Thread: Striaight Shaving Sensitive Skin

I have always had extremely sensitive skin, which always made comfortable shaving an issue.

The last two weeks I was away on vacation and wanted to travel light, so I used only safety razors. When I came back I immediately went to my str8s and took a shave with one and it was great. Last night, I shaved with a str8 razor I had just received shave ready from one of our honemeisters. It was perfectly sharp, but something felt wrong; my skin felt raw. I couldn't understand why I was doing everything the same as the night before. But I finished the last pass with a DE.

This morning my skin is somewhat sore. I happened to be at a dermatologist's office, and he took one look at my face and asked what had happened. He said I had a skin condition (permanent) call rosacia (?) and the str8 shave had irritated it. He gave me a prescription for a balm.

I asked if this kind of shaving was a problem and he said it could happen again. I've been a wet shaver for over 40 years without something like this happening. For now, I need to lay off the str8s until my skin clears. Then I'll try again. If nothing happens the first day, I may just have to not str8 shave two days in a row. I still need to shave every day. I don't know why it happened now. I've done str8 shaving more than two days in a row before with no problem.

Did you wash the razor off before you used it? I am just wondering if something might have been on the blade from when it was sharpened, like strop conditioner or whatever. Maybe there was something on the blade that irritated your skin, and not the shave itself.

Just guessing here,
showme

Thanks for the suggestion.

I always spray a new razor with Clippercide and wash it thoroughly to remove the Clippercide. The Clippercide should destroy anything living and the wash should remove everything else.

But you made me think. I did use a new brush. I cleaned it as well as I could, but I did have to be a lot more careful with a brush than a razor.

Originally Posted by showme1or2

Did you wash the razor off before you used it? I am just wondering if something might have been on the blade from when it was sharpened, like strop conditioner or whatever. Maybe there was something on the blade that irritated your skin, and not the shave itself.

Just guessing here,
showme

Hey Joe,
Could you have used a little more pressure than was necessary, considering that you had just received a really sharp blade back from one of the honemeisters ? Just a thought. :roll:
I have found, too, that every razor does not shave exactly the same. With some razors the best shaving angle seems different than on others.
I think it was Ray (of ClassicShaving fame) who mentioned that he had to switch to a DE for a time because of some skin issue. You may want to e-mail him to ask what his dermatologist suggested and why.
Hope everything clears up.
Parry

Thanks for the response.

I thought the blade felt great when I started and I used very little pressure. I think the problem was that I was using a new brush and maybe hadn't soaked it and cleaned it enough.

The doc gave me an antibiotic cream called metrocream, which is described as being for rosacea.

Thanks for the information about Ray. I think I will contact him.

Originally Posted by newdovo

Hey Joe,
Could you have used a little more pressure than was necessary, considering that you had just received a really sharp blade back from one of the honemeisters ? Just a thought. :roll:
I have found, too, that every razor does not shave exactly the same. With some razors the best shaving angle seems different than on others.
I think it was Ray (of ClassicShaving fame) who mentioned that he had to switch to a DE for a time because of some skin issue. You may want to e-mail him to ask what his dermatologist suggested and why.
Hope everything clears up.
Parry