Thread: Burning skin

Originally Posted by jnich67

As already stated...Practice, Practice, Practice....

30 degrees or two spine widths away from the face are rules of thumb. You'll get a feel for the proper angle at various places on your face.

As far as pressure, I've really been noticing lately (after almost 2 years of practice) that there's this "place" where the whiskers meet the skin. You want the edge to be working right at this place. The edge can be touching the skin, but not pushing into the skin. Its kind of like finding "the sweet spot". I'm problably stating the obvious here, but what the hell.

Jordan

That's good advice; two spine lengths. I'm now convinced I am using the wrong angle, and to much pressure because the burn only sets in after the shave and intensifies after applying the after shave. Just a thought, but how useful are pre-shave treatments in your experience?

Chad

A rolled edge would probably show up under a scope. Not sure what it would look like though--I've been lucky!

Here's a cool trick I tried when I was starting: make your 1st WTG pass w/ a DE if you have one. This way, you're not trying to learn technique and cut hair at the same time. You can just focus on making a good stroke without worrying about closeness yet. You might still want to limit it to 1 WTG pass with the str8, though. As everyone says, give your skin time to adjust.

I'm also new and have experience the burn a few times. I've been able to almost directly correlate the burn with feeling like I have to push the blade through the stubble.

When I started I bought a brand new razor and honed it myself, so that was definitely part of the problem. My honing technique has improved to the point where I'm now quite confident that my razor is "sharp".

I've also learned that with the right angle (as previously mentioned 'where the hair meets the skin') I don't feel the need to apply pressure to the razor to get it to slice hair, and end up with a much smoother shave and no burn.

I do 1 pass WTG, and then a sort of half a pass oblique to the grain under my jawline and ATG on my chin and find that I'm very nearly BBS almost everywhere.

I'm pretty sure you'll find it's excess pressure and angle. Why you need to use such pressure and angle is usually caused by a slightly dull edge or as someone mentioned a rolled edge though I'm not convinced the latter is all that common. I would normally take a razor that is just starting to dull and give it about 50 laps on a chromium oxide pasted paddle strop, then strop normally and shave again. If you have a linen strop, you might want to up the number of laps on that before the next shave... 50 or more if the edge isn't popping hairs and meeting the other normal indicators of being completely sharp.

By the way, you have a great product to use after a rough shave in your arsenal, but it doesn't sound like you are using it that way. The Proraso Pre-Post cream is my favorite "I think this shave went badly" after shave product. After rinsing and cooling off my face with some cold water, I just use a small amount of the prepost and rub it in... too much will leave your face looking like you've used mime makeup and don't get your alum block near it... alum makes prepost curdle.

Yupp, tweak that edge, back off the pressure (should still cut nice and close if it's sharp) and a schmear of prepost diluted with the moisture on your face to finish should calm things right down.

Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

I'm pretty sure you'll find it's excess pressure and angle. Why you need to use such pressure and angle is usually caused by a slightly dull edge or as someone mentioned a rolled edge though I'm not convinced the latter is all that common. I would normally take a razor that is just starting to dull and give it about 50 laps on a chromium oxide pasted paddle strop, then strop normally and shave again. If you have a linen strop, you might want to up the number of laps on that before the next shave... 50 or more if the edge isn't popping hairs and meeting the other normal indicators of being completely sharp.

By the way, you have a great product to use after a rough shave in your arsenal, but it doesn't sound like you are using it that way. The Proraso Pre-Post cream is my favorite "I think this shave went badly" after shave product. After rinsing and cooling off my face with some cold water, I just use a small amount of the prepost and rub it in... too much will leave your face looking like you've used mime makeup and don't get your alum block near it... alum makes prepost curdle.

Yupp, tweak that edge, back off the pressure (should still cut nice and close if it's sharp) and a schmear of prepost diluted with the moisture on your face to finish should calm things right down.

Regards

Christian

Well, I just finished shaving and, having taken all the advice you guys gave me in this tread, the results were A LOT better. I definitely think to much pressure and poor angle were the culprit. I focused on both and had no burn after I finished and applied AS. Last time it burned like hell! The two spine lenghts is a good rule of thumb for the proper angle.

Another culprit might have been stropping technique. I upped my passes to 50 on the linen side and 50 on the leather, and by the time I finished I could really tell from the sound of the blade going across the leather that the edge was lining up nicely. The razor was practically brand new and was honed by one our honemeisters, so I knew it wasn't a rolled edge or a dull blade, at least, not after 2 shaves!

Thanks guys for the guidance!

Chad

Chad, glad to hear it! I must keep practicing - I tried again with little pressure two mornings ago, but the razor just wasn't clipping my hair away. I had no burn, but my face was quite stubbly.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Chad, glad to hear it! I must keep practicing - I tried again with little pressure two mornings ago, but the razor just wasn't clipping my hair away. I had no burn, but my face was quite stubbly.

I think your blade might be dull. When is the last time you honed it?

My 2 cents that I would add to the advice already given is to buy an alum block. An alum block will help heal the sensitive skin and also help close up the pores. The other thing it does and don't ask me how but it smooths and tightens the skin. I understand the tightening effect, it's alum after all but the smoothing is really interesting. It actually enhances the shave. They are only like $6.00 and they last forever. Also they are very easy to use. Rinse your face, then run the block under cool water and rub lightly on your face. Wait a few seconds and rinse again then apply your post shave treament like aftershave, or nivea whatever. It's great stuff and I highly reccomend it. Also it heals razor burn almost instantly.
Kevin