One year into DE shaving - help!

Three passes? Completely unnecessary! Basically, you're shaving yourself 3 times! One pass should be sufficient, two at the very most. I remember watching my father shave using a DE razor in the Seventies, he certainly didn't shave himself 3 times! Doubt many other men did either back in the day.

yea I do two passes, I watched my dad shaving when i was about 10 or 11 he was a one pass man, but it was painful to watch .he used more toilet roll than soap. he probably just bought what was in the local shop. now we can buy sample packs and find what works for us he never had that opportunity. he just bought what was in the naffi
 
Three passes? Completely unnecessary! Basically you're shaving yourself 3 times! One pass should be sufficient, two at the very most. I remember watching my father shave using a DE razor in the Seventies, he certainly didn't shave himself 3 times! Doubt many other men did either back in the day.
Using the DE razor is about gradual stubble reduction so a multi pass shave is required. A two pass shave can give reasonable results and nearer a CCS or DFS shave.
The problem is not the DE razor but a reaction to a something else. I heard some have a reaction to platinum so could be the blade. The consultation with the GP sounds like the best way forward.
 
Quick update, finally booked to see the GP in Jan. Would really like to get to the bottom of this if possible.
I'm a bit surprised that it's necessary to schedule a meeting with your GP so many days in advance. What if you had a severe infection?

I'll be relieved if they do tell me its some kind of bacterial infection (staph?) and prescribe me something to kill it off. If its not then hopefully they can recommend some cream etc that will help. Shaving every 2-3 days, doing just 2 x WTG passes with absolutely minimal pressure, so keeping it as gentle as I can in the meantime.
If it was an infection, your WS Protector razor would give you the same issues. Perhaps something about the metal in your razor is not suiting you. Nickel/chrome/copper allergy perhaps?
Another thing to consider is that the WS Protector has those strands running over the blades - these are designed so that the shave is not too close for irritation. Perhaps that is something your skin requires? Do other multiblades give you irritation?

One thing I have really noticed is that hot water definitely irritates my face and makes any marks flare up. I cold water shave anyway, but when I step out of the shower, these marks from old scars, ingrowers, etc, become really prominent. That's before I've even shaved. They're still visible on a non-shaving day though to a lesser degree and can take a couple of hours to calm down post-shave depending on the combo of gear I've used and passes taken. On the plus side, I hardly ever get weepers / nicks so I must be doing something right. Will let you know how I get on in a few weeks.
Try shaving in the night. No shower, just a facewash with cold water & soap.
 
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The problem is not the DE razor but a reaction to a something else. I heard some have a reaction to platinum so could be the blade. The consultation with the GP sounds like the best way forward.

I am sure that Platinum blades make my skin flare up. I say this because Astra SP and Gillette 7 o'clock Yellows made my face look like a pizza, and take several hours to settle down. Astra SS and Gillette Silver Blues have been far better for me. I've made enough notes during the last year to know that these blades keep irritation to a minimum for me.
 
I'm a bit surprised that it's necessary to schedule a meeting with your GP so many days in advance. What if you had a severe infection?

If it was an infection, your WS Protector razor would give you the same issues. Perhaps something about the metal in your razor is not suiting you. Nickel/chrome/copper allergy perhaps?

Another thing to consider is that the WS Protector has those strands running over the blades - these are designed so that the shave is not too close for irritation. Perhaps that is something your skin requires? Do other multiblades give you irritation?

Try shaving in the night. No shower, just a facewash with cold water & soap.

Yes, it was after a few months of using Fusion carts that I came to DE shaving. Irritation and really bad ingrown hairs. And I only did one pass WTG with it anyway.

I do sometimes shave at night, after a warm water face wash, it helps if I've had a flare up to retire to bed on it and not have to face the world.

Not sure about having issues with razor metal, I've been solely using stainless steel ones anyway lately. Last 2 shaves have been with a Razorock Game Changer. Whilst I had planned on keeping the same setup til I see the GP, I've wanted to try this razor for a while so couldn't resist it on the BST. It has given very pleasing results so I'm certainly not stressed about not getting an urgent appointment. Thanks for the input
 
Yes, it was after a few months of using Fusion carts that I came to DE shaving. Irritation and really bad ingrown hairs. And I only did one pass WTG with it anyway.

I do sometimes shave at night, after a warm water face wash, it helps if I've had a flare up to retire to bed on it and not have to face the world.

Not sure about having issues with razor metal, I've been solely using stainless steel ones anyway lately. Last 2 shaves have been with a Razorock Game Changer. Whilst I had planned on keeping the same setup til I see the GP, I've wanted to try this razor for a while so couldn't resist it on the BST. It has given very pleasing results so I'm certainly not stressed about not getting an urgent appointment. Thanks for the input
So, if I have this right, -only the WS Protector leaves you without severe razor burn. Fusions give you the same issues that DE razors do.
Is this correct?
 
So, if I have this right, -only the WS Protector leaves you without severe razor burn. Fusions give you the same issues that DE razors do.
Is this correct?

No, if I got severe razor burn without fail from DE razors, I'd have given up months ago.

Fusions gave me ingrown hairs. I hardly ever get any with DE razors. The pics earlier in the thread were an example of how my face CAN look after a shave. It certainly doesn't mean it always does, or like I said I'd have gone back to carts or grown a beard by now. Trial and error of different products, combination of blades / number & type of passes etc has produced good results here and there. It's not all bad news
 
I have a shave buddy who has been DE shaving for years and has always had trouble. He used a Merkur for years and had nothing but irritation so he switched to a Tech and then a Feather Popular and still had some troubles. His prep was perfect, his blades top tier as are his soaps and brushes. Further digging on my part got to the "meat" of the matter: he was doing 'peat & repeat passes ad infinitum. He is very hirsute and thinks he needs to be BBS thereby "whacking & scything" pass after pass after pass...

There is always a reason, just that sometimes people aren't so much forthcoming due to deceit, but rather blissful......miscomprehension.
 
Well, I finally saw the GP yesterday. He asked the kind of questions I was expecting, such as what razor I use, how often I shave, what sort of cream I use, how I prepare for a shave, how many passes I make, if I use a cream at night, etc. I told him I sometimes use moisturiser before bed but didn't really know if it made much difference. He said that it was a good thing to do. He asked if I felt dragging and pulling during the shave, I said that the shaves always feel fine at the time, then my face flares up soon after and takes some time to settle down.

I explained that I'd gone from years of using carts to using DE razors, changing because of getting ingrown hairs from use of them. He then asked how often I change the blade, I said I use one no more than a couple of times before changing. He then asked me "Have you tried one of these?" and brings up a google image of a Mach 3 razor. I found this a little surprising given that (1) I'd just told him why I moved away from cartridge razors, and (2) it is widely stated that a single blade is better for your skin than multiple ones going over it. I said yes, I've tried it, and tried 5 blade cartridges too.

After all this, he was confident that I have a bacterial infection, thus said it was Folliculitis. I've started a week of antibiotics (Flucloxacillin) and he also gave me a cream (Fusidic Acid) to apply if the pills don't clear it up. So I will see how things go, hopefully it sorts things out. Thanks for input in this topic & I feel relieved to finally get a professional opinion.
 
Well, I finally saw the GP yesterday. He asked the kind of questions I was expecting, such as what razor I use, how often I shave, what sort of cream I use, how I prepare for a shave, how many passes I make, if I use a cream at night, etc. I told him I sometimes use moisturiser before bed but didn't really know if it made much difference. He said that it was a good thing to do. He asked if I felt dragging and pulling during the shave, I said that the shaves always feel fine at the time, then my face flares up soon after and takes some time to settle down.

I explained that I'd gone from years of using carts to using DE razors, changing because of getting ingrown hairs from use of them. He then asked how often I change the blade, I said I use one no more than a couple of times before changing. He then asked me "Have you tried one of these?" and brings up a google image of a Mach 3 razor. I found this a little surprising given that (1) I'd just told him why I moved away from cartridge razors, and (2) it is widely stated that a single blade is better for your skin than multiple ones going over it. I said yes, I've tried it, and tried 5 blade cartridges too.

After all this, he was confident that I have a bacterial infection, thus said it was Folliculitis. I've started a week of antibiotics (Flucloxacillin) and he also gave me a cream (Fusidic Acid) to apply if the pills don't clear it up. So I will see how things go, hopefully it sorts things out. Thanks for input in this topic & I feel relieved to finally get a professional opinion.
If it's Folliculitis, you'll have to disinfect your brush & whatever else could have the bug.
 
If it's Folliculitis, you'll have to disinfect your brush & whatever else could have the bug.

Best ways of doing this? I've never done anything beyond rinsing them.

Edit: Gave my brushes & razor heads a soak each in a small bowl of warm water with a couple of drops of antibacterial hand wash.
 
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Hi Dave79.

I've only been DE shaving for the last 6 months, (always used electric razor prior to that) but I'd wet shave now and again with a fusion or similar.
Have you tried using 'Wich Hazel' after you shave.
I used to get a little bit of irritation on my chin just below the bottom lip. Never could really work out what it was, possibly slight well used blade, but it sometimes happened with a blade I'd used no more than twice. But I tried adding some Wich Hazel to my post shave oil, and it hasn't eradicated the problem but it has helped tremendously.
Just a suggestion mate.
 
Just on the offchance, I have come across confusion WRT blade angle, as, of course the blade lies at 90 degrees to the axis of the razor handle. Many people (including some online shaving 'experts') use a very steep blade angle, by which I mean that the razor handle is around 30 degrees to their face (fairly close to parallel, like the photo below):
safety-shave.png


This means that the blade itself is making contact at something around 70 degrees to the skin, and is therefore scraping rather than slicing cleanly. Though this would usually manifest in razor burn, it can force hairs under the surface, causing ingrowns and infected follicles similar to your photos. When trying a new razor, I always work from the handle at 90 degrees to my face and angle the handle down until I feel the blade making contact, resulting in the razor being much closer to this:
maxresdefault.jpg
Used this way, the blade slices the hairs cleanly at the surface as opposed to pulling them, thereby reducing ingrowns. Not saying you haven't worked this out for yourself already, but the "30 degrees" advice can be confusing as it isn't always mentioned that this is the angle at which the blade touches the skin rather than the angle at which the razor handle is held to the skin.
 
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Apologies for the horror pics, just hoping to get some advice really. This is my face / neck an hour after shaving (post Nivea face wash & shower) with a DE89, Voskhod blade (3rd use) & Body Shop Maca Root cream. It was a 3 pass: WTG, XTG & XTG opposite direction, then touch ups. If I had taken the pics within minutes of shaving, they would have been far more horrific!

I think that the bulk of the redness is scars leftover from going ATG and having to dig out ingrowers resulting from said passes. I haven't gone ATG for over a month as it seems my skin really can't take it. If I go ATG, I get an assortment of weepers, regardless of blade, razor, angle, etc and my face gets itchy later on during a shaving day and this can carry over to the following day. I'm gutted that I can't get as close a shave as I'd like because of this, but for the punishment my face gets I just have to settle for a DFS.

As you can see though, I thought that after over a month of not going ATG, my skin would have cleared up a lot more. I'm tearing my hair out somewhat with this now, my face looks like this after virtually every shave, except sometimes worse if it's a blade that doesn't agree with my skin. I always shave after either a shower or a good face wash / hot flannel etc, and I think I get good lather from Truefitt & Hill Ultimate Comfort cream. I let the weight of the razor do the work and don't apply any more pressure than is necessary. I cold water shave and rinse with cold water for half a minute, clean up my stuff then apply balm. I get a more efficient shave with an iKon open comb than with the DE89, yet still get irritation. Even with my face looking like it does, it doesn't particularly feel like a mild razor helps me, as I get irritation no matter what I use, so I may as well use a more efficient razor.

Not sure what to do really, it's partly seeing myself in photos from 10-15 years ago that has made me realise that my face was nice and smooth and irritation free back then, using just canned goo and a WS Protector cartridge razor. Before anyone pipes up with “Shaving is beard reduction, not beard elimination”, I am NOT trying to get every hair, just trying to get a decent shave without my face looking wrecked. Ideally if I can sort the problem out I'd like to keep DE shaving. I don't really want to go back to carts as Fusions gave me bad ingrowers and irritated my neck anyway, even with a 1-pass WTG shave. I've tried a slant and an SE recently and got the same level of irritation with them. Just wish I could get rid of the rash. I don't really get any burn or pain as such, I just hate my face looking like this. It's settled down a bit since I took the pics a few hours ago, but depending on the blade it can take 2 hours for my face to settle down after shaving. I remember the days of shaving and then going out for the night almost straight after, (that's) just not an option now as I can't go out with my face in a right state.

I suppose seeing a dermatologist is an option (how do you even do this, presumably your GP refers you?), but I would be interested in any thoughts or product recommendations. Would pre-shave or witch hazel be helpful for example? I use Aloe Vera gel sometimes. It soothes irritation but doesn't make the redness go away. I've heard hydrocortisone cream can help, has anyone tried it? I've read a ton of articles on razor burn and they all say to use a single blade rather than a multi blade cart, which is another reason I don't want to go back to carts.

Any help appreciated. Potentially I may have to face up to DE shaving not being for me, but I've done it for a year now and enjoy the products, ritual, etc of it all, but I honestly can't say that my skin is that much better now than when I started all this. . .


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If there was a time when you didn't get such a reaction would it not be worthy reverting to whatever you did back then? Have you tried electric shaving? Some of the wet and dry shavers are very good to be honest.
 
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