to my skin)
-sharp, sharp, sharp razor including best stropping technique and a quick touch-up every five-10 shaves
-lightest possible pressure
-1-2 spine widths max
-thorough lukewarm rinse followed by a couple of cold water rinses
-witch hazel/aloe postshave lotion

I put Tea tree oil in my homemade shave soap. It is a great healing herb. I used it to help control burn. I tried to make it as gentle as possible. Try some Tea tree oil on your face after you shave...dilute it with a little water...as a after splash!!!

I notice that you fella's like Noxzema. I have been tossing around the idea of using camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus...these are ingredients used in Noxzema. However, I was unsure if men would like the smell. These are great skin care ingred. for troubled skin. I am so glad I logged on today, and found this thread. I am going to make a batch and have our local barber try it out for me. Thanks guys.

P.S. I am so excited, you all made my day.
Giving me confidence in making Shave soap.

For me its a combination of pre-shave prep, technique and post shave care and TBH I need to do all three or I'm in for trouble as I have quite sensitive skin as well!

Pre-shave I liberally wet my face, apply lather and let it sit while I strop. Then I wash it all off with piping hot water and reapply more lather before I begin the shave.

During the shave watch your angles! Too steep and you'll either irritate the skin or slash yourself, so remember - The spine shoud be no more than 1-1.5 spine widths away from the skin and always go with a light touch and minimal pressure.

Also, dont try to remove every hair with one swipe. Think gradual beard reduction and take as many passes and angles as it takes to get the job done without hurting yourself. TBH you should be able to apply lather and wipe it off with the blade all day long and have no irritation if you touch is light enough! Thats what you want to go for.

Post shave I wash all remaining lather off with hot water and give my face a good rinse. Then I apply the coldest water I can from the cold tap to close all the pores up and again give a good rinse. Then PAT your face dry (dont rub with the towel) gently and apply a post shave balm which has minimal alcohol content. I think pretty much all of them have some alcohol of some kind, but you basically dont want to be slapping a load of 40% proof Bay Rum right over the delicate skin you just ran a blade over hehe!

I know some people like that and if it works for you cool, but if you have sensitive skin you shoudl avoid it!

I've found the best PSB is Trumpers skin food (at least for me anyway), and their sandalwood skin food is simply superb. I cant recommend it enough!

Then with cologne just apply to the sides of the neck, perhaps a dab just below your adams apple and to the wrists - Basically dont put it anywhere the razor has just been!

For me this combination works really well to keep irritation to a minimum and results in a really great shave.

Hope thats of some help!