Worst shave yet!

B

Blakec911

Messages
55
First post of mine so hi to all. Relatively new to DE shaving, would say i'm six months in and never heading back to the dreaded cartridge razor again! i would like to think over the short period i have gained enough knowledge to know what i'm doing but massively keen to know where i could improve and take advice from seasoned veterans :).

Last nights shave was the worst yet and trying to work out why as i did nothing different from my normal routine.

Start off with a hot shower to hydrate, i use Musgo Real oak moss to clean out my skin. I will then rub the Musgo against and with the grain to get underneath the hairs nice and oiled up. I am using a Semogue 1250 with Mitchells wool fat, have noticed this one can be tricky to lather up. So i start my first pass with the grain using Edwin Jagger DE89 with Astra blades, and right from the off i felt like my skin was slightly irritated, you know the sort of slight burn feeling, especially around my chin. Keep going, trying to apply as little pressure as possible now. Lather up again for across the grain pass and again i can feel that burn but this time on the right side of my neck (i notice this spot always irritates me no matter what). so again trying not to apply to much pressure . Getting a little frustrated i decided to finish up, so jumped in a hot shower again as i find this helps. Lastly i applied Kielhs Ultimate mens aftershave balm, my balm of choice right now.

I'm trying to work out what caused my skin to get irritated so much last night when i haven't changed anything?

Has anyone got any pointers of what could cause this?, as stupidly as it sounds i was proper bummed about the shave and went to bed in a huff haha.

Thanks Chaps.
 
FrankieG said:
Maybe a bad blade? Was this the first shave with the Astra? I would bin it and use a different one.
Click to expand...

Hi Frankie

Thanks for the reply. This was only my second shave with this blade, i will normally only use three times at the most because i start to feel the blade niggling if that makes sense.
 
I would have stopped as soon as it started to burn. You can only make matters worse trying to work through it. As you'll irritate the skin and make flares up occur easier.
If the blade starts to tug and pull after a few strokes across the skin, bin it.
 
Blakec911 said:
I am using a Semogue 1250 with Mitchells wool fat, have noticed this one can be tricky to lather up.
Click to expand...

Was your lather inadequate?

Is it possible your face might have been exposed to something that irritated it? I normally shave in the evenings and I tend to swim a few nights a week. I cannot shave the same evenings I swim as the chlorine dries out my skin so much its not worth shaving afterwards as my skin is so dry it just gets really irritated.
 
Dave Q said:
I would have stopped as soon as it started to burn. You can only make matters worse trying to work through it. As you'll irritate the skin and make flares up occur easier.
If the blade starts to tug and pull after a few strokes across the skin, bin it.
Click to expand...

Dave Q you are absolutely right! i should have stopped after the first pass and just had a blah shave this time. Would have saved the added irritation i imagine.

Ben88 said:
Blakec911 said:
I am using a Semogue 1250 with Mitchells wool fat, have noticed this one can be tricky to lather up.
Click to expand...

Was your lather inadequate?

Is it possible your face might have been exposed to something that irritated it? I normally shave in the evenings and I tend to swim a few nights a week. I cannot shave the same evenings I swim as the chlorine dries out my skin so much its not worth shaving afterwards as my skin is so dry it just gets really irritated.
Click to expand...

I don't think the lather was inadequate, but then again i am still trying to get the technique spot on.

I also normally shave in the evenings before i go to bed but I can't think of any reason why my skin would have been irritated. The only things i did was go to the gym after work and then cook when i got home.
 
Do you have any other brushes? Very much a process of elimination to begin with, and though it can be extremely disheartening to consider that something which has cost you money, might not be suited to your skin, its always a possibility. I don't have personal experience of the Semogue 1250, but as its a bristle brush, you might try something a bit softer.

First though, I would try some Feather blades. I personally believe they are hands down the best DE blade. Two work colleagues think the same - and we've all tried many other types between us. I could post you a couple if you like - I rarely use my DE nowadays, so have some spare. No charge! These excellent forums are all about helping others after all!

Regards,

Alastair.
 
KrytonsJaw said:
Do you have any other brushes? Very much a process of elimination to begin with, and though it can be extremely disheartening to consider that something which has cost you money, might not be suited to your skin, its always a possibility. I don't have personal experience of the Semogue 1250, but as its a bristle brush, you might try something a bit softer.

First though, I would try some Feather blades. I personally believe they are hands down the best DE blade. Two work colleagues think the same - and we've all tried many other types between us. I could post you a couple if you like - I rarely use my DE nowadays, so have some spare. No charge! These excellent forums are all about helping others after all!

Regards,

Alastair.
Click to expand...

Alastair that's amazing, thank you for the offer. I would definitely like to take you up on it. I shall PM you my address. Are you sure you wouldn't like at least the postage money?

With regards to the Semogue, you could actually be right!! Thinking about it i have only used it around 2-3 times so far as it's new so maybe that could be the issue. Maybe not worn in enough or it might not agree with my skin. My badger brush seemed to be fine!.
 
Blakec911 said:
KrytonsJaw said:
Do you have any other brushes? Very much a process of elimination to begin with, and though it can be extremely disheartening to consider that something which has cost you money, might not be suited to your skin, its always a possibility. I don't have personal experience of the Semogue 1250, but as its a bristle brush, you might try something a bit softer.

First though, I would try some Feather blades. I personally believe they are hands down the best DE blade. Two work colleagues think the same - and we've all tried many other types between us. I could post you a couple if you like - I rarely use my DE nowadays, so have some spare. No charge! These excellent forums are all about helping others after all!

Regards,

Alastair.
Click to expand...

Alastair that's amazing, thank you for the offer. I would definitely like to take you up on it. I shall PM you my address. Are you sure you wouldn't like at least the postage money?

With regards to the Semogue, you could actually be right!! Thinking about it i have only used it around 2-3 times so far as it's new so maybe that could be the issue. Maybe not worn in enough or it might not agree with my skin. My badger brush seemed to be fine!.
Click to expand...

Hi Blake,

Got your address in your PM. Don't worry about the postage - its only the cost of a first class stamp.

I'll throw a couple of Feather blades in the post to you later today or tomorrow.

Regards,

Alastair.
 
Greenpotterer said:
Was the blade seated correctly I know you have more experience than me but I didn't fit it right and the shave was bloody awful.
Gaz
Click to expand...

Hi Gaz

Thanks for chiming in, all thoughts are definitely welcome :). The blade was seated correctly, fully lined up just right so i can't see this being the issue! I've gotta shave tonight, so new blade and i'll see how i get on.

Blake
 
Blake, Astra's in less aggressive razors I don't find quite sharp enough personally. Therefore they tend to give me a little irritation doing multiple passes. Good to try the Feathers. Have you tried Personna Lab Blue's yet?
 
Ben88 said:
Blake, Astra's in less aggressive razors I don't find quite sharp enough personally. Therefore they tend to give me a little irritation doing multiple passes. Good to try the Feathers. Have you tried Personna Lab Blue's yet?
Click to expand...

Hey Ben, I'm looking forward to giving the feathers a go after Alastair kindly said he would send me a couple.

I haven't tried the Personna blades yet but heard nothing but good things about them.
 
The MR oak moss is just ordinary soap and then you lathering MWF on top of that?

It could be a developed sensitivity to one soap or the other, cut out one then the other and see if that makes a difference. Some folks don't react to lanolin in MWF particularly well.
 
Blakec911 said:
Ben88 said:
Blake, Astra's in less aggressive razors I don't find quite sharp enough personally. Therefore they tend to give me a little irritation doing multiple passes. Good to try the Feathers. Have you tried Personna Lab Blue's yet?
Click to expand...

Hey Ben, I'm looking forward to giving the feathers a go after Alastair kindly said he would send me a couple.

I haven't tried the Personna blades yet but heard nothing but good things about them.
Click to expand...

Let me know how you get on with the feathers and if they aren't right I'll send you over some Lab Blues mate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom