Alum question

Talster

Talster

Messages
231
I've been using Alum as part of my post shave.

I leave it on my face for a few minutes (as I've read the Alum has done its magic by this time) and then try and rinse it off with cold water.

Now when I do this, I can feel my hands sort of gripping to my face as I am trying to rinse the Alum off.

Whether I try and rinse the Alum off, or if I leave the Alum on, and apply my aftershave or post shave balm, in both cases I can see a bit of residue from the Alum.

What I sometimes do is, I squeeze the leftover soap out of my brush, and deposit it into my lathering bowl and once I've done my rinse with cold water, I give my face a rub/wash with the leftover lather as I would rather do this to get some more of the goodness out of the soap and also, so that I am not just washing the remaining lather down the plughole.

My question is:
Would I lose any benefit of the Alum, if I were to use the leftover lather to wash the Alum off my face after a few minutes?

The reason I am thinking of doing this is because, like I mentioned earlier, rinsing with cold water doesn't remove all of the Alum for me and I figure that with the lather been a soap of such, it would remove the Alum/Alum residue.
 
I find if I use alum too much it gives me a nasty rash so I only keep it on for a matter of a minute or so if I've nicked myself, then I wash it off with a gentle soap so I reckon my answer to your question is no.
 
I use alum after a shave after a cold water rinse and my face is dripping wet. The sting is felt where I over did the shave but goes away in seconds. After a minute or so I again rinse my face again with cold water. Yes the residue remains, but have never seen any reaction to the skin after it. I apply a post shave balm or an after shave. Feels good knowing a natural ingredient is there healing me. That's just me!

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luv2shave said:
I use alum after a shave after a cold water rinse and my face is dripping wet. The sting is felt where I over did the shave but goes away in seconds. After a minute or so I again rinse my face again with cold water. Yes the residue remains, but have never seen any reaction to the skin after it. I apply a post shave balm or an after shave. Feels good knowing a natural ingredient is there healing me. That's just me!

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Thanks for the help, yeah something else to consider :)

I suppose I could always use the leftover lather immediately after I'd finished my shave and before the cold water rinse, then use the alum, and then after a minute or so do a cold water rinse to remove some of the alum.

Question:
When you do a cold water rinse after you have applied alum, do your hands feel as if they are gripping to your face, as you are rinsing off, is this a normal thing to feel?

After that I suppose the aftershave or post shave balm should cover/remove some of the white alum residue.
 
Talster said:
Thanks for the help, yeah something else to consider :)

I suppose I could always use the leftover lather immediately after I'd finished my shave and before the cold water rinse, then use the alum, and then after a minute or so do a cold water rinse to remove some of the alum.

Question:
When you do a cold water rinse after you have applied alum, do your hands feel as if they are gripping to your face, as you are rinsing off, is this a normal thing to feel?

After that I suppose the aftershave or post shave balm should cover/remove some of the white alum residue.
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Yea that is the nature of alum being an astringent. That's what makes the shaved skin feel toned up.

Infact you can use that to your advantage during a shave. If you have the habit of stretching the skin for thr razor to shave close using the other hand, the hand tends to slip due to the lather. Wet your fingers by running on surface of the wet alum and you can get a firm grip on the slippery skin. Try that out. Best shaves are when we stretch the skin and make it flat to shave with the razor.

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Bikerjohn said:
I find if I use alum too much it gives me a nasty rash so I only keep it on for a matter of a minute or so if I've nicked myself, then I wash it off with a gentle soap so I reckon my answer to your question is no.
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Thanks for the help :)
Yeah I suppose if I'm finding the alum residue is really noticeable, then I could always use the leftover lather as a gentle soap to remove it.

Saying that though, perhaps if I were to use an aftershave or post shave balm, after the alum, and after the cold water rinse, this might remove some/all of the white alum residue. Certainly a few different things to try, and see which works the best for me.
 
luv2shave said:
Infact you can use that to your advantage during a shave. If you have the habit of stretching the skin for the razor to shave close using the other hand, the hand tends to slip due to the lather. Wet your fingers by running on surface of the wet alum and you can get a firm grip on the slippery skin. Try that out. Best shaves are when we stretch the skin and make it flat to shave with the razor.

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What an excellent tip, thanks very much, I will try that as I do (for certain parts of my face) stretch the skin.
 
We get these local 100gms shaving alum blocks for next to free price. They work very well and last a long time.

They work very clean and don't leave any visible residue behind on the face.

And the presentation is truly patriotic in all respects complete with colors of our flag and Hindu name of India!! :D

Try translating ₹20 to Pounds, you'll see :)
344bc5f45c6c824601c845e968d59b52.jpg


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I've stopped using alum at each shave as it dries my skin and give me an uncomfortable feeling...
Now I only use it for nickes/small cuts and the skin feeling is much better. I use a "last pleasant lather pass with no razor after while I cleanup my tools and then rinse with warm and then cold water. I find it to be very gentle and leaves a gummy soft face feeling
 
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