Safety Razors

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Lads,

I'm seriously thinking of going back to the Mach 3. I was hoping that the shaving rash on my neck would be gone by now. I shaved on Wed morning and I shaved again this morning, and my neck was quite bad after the shave this morning. Usually, I would only shave once every 3/4 days and I thought that I might be making progress, but after the shave this morning I know I'm not. I've ordered a bottle of Tend Skin, so hopefully that might help. I'll give the DE razor a few more weeks to see if things improve.

I was having a few problems on one cheek and my neck initially. The cheek issue turned out to be a combination of sensitivity to some products and overvigorous preparation - too much against the grain scrubbing before the shave. The neck issue a was sensitivity to particular blades and poor technique\overshaving.

A later change to straight razors sorted out all my neck issues because the technique is quite different ( mostly WTG or across, rarely against and variable angles of attack) but the results are fantastic with a properly sharpened blade. I won't recommend moving to a straight but I would suggest a couple of things that might help:

- if you are not experiencing product sensitivity make sure the lather is well hydrated, lubricating and not drying out too soon. If it is a little try mixing soap and cream or adding something like a drop or two of glycerine to the lather mix.

- don't gauge BBS during the shave. A slight roughness can be normal and the skin will settle after the cold rinse and feel smoother. Going for a BBS feel on hot skin can lead to over-shaving. After a while you will sense what level of roughness on hot skin will turn out to be a very smooth finish when the skin has cooled off.

- Check the direction of growth on the neck - in my case the bottom area grows almost exactly opposite to the rest so there is an area where there is a clear change from WTG to ATG. If I'm not careful to change direction\angle in the right place I'll get a slight rash\redness especially if I'm shaving every 24-28 hours and forget where the demarcation is.

- you might need a different blade on the neck. If you have two razors use one with a milder blade for the problem areas.

- reduce pressure and increase the stretch so the skin is as smooth and as flat as possible.

- check the growth angle on the neck - it might be that it is more prone to grow 'along' the skin rather than 'out' at a steeper angle. If this is the case shave for appearance and not smoothness and avoid against the grain.
For presentation purposes a skin toned talc can disguise any slight stubble remaining and reduce friction if you have to wear a tie.

Finally - reduce the pressure and change the blade every 5 shaves. Most rash issues are due to too much pressure and dull blades.

StealthRolex wrote: »

Niche market - probably. Obsolete - far from it.

A growing niche market.

That looks great, I haven't seen a DE razor with an angled head. I've love to get an adjustable with an angled head.

Gran Hermano, that's a lovely razor handle. What is the Gillette model\type? I love those boxes too, I remember wanting to grab a 'Military' WWII Tech, just for the box!

Amalgam wrote: »

The Cella, if you're using a mug and have moulded in a chunk of it, can you lather on top of it? There's not a risk of using too much, being a soft soap?

The Cella soap is a funny old soap. Its soft enough, like putty, that you can cut it easily and mould it in a mug. However its hard enough that after you wash the lather away, if you run your finger across it there will not be any residue on your finger.

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

WoW 1kg - I'm waiting for the soap giveaway

I'm not giving the soap away but I do have 10 lots of lather to give away

I do like the sound of these soaps but i just can't tolerate the smell of almonds.

*cough* GH, your Valobra link mentions the 'A' word..

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate that you are trying to help me. I didn't shave over the weekend, so I shaved on Monday morning with a new Crystal blade and I tried the Taylor Of Old Bond Street (Sensitive) Cream for the first time. I had a much better result on Monday morning- there was no rash/redness on my neck. I think my biggest problem is inconsistency; if I leave 3/4 days between shaves I get better results, but if I try to shave everyday the rash on my neck comes back straight away. I will shave again on Wednesday morning with the TOBS sensitive cream to see if I get the same results.

Another problem is that when I shave my neck, I'm not able to get as close a shave on the area where the shaving rash is. The area is about 2/3 inch square on the right side of my neck and after shaving it kind of looks like I deliberately missed this area. It's not like a day's growth of stubble and it's not very obvious, but when I look in the mirror I can definitely notice that I haven't got as close a shave as the rest of my face or neck. I'm guessing this is because there are ingrown hairs in this area, which make it look like there are more hairs compared to the other side of my neck.



I should also mention that after shaving with a DE and proper shaving cream, my face always feels a bit tight afterwards. This is probably normal as I have read before that other people experience this.

vengeance52 wrote: »

I had the same prob, and found trying diff shave creams and soaps produced diff results. Post what you use for that shave, and Im sure someone here can suggest a good alternative cream or soap that may help.

Also, are you doing any prep before you shave? I shave after a shower, and just before I shave, I hold a hot face towel over my beard area, and I found this helps so much during the shave.

Also, use plenty of cold water after the shave to rinse your face, not just a cold splash. Spend 30secs or more using cold water.

Also try some aleo vera after you shave.

Watch Mantics videos on shaving, some great tips there.

I have a few different creams and I've tried them all at this stage; Palmolive, Prosaso, Speick, Old Spice, Clinque for Men shaving cream, and Taylor of Old Bond Street Sensitive Cream. I've only tried 3 different types of blades so far; Derby, Wilkinson and Crystal.

I think my prep is fairly good tbh. I only shave after a shower. I use the Nivea for Men exfoliating scrub and a hot face cloth in the shower. Then I mix up the shaving cream into lather in a bowl. I apply the cream with a Semogue brush. I only shave with the grain. Usually, one pass is sufficient. I only ever do one pass WTG on my neck area, as anything more than this will definitely result in a rash. After the shave, I put plenty of cold water over my face and neck. Then I apply Clinque for Men post shave healer (which has a high aloe content) to my face. I do not apply this product to my neck as I find it can cause irritation to the area.


I'm thinking of getting some aloe vera or witch-hazel from the chemist. Anyone know if either of these come in a cream and would they be suitable to apply to my neck?



I'm going to try this shaving gel as it contains aloe vera:

http://www.clinique.co.uk/templates/products/sp_nonshaded.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT1033&PRODUCT_ID=PROD1103

Anyone else tried it?

MediaTank wrote: »

TendSkin is for ingrown hairs and is quite harsh. Is that you you have? Remind us of what your routine and shaving products are and we'll do our best to advise.

If the Mach 3 was better than a DE then perhaps your technique/lather needs adjustment.

MT

I ordered the TendSkin last Friday, so I should have it fairly soon. I think the shaving rash on my neck is caused by ingrown hairs so hopefully it might work.

The Mach 3 was worse tbh. However, if I shave everyday or every second day with the DE, then the results are similar enough.

Morf wrote: »

If he's having such trouble perhaps he should seek medical advice.

No point, I've already gone to different doctors over the years and nothing has worked so far. I even went to a consultant dermatologist at the start of this year, but again nothing worked.

strangeloop wrote: »

I was getting the same problem when I experimented with different creams and soaps. For my skin I find mitchells wool fat gives an excellent shave with no rash.

I might try this on my next order. Thanks for the recommendation.

Amalgam wrote: »

Johnny Utah, if you go back to the Mach 3's, do you think you'll still use a shaving brush and cream/soap? I can't understand how anyone would willingly use foam or gel and the whole 'face patting thing', after a stint with a brush and cream\soap.

The science of 'shaving foam' is so defective, once you've gone over to a brush for a while.

---

A dab of Wars & Williams in a mug this morning, Green Gillette 7 O'Clock, 5th shave. Blade changed after. R106 and boar. 2x and touch up.

I'm not sure if I will switch back to the Mach 3 yet Amalgam. Sometimes, I get good results with the DE. However, most of the time, I'm left with redness/irritation on my neck after the DE. I'll stick it out for a few more weeks, and hopefully the shaving rash might improve.

Tbh, I'm not really sure what difference the brush makes. The brush is great for mixing up a lather, but when you're applying the cream to your face with a shaving brush, I don't really see the difference between using a brush or using your hands. Having said that, I always use the shaving brush to mix up the cream and to apply it to my face.

StealthRolex wrote: »

I was having a few problems on one cheek and my neck initially. The cheek issue turned out to be a combination of sensitivity to some products and overvigorous preparation - too much against the grain scrubbing before the shave. The neck issue a was sensitivity to particular blades and poor technique\overshaving.

A later change to straight razors sorted out all my neck issues because the technique is quite different ( mostly WTG or across, rarely against and variable angles of attack) but the results are fantastic with a properly sharpened blade. I won't recommend moving to a straight but I would suggest a couple of things that might help:

- if you are not experiencing product sensitivity make sure the lather is well hydrated, lubricating and not drying out too soon. If it is a little try mixing soap and cream or adding something like a drop or two of glycerine to the lather mix.

- don't gauge BBS during the shave. A slight roughness can be normal and the skin will settle after the cold rinse and feel smoother. Going for a BBS feel on hot skin can lead to over-shaving. After a while you will sense what level of roughness on hot skin will turn out to be a very smooth finish when the skin has cooled off.

- Check the direction of growth on the neck - in my case the bottom area grows almost exactly opposite to the rest so there is an area where there is a clear change from WTG to ATG. If I'm not careful to change direction\angle in the right place I'll get a slight rash\redness especially if I'm shaving every 24-28 hours and forget where the demarcation is.

- you might need a different blade on the neck. If you have two razors use one with a milder blade for the problem areas.

- reduce pressure and increase the stretch so the skin is as smooth and as flat as possible.

- check the growth angle on the neck - it might be that it is more prone to grow 'along' the skin rather than 'out' at a steeper angle. If this is the case shave for appearance and not smoothness and avoid against the grain.
For presentation purposes a skin toned talc can disguise any slight stubble remaining and reduce friction if you have to wear a tie.

Finally - reduce the pressure and change the blade every 5 shaves. Most rash issues are due to too much pressure and dull blades.

Thanks, some very good advice there. I usually change the blade every 3 shaves.


Do you know where I could pick up some glycerine?

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Do you know where I could pick up some glycerine?

Most pharmacies have it - generic stuff in 100ml or 250ml bottles. It's also called glycerol

axer wrote: »

Johnny Utah, what type of razor are you using?

A Wilkinson DE safety razor.