Thread: Str8-Edge Shaving & Follicle Bump Woes

Dovo 13/16 again. Chelsea glycerin soap. Hand soap wash of shaving area, lather, moist/heat, re-lather. Faster (not rushed) shave, not going for BBS with upwards finger movement. Mostly north-south all over face (one pass), left to right (WTG and partial XTG) along jaw. Neck is always an easy north-south because it's sparse and mostly pointed down and annoyingly to the right, just like jaw. It's okay because it's hardly noticeable. Easy peezy to get both indents on each side of the adam's apple at this point. All downward strokes are done with the same hand as the side of the face, most upwards strokes are done with opposite hand (you know the drill). Almost equal confidence with both hands, can consider myself ambidextrous with a str8 razor.

Skin left a little less clear because yesterday didn't do much face wash. Skin still very dry due to winter cold and dry indoor air. The patch of scaly dead flakes of skin between the eyes on the bridge of the nose is an oddly comforting site, shows that it isn't really the str8 razor shaving that is causing this excessive dryness. Even though the skin is acting up a little with unclear complexion the bumps are still at bay at the 48 hour point. Skin condition is still much more acclimated to the str8, almost ZERO irritation, no bluff to burn, hardly any (almost nil) sting with alum rub post-shave. Tempted to use the alcohol-rich Brut after-shave instead of Nivea "Cooling" AS balm but didn't in order to reduce variables. No sting with balm either. Went out for the post-shave cold shock of winter, gotta preserve those variables! Not much tingliness, no tenderness. Probably tamed the superfine edge of the straight with almost two weeks of shaves. Nice to hit the sweet spot. Wonder if refreshing on the 30k pasted strop will bring that back, kind of miss it. Miss the aliveness. Skin toughening very well. Double thumbs up. Estimated shave time around 20 minutes, maybe less. Resisted urge to do XTGs on mustach. Indulged in a few pseudo-ATG swipes as right-to-left swipes across jaw, took hardly any time; surpringly close shave on much of jaw result (shame on me); still cleaned bottom of chin profile with rightwards strokes but not big on keeping pristine. Quite serviceable, actually.

So at this point I think if I give myself the equivalent of today's shave that I can use any of the harsher, non-post-shave-healing lotions/balms. Skipped the skin tonic altogether after almost no sting with the alum block, that was the only variable removed (it seemed to help).

For the effort and time it was a good shave. I've got Brut, Old Spice, Aqua Velva and the Aqua Velva "musk" AS/cologne, Pinaud Clubman AS, Aubrey Organics "Men's Stock" "North Woods" after shave lotion (which I'm wild about because it has enough witch hazel to double as a skin tonic and has a strong pine scent). Nice to think I can use those instead of being stuck with the one Nivea. Nice to think my skin is conditioned enough to take the straight and still have the freedom to indulge in all of them (time will tell).

Other good news: turns out I actually did fix the troubled spot of the shave-ready Wapienica I'd gotten from one of those eBay Polish dealers. Must have done it to microscope satisfaction on a night I was drinking and honing and hadn't cared enough to bother to file it away in long-term memory. Ran the pristine Wapienica around in conservative circles to polish/hone up to the ultra-fine Spyderco. Microscope inspection says it's A OK. (I can have anxiety nightmares about that finishing hone..) I'll strop it smooth later, I plan on using it within the week.

Success. I feel I can move on to other soaps and regular after shaves with this kind of casual, faster str8 razor shave. My skin is defnently better for shaving, the best it's ever taken a razor's edge in my entire life. I guess the hype is true. Sorry for doubting people, it's just that I have particularly problematic skin and didn't have faith in my individual situation. I'll loosen the reigns with the scientific process from hereonafter.

Hooray!

I'm glad to hear after sticking with it that you're skin is responding better shaving with a straight razor than previously with other methods. I'm not surprised. I also have sensitive skin. You've mentioned something that interests me; My skin has always exhibited the redness response, almost instantly to even mild abrasion. In my lifetime, I've lost count of the number of times someone will inadvertently say "What did you do to your neck, face, etc?!" I'll then realize that I simply gently scratched my neck or face.

What's that called, then?

Chris L

Originally Posted by ChrisL

My skin has always exhibited the redness response, almost instantly to even mild abrasion. In my lifetime, I've lost count of the number of times someone will inadvertently say "What did you do to your neck, face, etc?!" I'll then realize that I simply gently scratched my neck or face.

What's that called, then?

Whatever it's called, I've got it, too. Sometimes I get redness that lasts longer from where I placed my fingers to stretch my skin than I do from the shave itself.

Just my 2 cents:

The sharper the razor the less skin irritation I get. The more pressure I use while shaving the more skin irritation I get. Just skin irritation should be there soon after you finished shaving. If it appears in the guise of folliculitis many hours after shaving I suspect a septic cause. When you you always create very superficial cuts and abrasions. That's why alcohol stings on a freshly shaved face and not if applied one day after shaving. If you have one follicle on your skin you will decapitate it with your razor and spread its septic contents on your skin. Most after shaves do not contain enough alchohol to desinfect. You need 70% at least. Just think what happens if you apply a high alcohol content after shave on a slightly moist face after shaving: it will be diluted before it has had time to kill all bacteria.

I have had a spreading folliculitis once or twice in my shaving carreer that I fought with applying iodine after shaving. Leave it on for 1 or 2 minutes, rince it off and it will get better soon.

IIRC Lynn once remarked: are you better shaved when you are BBS at the expense skin irritatation, or is it better to be slightly less smooth without a rash?

"Get away from him, he's infected!"

Do you suggest a light soap wash or exfoliant after shaving and then a disinfectant? The skin tonic (c.o. bigelow or kiehl's) after alum treatment? I thought the alum was also good at killin' bacteria, but if the septic contents of a decapitated follicle bump aren't living beings than it wouldn't matter. My decapitated sycotic bumps seemed very local, only with skin rubbing/sloughing did the area of irritation extend beyond the individual bumps.

I had hardly any sting after this faster shave. Not even on the jaw when I did pseudo-ATG (for my hair beard hair direction). Obviously there is a major sweet spot of more casual swipes that cut the keratin shorter, yet not irritating the skin (in addition to the obvious skin conditioning of repeated str8 razing that evens the terrain).

Originally Posted by Kees

Most after shaves do not contain enough alchohol to desinfect. You need 70% at least. Just think what happens if you apply a high alcohol content after shave on a slightly moist face after shaving: it will be diluted before it has had time to kill all bacteria.

Yeah, I leave moisture on for the alum block, my face is usually much drier after applying (spreads droplets around which quickly evaporate). I have used cotton balls and some unintentionally dried out acne prevention pads (benzoyl peroxide) as application method for the skin tonics, which do contain alcohol. Then spreading the Nivea AS balm. It seems to have worked to clear up the complexion and help the healing process. I believe whatever is occuring from the three products, however temporarily they exacerbate the post-shave irritation, does help condition and clear the skin. It is obvious the salicylic face wash keeps things clean when used as the second skin washing of the day, whether or not it is used as the pre-shave prep removing skin oils to maximize the shave cream/soap's softening. Thanks for the iodine tip, though...

Benzoyl peroxyde only kills anaerobes. It also is a mild keratolytic that helps to open the pores filled with gunge and it is a seborrhostatic (suppressing sebum production).

Salicylic acid has keratolytic and anti-inflammatory effects.

The decapitated bumps a full of living bugs! Why use an exfoliant after shaving?? Isn't shaving exfoliant enough?

Alum is an astringent as is witch hazel: Astringent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, wouldn't the eucalyptus leaf oil and eucalyptol from the Proraso shave cream also contribute to the disinfection, especially considering the length of time on the face with a pseudo-newbie's str8 shave?

Thanks, Kees. The medicated pads that are dried out use salicylic acid, not benzoyl peroxide. I have another plastic jar that haven't dried out. My mistake. I use those pads to great effect, a compliment to the face wash (neuter-o-gena). The benzoyl peroxide in the topical cream I have for acne causes my skin to develop a rash and I use it sparingly and keep it for specific breakouts, being sure to isolate it as much as possible (one of my few dermatological chemical sensitivities).

"Salicylic acid has keratolytic and anti-inflammatory effects."

Yeah, so the face wash is good as a pre-shave prep, for softening the hairs in addition to the moist/heat treatment.

So I inspected the edge of the Wapienica, haven't used it since I fixed the tip. I really can't complain about the Wapi having a troubled spot near the toe, I didn't even expect it to be shave-ready when I purchased it from the eBay (not eBetray, in this case) seller from Poland. I'd seen some threads on this board where members were lauding how wonderful the Wapis were and then a member bought a NOS one from eBay, like the other members, and discovered that it wasn't shave ready and the seller said he just didn't have the time to hone it. Seems almost like he was honing them to shave-ready just for kicks and not adjusting the price to reflect it. Anyway, I think I got mine for about sixteen dollars.. checked out a trendy modern barber shop (hair stylists, not barbers.. bleh) that offered straight razor shaves.. asked them how much it was: "Twenty dollars, sir. Would you like to schedule an appointment?" Thought about the eBay NOS Polish Wapienica coming in the mail for sixteen dollars, American: "No, thanks. Just wondering. Thank you.."

Re-inspected with the microscope today. Really only did a few conservative circles on each side on the dismally small part of the Spyderco Ultra-Fine hone that could be trusted, yesterday. Adjusted angles to get the most discerning reflective view. Yep, those synthetic sapphires sure cut that relatively soft Wapi metal fast! Did a few stropping motions across the length of the hone (spine first) and re-inspected the edge as an experiment to see if it had been micro-chipped. All clear. Stropped it lightly on the smooth side of the paddle strop. Hot towel, glycerin soap applied to part of neck. A few casual, light swipes "shhh shhh shhh shhh shhhhhhh" it whispered it's wisdom softly. Uhhh, can it shave? Well... DUH!!! Upward finger swipes reveal it's as smooth a shaver as the first day I used it so early in my str8 razor plunge.

I'm not going to smooth it out further on the .25 micron chromium oxide pasted paddle strop. I want to see what a brand new edge taken to exactly the same finishing hone of the Dovo 13/16ths will be like on my brand new tougher, conditioned, clearer skin. Now I'm going to go for consecutive shaves with the Wapienica and see if there is a resurgence of harshness and irritation. Of course, it being a 5/8th quarter hollow (wedge?) with the heavy stainless steel scales it will have a different feel, which may effect the results but I'll try to stay true to the original shave routine/formula.

Wish me luck, my brothers! After all the frustration and disappointments from this whole str8 razor shaving and honing exploration and skin problems I deserve a painless refreshed Polish blade.

Congratualtions on your Wapi shave!

Originally Posted by AxelH

Also, wouldn't the eucalyptus leaf oil and eucalyptol from the Proraso shave cream also contribute to the disinfection, especially considering the length of time on the face with a pseudo-newbie's str8 shave?

Eucalyptoil is cooling and has an anti-infammatory effect: Eucalyptol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to this source it is not a desinfectant.