Thread: Craving Consistent Comfort

My goal is to str8 razor shave everyday but I'm having blood issues. It's always the same place - on my chin, just below the corners of my mouth. Never serious; just pinhead size irritations that bleed.

My razors are sharp enough and I'm pulling the skin as tight as I can. Sometimes if I shave only every other day it's more comfortable but I want to know if anyone is shaving daily w/o irritation. Any tricks?

Rich

Always acknowledge a fault frankly. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.” – Mark Twain

Overstretching never worked for me. In fact, it gives me ingrown hairs.

Apart from yes, I am shaving daily without irritation. There is not really a trick, I think. It is a combination of high quality products (see my reviews in the classifieds) and technique acquired over time. That is really it.

Since everyones skin/whiskers are different it is hard to say. For example I've never had a shave bump or an ingrown hair. I used to get weepers shaving with a DE and some Feather blades and never got them with Gillette Swedes which were as sharp but smoother. At least they felt smoother to me.

With straight razor shaving weepers or razor burn is as rare as hens teeth IME. You might check your edges with magnification and look for micro chipping. That can sometimes give a rougher shave. Other than that what BeB said.

I would begin with sticking to one soap/cream, one brush, one razor. Change the technique only. Try different approaches and angles and see how the shaves compare. That is what worked for me when I was starting.

If you are doing so, I recommend that you stop going ATG in those few spots that are giving you consistent irritation, and see if that helps.

I can honestly count on one hand the number of shaves I've had where I didn't bleed at least a little bit somewhere.

Having said that... if you're getting cut in the same place every time, either your technique sucks in that one spot or there's something special about that area of your face. I've noticed a few areas where the follicles seem to "bump" out a little more than others, and tend to get their little tops cut off (for me, it's the "soul patch" and the outside edges of the 'stache area). In those spots, I find myself being satisfied with little repeated scrape-scrape-scrape WTG movements rather than trying to officially do XTG and ATG.

Also, feel free to NOT go for BBS in any area that constantly becomes irritated. Better to live to shave another day, I always say... whether it gets micro-smooth or just mostly-smooth today, you're still gonna have to shave it again tomorrow. So why hurt yourself? Consider changing your goal from BBS to "as close as I can get without irritation".

Think of it this way: even if your shave kinda sucks today and you look/feel a little goofy, at least the skin won't hurt and you get to enjoy the process again tomorrow.

I would begin with sticking to one soap/cream, one brush, one razor.

Thanks guys! This is all very helpful. I alternate between my dovo, geneva and wade & butcher. I'll have to try the above advice and see if one razor performs better than the others.

I am working on restoring another J. R. Torrey for my personal use and have also found them very comfortable to shave with. REALLY don't want to give up my bbs quest.

Rich

“Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any” – Mark Twain