Quote Originally Posted by trapperjohnme
ive shaved every day for the last three days (remeber I am a newbie buying cheap old razors) and I think I have irritated my skin enough that I will need to lay off a day or three. The fact that I have shaved that much is a near miracle, as before I would shave every 3-5 days just because i hated it so much.
I have irritated the skin under my chin enough trying to get it perfectly smooth that i think my skin needs a rest. Hopefully my skin will heal enough that i can do it again on friday!
Hi trapperjohnme,

Some degree of skin irritation is quite common for new straight razor users. It takes time for the skin to adjust to the open blade. It also could be that your blade is not quite keen enough too, and thus you're applying a bit too much pressure, particularly when shaving one of the toughest areas under the chin. I don't know how you shave, but you might try shaving under the chin first (using a freshly stropped blade) or re-strop your blade before you shave your chin area. This may be sufficient. If not, perhaps the razor still needs a bit of a touch up on the hone. You're surely right to wait until your skin is well healed before shaving again. Of course, as you say, that's not easy to do when you're just starting to have fun.

Hal