No whiteheads for 6 weeks now!

After a cartridge or electric shave, I would usually get a line of whiteheads on my neck. Since beginning straight razor shaving 6 weeks ago, I have not had the first whitehead anywhere on face or neck!

I assume this is due to the straight razor blade being so clean. There is no place for debris (whiskers, soap, water, dead skin) to collect and I wipe my blade down with a towel and coat in oil after each shave. I wish I had shaved this way all my adult life!

Anyone else have the same experience?

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Originally Posted by AnglesMatter

After a cartridge or electric shave, I would usually get a line of whiteheads on my neck. Since beginning straight razor shaving 6 weeks ago, I have not had the first whitehead anywhere on face or neck!

I assume this is due to the straight razor blade being so clean. There is no place for debris (whiskers, soap, water, dead skin) to collect and I wipe my blade down with a towel and coat in oil after each shave. I wish I had shaved this way all my adult life!

Anyone else have the same experience?

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Has anything else changed? For example, are you now using an alcohol based aftershave? I mean wet shaving by its nature is more "caring." Your brush exfoliates, as can your straight. The soaps nurture if they are any good, and the aftershaves close everything up afterward like a good safe at the bank! Woot.

Shaving certainly never gave me whiteheads, I think, but the whole process sure cleaned me up and according to my wife - makes me look younger.

That's a sensible thing to ask, as many people will overlook variables that should have been considered, but no, I do not use aftershave, and I have never used it, not even once.

I think cartridge/electric razors provide an excellent breeding ground for bacteria, which is why I believe whiteheads are common after such use. I recall a fellow student in college complaining of the same thing. I do not recall what he shaved with but I'd bet my house it wasn't a straight razor. :p

Since I only had this issue with cartridge razors and rarely with the old Braun which had a daily, automatic alcohol cleaning system, I avoided cartridge shaving like the plague. The Braun was close enough for gov't work, but I get twice the mileage out of a straight razor shave no problem.

I didn't use after shave back then, but I always use Geo. F. Trumper's skin food or Castle Forbes Lime post-shave balm these days. These products your face well, leaving a mild scent. However, I avoid EdP so as not to fumigate innocents who dare venture within my blast radius or contrail. ;)

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Originally Posted by Speedster

Since I only had this issue with cartridge razors and rarely with the old Braun which had a daily, automatic alcohol cleaning system, I avoided cartridge shaving like the plague. The Braun was close enough for gov't work, but I get twice the mileage out of a straight razor shave no problem.

I didn't use after shave back then, but I always use Geo. F. Trumper's skin food or Castle Forbes Lime post-shave balm these days. These products your face well, leaving a mild scent. However, I avoid EdP so as not to fumigate innocents who dare venture within my blast radius or contrail. ;)

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I'm a balm guy myself but here lately, the alcohol with a little balm after is just heaven!! It'll be for real in the summer when it gets muggy.

I had the exact same issue when using cartridge razors. I always thought they were razor bumps caused by too much pressure and incorrect angle cutting the hair under the skin line. The bumps were caused by the hair growing back and getting trapped under the skin.

Since I’ve been wet shaving I haven’t had anything like that happen except when I used too much pressure with a DE razor. It has never happened with a straight.

It’s really nice not to have to worry about those whiteheads and bumps anymore.

I used to get white bumps all the time with a cartridge, once I switched to the straight all of the bumps disappeared.
It is a pleasant bonus that goes with a good shave.

I don't know if it is the razor, the scrubbing action of the brush, the better soap, or using aftershave.

See I only changed one variable, which is the proper way to conduct an experiment. Wait a minute, no I didn't! Because Colonel Conk wasn't the easiest for me to deal with, I went to D.R. Harris Lavender Shaving Cream. That could be a factor but I doubt it.

If I still had access to lab materials, I'd do a swab of a used cartridge razor and my SR cutting edge and grow two cultures (on petri dishes) to see which has the most bacterial growth. I'd then test both for amount of Staphylococcus aureus, which I believe is the bacteria responsible for whiteheads. If I really wanted to do this right, I'd go back to a cartridge razor, see if whiteheads return, then burst one taking a sample of the bacteria contained within and compare that to what grew from the razor with the most bacteria. I'd have to do a test under both conditions of Col. Conk and DR Harris to be sure.

Since I don't want to go back to cartridge razors and whiteheads, I'll test one of you guys. I'll need volunteers. Sign up below. LOL :p

I've heard that a multi-bladed cartridge catches whiskers and pulls them out far enough that the next blade will cut the hair off beneath the level of the skin. The short sharp whisker that has retracted back into the follicle is the irritant that causes bumps, whiteheads, and ingrown whiskers.

A single blade doesn't have the same pulling affect on the whiskers.

:)

A properly honed straight razor used with good technique is perhaps the mildest and easiest razor on the skin.

Could be the others are just ‘beating your face up’.

Cheers, Steve

I definitely get less irritation with a straight when I get the pressure/angle right.
The ease of cleaning the blade while shaving is a big pro for me. Before straights, that was part of the reason I went from cartridges to DE razors was the fact you can clean them easier. Cartridges don't rinse out very well for me without a lot of water pressure.

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Originally Posted by JP5

I definitely get less irritation with a straight when I get the pressure/angle right.
The ease of cleaning the blade while shaving is a big pro for me. Before straights, that was part of the reason I went from cartridges to DE razors was the fact you can clean them easier. Cartridges don't rinse out very well for me without a lot of water pressure.

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I used to carry a squirt gun in the attempt force water through the plugged up gaps between the blades to clean the cartridges out. That was so pathetic! SMH.