Shave routine help

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110
Hi chaps,

1st ever post here.......

I've been DE shaving for several years now after it was recommended due to getting lots of ingrown hairs (neck) and redness / soreness from using a cartridge razor and I think I suffer with sensitive skin too. After tinkering around I thought I'd found a great routine and products, but now doesn't seem to be the case.
My shave routine is as follows - I'm trying to shave every other day at the moment; Shower (usually-but not all the time) including face wash with L'Oréal charcoal face wash or Jack Black face buff (when I need to exfoliate).
Warm water applied to face after showering and Executive Shaving Pre-shave oil applied.
Hot flannel/towel applied a couple of times.
Final splash with warm water.
Executive Shaving natural shaving cream applied to face (Lathered up with Synthetic Men-U brush in a bowl beforehand).
Shave with the grain (North to South) with Edwin Jagger Lined DE Safety Razor.
Wash face with warm water and re-lather face.
Shave across the grain (Ear to Chin) on face and with blade facing diagonally on neck (North to South).
Wash face with warm water and re-lather.
Shave against the grain on neck and face (South to North).
Wash face with warm water to remove cream etc then a cold water splash to close pores.
Pat face dry and apply Thayers Witch Hazel / Aloe Vera Tonic.
Allow this to dry whilst cleaning brush, bowl etc.
Apply Baume.Be aftershave Balm

My face is now stinging! This seems to be the case after I apply the balm (but thought this was designed for people with sensitive skin?!)

Sorry for the long winded essay, but wanted to give you all the products i'm using and stages that I go through in the hope that someone can recommend something different, or stages I could change etc in order to stop the post shave soreness. My skin is soft and smooth after the shave, but sore, and have bumps on my neck (which go down after a day or so - but don't seem to be in-grown hairs).

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice

Dan
 
Try omitting the against the grain pass. It's worked for me on my neck. In fact, I cannot shave comfortably with a true against the grain pass on my neck where I have no issues with this on my face.

Another thing to try and be mindful of is how hot your hot towel is. The idea is for it to be warm, but not piping. You're using good gear so I wouldn't envisage this is going to cause the issue.

Might also be worth trying to focus on less pressure, despite you being au fait with a DE. I've found sometimes I get sloppy, technique-wise, and use a little bit of pressure where it's entirely unnecessary Try and really go back to basics and remove the lather rather than aiming to feel the razor and shave the hair, or worse still your skin. Most people here will tell you the aim is hair reduction rather than hair removal.

Last point (I swear)... have you tried cold water shaving? I now swear by it. I tend to prepare less (which doesn't work for everyone, as with the cold water) and just have a good splash of cold water, making sure everything is hydrated/wet then I'll get onto lathering on my face (also worth trying out) as this gives a good level of working lather around the stubble, helping raise it off the skin slightly as well as ensuring you have a good amount of time with lather on the face!

Might be worthwhile listing the variables (i.e. face lather vs bowl lather, cold water vs hot water, less prep vs loadsa prep) and experiment a bit. If I went with the original idea of 'hot towel, warm water, 3 passes WTG/XTG/ATG, alum, balm' etc. then I'd probably still be struggling somewhat with ingrowns and prickliness/tingle where I don't get that nowadays.

Hope this helps! Sorry about the returning essay.

Ben

Edit: I find I get worse shaves after exfoliating etc. than if I don't, you're in essence exfoliating to some degree with the blade itself so that has the potential to cause some issue.
 
Hi chaps,

1st ever post here.......

I've been DE shaving for several years now after it was recommended due to getting lots of ingrown hairs (neck) and redness / soreness from using a cartridge razor and I think I suffer with sensitive skin too. After tinkering around I thought I'd found a great routine and products, but now doesn't seem to be the case.
My shave routine is as follows - I'm trying to shave every other day at the moment; Shower (usually-but not all the time) including face wash with L'Oréal charcoal face wash or Jack Black face buff (when I need to exfoliate).
Warm water applied to face after showering and Executive Shaving Pre-shave oil applied.
Hot flannel/towel applied a couple of times.
Final splash with warm water.
Executive Shaving natural shaving cream applied to face (Lathered up with Synthetic Men-U brush in a bowl beforehand).
Shave with the grain (North to South) with Edwin Jagger Lined DE Safety Razor.
Wash face with warm water and re-lather face.
Shave across the grain (Ear to Chin) on face and with blade facing diagonally on neck (North to South).
Wash face with warm water and re-lather.
Shave against the grain on neck and face (South to North).
Wash face with warm water to remove cream etc then a cold water splash to close pores.
Pat face dry and apply Thayers Witch Hazel / Aloe Vera Tonic.
Allow this to dry whilst cleaning brush, bowl etc.
Apply Baume.Be aftershave Balm

My face is now stinging! This seems to be the case after I apply the balm (but thought this was designed for people with sensitive skin?!)

Sorry for the long winded essay, but wanted to give you all the products i'm using and stages that I go through in the hope that someone can recommend something different, or stages I could change etc in order to stop the post shave soreness. My skin is soft and smooth after the shave, but sore, and have bumps on my neck (which go down after a day or so - but don't seem to be in-grown hairs).

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice

Dan
Hi Dan, you don't seem to be doing anything terribly wrong as far as I can tell. If your face only starts stinging after you apply the balm then I would suggest that maybe it's the balm or the balm in combination with the witch hazel.
Maybe try leaving the balm out of your routine for a week and see if anything improves. It just maybe that you are sensitive to something in the balm.
What blades are you using?
Paul.
 
Hi Dan, you don't seem to be doing anything terribly wrong as far as I can tell. If your face only starts stinging after you apply the balm then I would suggest that maybe it's the balm or the balm in combination with the witch hazel.
Maybe try leaving the balm out of your routine for a week and see if anything improves. It just maybe that you are sensitive to something in the balm.
What blades are you using?
Paul.
Well spotted re: the blades. If Dan the man (@DeeCee) as he shall herein be known wants to try some blades out, drop me a personal message and I'll send you some. :)

Cripes, there are knowledgeable people on here!
 
Hi Dan, you don't seem to be doing anything terribly wrong as far as I can tell. If your face only starts stinging after you apply the balm then I would suggest that maybe it's the balm or the balm in combination with the witch hazel.
Maybe try leaving the balm out of your routine for a week and see if anything improves. It just maybe that you are sensitive to something in the balm.
What blades are you using?
Paul.

Agree. Try skipping both balm and witch hazel separately. If both are ok in isolation, then it must be the combination causing problems. Nivea Sensitive balm gives me irritation on a par with essence of stinging nettles, so this can occur with any product.

Failing that as @Blademonkey suggests, review blades
 
Maybe you are overdoing it why not test a basic three pass shave and take it from there: shower - lather and shave 1 - no rinse just relather and shave 2 - no rinse just relather and shave 3 - rinse - witch hazel and balm
 
Wow.... thanks for all the helpful replies guys :)

I was using a new Astra blade today. My go to are usually Astra or Personna. I have feather ones but cant seem to get on with them, they make my face sore lol.
I have only noticed this recent stinging whilst using the newly acquired Thayers and Baume.be combo, so maybe could try both in isolation and see if that works.
I have tried mapping my beard before and I think I seem to be fairly unique as it grows 'down' my face and neck.... However, I think the neck area it grows in different directions. I find going against the grain on the neck is the only way I can get a really close smooth shave, but alas fear that it may be this that's causing the unwanted irritation.
I've been reading lots on here and some excellent tips, tricks and info....... glad to be part of the 'gang'
 
My thoughts:

1. I think you're doing too many prep stages. I'd suggest exfoliating (if you think you need to) between shaves rather than as preparation for a shave as the process of lathering with a brush and using a razor is exfoliating in itself.

2. I also think you're wasting the pre-shave oil if you're putting a hot towel on over it. I don't see the need to use a hot towel if you're showering before you shave.

3. Instead of your current prep., try a different pre-shave product (Proraso do pre-shave creams, including a sensitive type, for example), and apply it after you shower and wash your face. Instead of then using a hot towel, just keep your face moist while you lather (if you bowl-lather, that is). If you face-lather, you don't need to bother as the lather will be on your beard area quickly anyway.

4. Try a higher-quality synthetic brush - the brush section of this forum has information on the wide variety of high-quality synthetic brushes now available. When I tried the Men-U brush I could barely get any usable lather out of it!

5. Try eliminating one or other of your post-shave products in order to work out whether your problem is caused by one of them or the combination of both.
 
For me face scrubbing/exfoliating before the shave doesn't work and i get terrible results.

Also for me Thayer's/Lucky Tiger tonic or even an alcohol splash works better than a balm which stings almost always if i don't apply any of the above before.

As mentioned before, try without the third ATG pass and don't do soo much prep. A scrub and a towel and shower and oil.. Not necessary....
Try eliminating as much as possible and add one extra thing on a new shave. There are too many equations in your setup.


Good luck and I hope you'll enjoy your shaves!

Sent from my PRA-LX1 using Tapatalk
 
@DeeCee Welcome to TSR. I'm a few months into DE shaving and still trying to figure out what works & doesn't in terms of products, routine, hardware etc.

I echo @chrisbell in terms of if you use an exfoliating scrub type of product then try doing that on your non shaving day, not right before a shave. You could also try a pre shave lotion instead of pre shave oil. There is a fair bit of trial and error involved in all this, but the feeling when you get a great shave with zero or minimal irritation is incredible!

Some say that a sharp blade like a Feather works well in a mild razor like the DE89 (I use this too) but if you have sensitive skin they can make your face resemble the red planet afterwards.

Get a sample pack of blades. So far I am enjoying the Polsilver SI and the Gillette Nacet and I have sensitive skin. Good luck
 
@DeeCee

I echo @chrisbell in terms of if you use an exfoliating scrub type of product then try doing that on your non shaving day, not right before a shave. You could also try a pre shave lotion instead of pre shave oil. There is a fair bit of trial and error involved in all this, but the feeling when you get a great shave with zero or minimal irritation is incredible!

Some say that a sharp blade like a Feather works well in a mild razor like the DE89 (I use this too) but if you have sensitive skin they can make your face resemble the red planet afterwards.

Get a sample pack of blades. So far I am enjoying the Polsilver SI and the Gillette Nacet and I have sensitive skin. Good luck
Thanks for that, Dave! To the OP, I endorse Dave's views on blades. I like Feather and Personna Lab Blue blades in mild razors (my long-comb NEW and Slim Adjustable on a low setting being the typical examples), but I consider the DE89 to be a moderately-aggressive razor, so prefer a more forgiving blade.

I also agree that forgetting the ATG pass for now would be advisable, or replace it with a second XTG pass at 180 degrees from the first, which is my preference. In your case, you'd shave nose to ear on your face (I would suggest which direction on your neck but I'm confused from your post as to your direction of growth there). I'd strongly suggest carefully and slowly mapping all the changes in grain direction as they can be numerous below the jawline.
 
Hi, and welcome @DeeCee

I'm very much a newbie, so am still trying to perfect my technique, but a couple of things that come to mind, because I have done the same already!

As you are bowl lathering, are you just painting it onto the face and then shaving? I did that, and ripped my face apart the first time I bowl lathered. I still need to really work the lather into my face.

I'm finding that I am very happy with a two pass shave (with/across) and maybe a touch up of a couple of trouble spots. I found I was putting too much pressure on a third pass.

I'd echo @chrisbell on the Proraso pre shave. I pop it on after I get out of the shower, and then just leave it on while get my stuff ready.

Might be good to scale things back a bit, and simplify, until you work out what is causing you issues.

You could also try a couple of different products, as a variety. I did get all three of the Proraso bowl soaps, and the matching pres, as they are very inexpensive, but there is such a range of stuff available for pennies as well as stuff at the other end of the range!

Hope you get it dialled in.

John
 
Thanks guys for your help and advice. I think over the past month or so I have added extra steps thinking that it will benefit me, but it could be what is making the situation worse!
I will use the cotton wool ball to map the grain, but as far as I can feel with my fingers it grows as I thought, but the neck I suspect will be multi-directional.
I will go back to just the pre shave oil and lather and omit the hot towel (recently added step). 2 passes and omit ATG and use with either the balm or Thayers and see what the results are like. I do find that if I just use the tonic (Thayers or Lucky Tiger) that my face feels a bit tight so could use a moisturiser (I think this is why I thought the balm would help).
I have a selection of blades - Feather, Astra, Personna, Derby, Wilkinson sword and Gillette Blue/Silver. I only really seem to get on with the Astra and Personna, so I might try and find some of the other variations - I.e. Personna Lab Blue... Tril and error (somewhat) I guess.....

Thanks again
 
Thanks guys for your help and advice. I think over the past month or so I have added extra steps thinking that it will benefit me, but it could be what is making the situation worse!
I will use the cotton wool ball to map the grain, but as far as I can feel with my fingers it grows as I thought, but the neck I suspect will be multi-directional.
I will go back to just the pre shave oil and lather and omit the hot towel (recently added step). 2 passes and omit ATG and use with either the balm or Thayers and see what the results are like. I do find that if I just use the tonic (Thayers or Lucky Tiger) that my face feels a bit tight so could use a moisturiser (I think this is why I thought the balm would help).
I have a selection of blades - Feather, Astra, Personna, Derby, Wilkinson sword and Gillette Blue/Silver. I only really seem to get on with the Astra and Personna, so I might try and find some of the other variations - I.e. Personna Lab Blue... Tril and error (somewhat) I guess.....

Thanks again
The Astra blades are good and if you get on with them all the better. If I was you I would change one thing at a time, otherwise you will not know what was causing the problem, once you have identified what the problem was you can fine tune the way you shave. If you change everything at once and you get good results you will be still be in the dark as to what the problem was.
Good luck D. P.
 
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