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Thread: painful to shave two days in a row. Solutions?

  1. #11
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    +1 zappbrannigan

    You also might look into what you're doing for preshave prep, and aftershave soothing. The alum discussed here gets mentioned often. There's tons of different soaps, and aftershave lotions. I generally don't shave every day. Lately I've been going thru cycles of shave...let it sit a week so I have a light beard going and then shape it every few days(shaving neck only to jaw line) then do a full shave and start over.

  2. #12
    Member asj1991's Avatar
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    I have very sensitive skin, and I thought I was destined to be one of those who simply cannot shave every day. I was going at least two, and sometimes three days in between shaves to avoid irritation. The following steps that I have followed have made me a daily shaver, and I shave every single day at the same time and my irritation is less than before, when I was shaving every two days.

    1. Pressure- The irritation you are describing sounds like it could be related to pressure. Have a light hand, and dont tug at the hairs. Make sure your lather and skin are thick, and the razor should simply glide.

    2. # of passes- Already mentioned, but if you can be presentable after two passes, do it! Your skin will thank you if you are shaving daily.

    3. Glycerin- I cannot explain this one, but the glycerin is the driving force behind my daily shaving. If I dont use it, I cant go two days in a row. No idea why that is, but try it.

    4. Care for your face- We always talk about after shave, but what about the rest of the day? Keep your face clean, and not oily. If it feels tight or dry, moisturize. Do whatever your skin demands during the day.

    Hope this helps. Like it has been said, shaving daily is very individual. Some can do it and some cant. This is what works for me, and it honestly turned me from thinking I was never ever going to be able to shave daily, and look at me now! Let me know if it works!

  3. #13
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    FWIW:

    I have a theory:

    . . . If you use very light pressure, the razor glides over a thin layer of lather, and shaves off hair.

    . . . If you use heavier pressure, the razor breaks through the layer of lather, shaves off hair, and shaves a little bit of skin with it.

    Three suggestions based on that:

    . . . Lighten up your touch on the razor. If it's sharp, it will shave with extremely light pressure, just enough to
    . . . remove the lather from your skin. If it's not sharp, make it sharp.

    . . . Use a pre-shave oil -- almond oil, grapeseed oil, any of the commercial mixtures. Just a little bit on your skin before
    . . . applying lather. Hair conditioner, rubbed into the beard, works too.

    . . . Use "uberlather" -- a mixture of lather with a bit of glycerin. I think it's a little more protective than plain-soap lather. Uberlather made
    . . . with silicone "personal lubricant" is really slick.

    Good luck --

    Charles

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    3. Glycerin- I cannot explain this one, but the glycerin is the driving force behind my daily shaving. If I dont use it, I cant go two days in a row. No idea why that is, but try it.
    Glycerin is a pretty good water-soluble lubricant. As well as being the lead ingredient in "personal lubricants" (including KY Jelly), it's used as a lubricant to encourage hoses to stretch over metal fittings.

    One day, I'm going to try a layer of SAE 30, just to see how it works.<g>

    Charles

  5. #15
    I'm...Mr. Solo Dovo Str8RazorSerg's Avatar
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    I, too, have sensitive skin. There is no way that I can shave two days in a row without irritating/enflaming my skin so much that it would eventually produce ingrown hairs. So I just take a few days off to let my skin recuperate; shave every third or fourth day. Yes, my whiskers grow a little, but luckily my beard looks decent when it grows a little. Plus...my wife loves when I get a little scruffy.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by asj1991 View Post
    Make sure your lather and skin are thick, and the razor should simply glide.
    So you need a thick skin to shave daily?

  7. #17
    con16721 con16721's Avatar
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    Thanks, for posting this question. I've been struggling with the same problem, not being able to shave every day. I myself have extremely thick skin, but still have a problem with irritation on a two day in a row shave. I'm going to give that glycerin a try and see what happens.

    Big C

  8. #18
    Senior Member medicevans's Avatar
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    I can't shave two days in a row. Not with a Mach 3, not with a GEM 1912, and not with a straight. My skin is just too sensitive. I now shave once every third day, the night before I go back to work.

  9. #19
    Senior Member Johnus's Avatar
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    If you've tried different razors and still had the problem I'd have to look to the lather next. I find that the try of soap that 's used really makes a difference. I'd try a MWF type soap and remember to use both hands when you shave. After the lather pass make sure you keep you face wet Before you try another pass.

  10. #20
    I Bleed Slurry Disburden's Avatar
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    Some questions I have is where did your razors come from, who honed them, etc? How experienced are you with stropping razors, is this new for you? It took me a while to strop correctly and not round the edge of the razor when I stropped. I was dulling my razor before I shaved with it on the strop. This was almost three years ago but it's still something I think new straight shavers can miss.

    If you are suffering still and have a properly honed blade and strop correctly then your prep, and shaving technique itself is off some where.
    When I used a Mach III years ago I always had bad razor burn and a red face, I shaved every three days or less...I hated shaving. I shave daily now without any issues, of course I had to learn a lot to get to the point where I can shave properly with the straight razor.

    1) the angle of the blade is probably way too high for your skin and you're irritating yourself. I would start with a flat angle and stretch the skin way up there to shave. Move your angle upward as you shave each time and see what cuts the best for you.

    2) I would like to know how your razors were honed, ask the Vendors you used, etc...

    3) I wouldn't rely on tricks like adding Glycerin right now to your lather. Some people love this stuff, but why add more variables when you don't even know what the problem is yet?

    4) strop slow and make sure your razor isn't leaving the strop. You do not need to strop fast to strop, slow about a second each way up and down is fine and works.

    5) When you use a straight razor I can't help but express that you should be using a slicing stroke with your downward stroke. Let's say you are shaving WTG, you shouldn't just be mowing through your facial hair with a WTG stroke like an Ax cutting in a tree. You need to slice laterally with the razor while moving downward at the same time so the hairs are cut like a knife in a steak or bread. You need to be VERY careful with this as you can cut yourself if you're using too much lateral movement. This is the way barber's use their razors and how they were taught to shave people. I actually saw a video of a master barber teaching on a client how to make the proper stroke and he mentioned several times that this is very important to get a good shave that doesn't hurt your skin. It also prevents the need for an ATG pass as the shaves become a lot closer than without this stroke.

    Hope this helps you,

    Nick

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