Thread: Still dealing with irritation

U2,
I had the same issues, still do at times and I tried all sorts of things. All of the things you have said are right and with practice you will get there. One of my main problems when I started out was that the razor I had was a piece of crap. Almost made me quit. Since then I have scoured my local second hand shops and antique/junk places and picked up about half a dozen straights that are far superior to my original (Cyril R Salter) one. Last month I got a TR Cadman & Sons Bengall and it's the best one I have so far. I have a couple of Thomas Turners and a Puma and one or two others. They take a little time to clean up by hand but well worth it. I even have one with no scales on!! And I have not yet paid more than £5 for one yet!!!!!!
One thing that I did find improved my shave was to start with XTG instead of WTG. For some reason this works for me and gets me much closer on the sides of my face. My neck area around my Adams apple still needs working on but I'm getting there, as you will too

Pdav

Shaved this morning, with a big focus on relaxing and gliding the razor. Did much better. I cut my chin though. I had a poor strop to start, so when I went to shave around my mouth to start out, it felt like I was ripping out the hairs. Must have rolled the edge. So after another, better strop I had a good shave. The irritation around my mouth though is pretty bad. My Gillette aftershave felt like acid.

But the real area of concern, which is my neck, was really good. No burn, one little weeper and a little bit of tenderness. My shave wasn't as close as the past few, but I'm just glad my neck doesn't hurt. So thanks for all the advice.

so let me provide an update to my ongoing battle of the burn.

This is, verbatim, how my shave went this evening:

Pass One: Hey, that was great! No discomfort! Smooth with the grain! Best first pass ever!
Pass Two: Great again! This is better than any 3 pass shave I've ever had! No irritation! No cuts! I FEEL GREAT! Let's go for a third to get those last straggly bits under my chin, base of my neck and around my mouth. I AM THE MAN!!!
Pass Three: HULK SMASH! HULK SCRAPE! RAH RAH RAH! HULK DESTROY FACE!!!

Exactly like that. Still, not the worst burn, but after my first two passes I should have done better. I got carried away, yet again. Baby steps.