painful to shave two days in a row. Solutions?

I have had this problem even long before I converted to straights razors. If I shave two days in a row, the second day's shave is destined to be a painful one with bad razor burn and even small nicks. I can even tell before i touch a blade to my face. If I just rub the back of my fingers against the gain of my stubble, my skin feels extra sensitive on the painful/irritated side of the sensitive spectrum, especially my neck and along my jaw ling where the grain changes direction. Anyone else experience this and have a solution besides going 2 or three days between shaves?

I have the same problem. I now use Alum after my shave. Burns like a SOB, but seems to heal my skin up super fast. You may want to try it if you havent already. Other than that you may try a schedule day 1 two pass, day two 1 pass, day 3 two pass, etc.

hope you figure out what works for you! good luck

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Originally Posted by alb1981

I now use Alum after my shave. Burns like a SOB, but seems to heal my skin up super fast.

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How do you use the Alum? Dissolve it in a solution of some kind and apply to the face or do you mean just to the nicks?

Leave your face wet and rub all the shaved areas with the alum. It will snap your pores shut and promote healing to any irritations and nicks.

Use less pressure when you shave. Do as few passes as possible, and try to only go WTG. Try not to shave every day if you don't have to. And nailing the pre and post shave routines will help as well.

Sounds to me like either dull blade or bad angle or too much pressure or maybe a combination of some of those. It's serious enough that it's still bothering you the next day and that's bad. My guess is the reason you had it before straights had to do with similar, probably too much pressure.

mranderson,

Yes, pre/post shave routine and shaving technique can have a huge impact to the final outcome. But everyones skin is different, and some of us simply are not cut out for daily shaving, no matter what you try. It sounds like you have sensitive skin like me, since I have the exact same problem. Without a sign of any type of skin irritation, if I try to shave again within 24 hours I'm liable for some discomfort and irritation the following day. If I shave every other day I don't have this issue at all. I'm lucky in that I don't have a job that requires me to be clean shaven every single day.

So in the end you can experiment with your prep and technique, but there is always the possibility that you may have to accept that your skin is your skin, and that skipping a day may be the best thing you can do.

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Originally Posted by mranderson

How do you use the Alum? Dissolve it in a solution of some kind and apply to the face or do you mean just to the nicks?

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Just wet your face and rub the block or stick on your face. Alum Bloc is just a block of salt and it really works. It also works as a deodorant.

Some people cannot shave two days in a row for whatever reason. It might not be what you want to hear as a solution, but there you have it.

If you do not believe that you are actually one of those people, then the only other logical explanation is that you are doing something to aggravate and inflame your skin on that first shave. You need to carefully examine every aspect of your shaving routine, from prep to final stroke of the razor to see what is going on. Perhaps if there is an experienced barber in your area you could go get a shave and see how you feel after that. If your face feels OK afterwards, go find out what he/she does and how he/she does it.

Good luck.

James.

One thing that greatly improved my shaves in all areas (reduced irritation included) was learning how to make a really nice, slick lather. You don't need a fancy scuttle or anything, I just use some soap in a bowl and a bit of cream on my face, but the products, proportions, and execution took a bit of experimenting to get right. Once I did, though, it was literally a night and day difference. Little to no nicks and irritation, every time, with no change to my shaving technique.

+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.

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!

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.

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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

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.

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Originally Posted by asj1991

Make sure your lather and skin are thick, and the razor should simply glide.

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So you need a thick skin to shave daily? :shrug:

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

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.

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.

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

Some very useful tips where already given, hope they help. Otherwise if you really have such sensitive skin you will have to life with that. Every person is different, I have been shaving twice a day for 30 plus years and never had trouble but then again I spend most of my life in the outdoors until recently, maybe my skin has become really insensitive?

If I try out a borrowed razor I sometimes feel a little sting after applying the alum block. I make sure all of my razors pas the hanging hair test with the thinnest hair sample I have before shaving with them.

I have had the same problem and every step I've taken to fix it has helped a little. I've got somewhat sensitive skin but fairly fine hair and a beard that only grows in the goatee area, so I sorta have to deal with the irritation that comes from shaving every day but if I have to skip a couple days, it amounts to very little of a bother. Here's what I've learned so far, all of which I have benefited from in my own experience, ranked in order of importance:

1. Technique, technique, technique. Do all the research you can on this until you are making as few passes with as little irritation as possible. I am still using my DE and haven't invested in a SR yet, but even with my DE experience I can confidently say that technique is the most important thing to master in order to be able to shave daily.

- I discovered that there are certain areas where I benefit from NOT pulling the skin taut, but rather leaving it quite loose and puffy on XTG or ATG passes. These include the sides of my upper lip, and my neck below the chin. If I pull the skin taut on those areas, I just cut myself a lot. If I don't, I get a close but not incredible shave on those areas but never get nicks or irritation.

2. Pre-shave prep. Things I've found that definitely help:

- Hot shower, obviously.
- Moisturizing conditioner in the shower on your beard. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes before rinsing.
- Something oily, in a very sparse layer, as a pre-shave oil. I use whichever after-shave balm I'm going to use after my shave. I apply so little that it feels like I didn't really get it everywhere.

3. Post-shave care.

- Alum block right after your last, cold-water rinse. Really rub this in. Let it sit for about 60 seconds.
- Witch hazel after you rinse the alum off and before your after shave balm/lotion.
- Every 12 hours, or as needed given how oily your skin gets throughout the day, seriously exfoliate with a salicylic acid face scrub. My favorite is Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Scrub. There's a generic version by Equate that's the same thing and cheaper. **THIS ONE IS HUGE FOR ME**
- After exfoliating, apply more witch hazel and after-shave balm or whatever balm/lotion you want.
- Whenever your face gets really dry, apply a thick oil like olive oil, liquid lanolin, or glycerin. You can only do this when you're at home and don't care who sees you, because your face will be all shiny and sticky. You can wash it off with a mild soap after an hour if you want, or just leave it on until the next time you shower or need to be presentable. I typically just put it on about an hour before I plan to have my shower+shave for the day. **THIS ONE IS ALSO HUGE FOR ME, ESPECIALLY WITH LANOLIN**

4. Make a proper lather. I've just started adding lanolin and/or glycerin to my lathers, so I can't really comment on them. But seriously, get your bowl and brush warm, use the right amount of water, and seriously work that lather until it's thick and rich and smooth with no visible bubbles, then rub it into your beard like there's no tomorrow. This was a really big change for me.

5. Don't touch your face with your hands too much between shaves. I spent a few months really enjoying the feel of my smooth shaved face by touching it a lot with my hands throughout the day, but when I stopped, the redness and irritation decreased.

mranderson,
Hello fellow Canadian.
i have the same problem. i have posted a few times in other threads where if you use less pressure on the razor, use a natural alum block - you can pick these up in a natural health store or food store as they are used as underarm deodorants - then use witch hazel and a natural moisturizer such as shea butter. If you avoid the chemically infused products and stick with the more natural options, your skin should, hopefully, start feeling better. i don't think you will ever eliminate the soreness completely, but i should ameliorate itself.
Good luck,