Thread: Straight everyday? Against the grain?

Well, I have finally gotten the shave of straight razor shaving (for the most part). Due to my chosen profession, I have to shave everyday and get a damn close shave, which means usually a 3 pass shave. My face has taken to this just fine, but my neck is still really tender, especially on the against the grain pass. It has lead me to shave for a few days with the straight, then a few days with a disposable to basically let my skin recover. I follow a good pre shave (I use a hot towel or hot shower, Castle forbes pre shave lotion, and make a good lather and rub it in thoroughly with my brush). Any tips on how to help my skin recover or adapt better? Thanks.

You may try witch hazel. I use "Nivea anti irritation" aftershave balm and it seems to do the trick since I have sensitive skin,

A regiment that I've taken to recently that seems to be working quite well is following my shaves with witch hazel and an alum block (some may consider this overkill, but I've not experienced any irritation to speak of since doing it). Also, since that can be a bit drying on my face, I've been putting some unscented lotion on my face prior to going to bed at night... It seems to be offsetting the effects of the witch hazel and alum, and my skin looks better than it has in years.

It'll add a little more time to your regimen, but have you tried two or three XTG passes instead of an ATG pass?

My beard is course and the hollows to each side of my Adam's apple sensative and I find that I get a quite a close shave with considerably less irritation if I do 2-3 XTG pass on my neck - or even an XTG then a pass that's 45 deg. between XTG and ATG - instead of one XTG, then one ATG.

If you get less irritation from a disposable than from a straight, your technique might need some improvement. Check the Wiki for "passes" and read the two sections about angles and skin stretching - they're among the most useful pieces of information in the entire Wiki (thanks, Bart!).

Also, buffing with zero pressure (pressure being my prime suspect, together with wrong angle) might help.

Finally, alum and a good aftershave balm will definitely help.

Good luck, and keep us updated.

Regards,
Robin

Unless your chosen profession involves a lot of facial contact, you may find you can ease off a little on the neck area. It's possible to get a close shave that looks perfect, yet isn't as close as you know it's possible to get.
I use vitamin E oil to give immediate relief to any problem area, & kickstart the healing.
Other than that, the advice you have already been given is a great place to start.

Maybe easing up on the pre-shave application of heat. ie the hot shower followed by a hot towel. I find that getting things too hot irritates my skin before I've touched it with a blade. I've also found that a post shave rinse with cold water works wonders.

My skin doesn't respond well to excess heat, either. It feels good at the time, but I always end up with more irritation afterwards. Showering should be enough, or just having moist lather on your face for about 3 minutes and massaging it in a bit.

I'd also second Robin's suspicions about angle and pressure (especially pressure). Because some of the skin is tougher than other parts, it's easy to get in the habit of applying a little bit of downward (inward?) force. Force in some direction other than parallel to the skin. Hmm, how to put this... I used to use the resistance of the skin's surface to help hold the razor against my face. Even though it was a light pressure, it was still pressure, and it was exfoliating/abrading my skin too much. A properly sharpened razor shouldn't need to scrape like that at all. Instead, imagine you are tracing the outline of your face a millimeter away from it. With the right consistency lather and proper angle/pressure combination, you can cushion the blade so that you aren't even touching anything but the whiskers.

It takes some practice, but if you're trying to go ATG on sensitive areas every day, you really have to be doing everything perfectly.

Lower the angle of the ATG pass on your neck.

I second the cold water rinse, and raise you an entire cold water shave. Your skin will be glowing afterwards, forcing the heads of passing beauties to turn involuntarily.