I’m new to DE shaving and enjoy it, my current use of primarily Stirling and PAA are enjoyable. I bought a Henson Al13 mild and like it, but I seem to be getting a lot of irritation on my neck no matter what blade I use in it. My normal procedure is shower, hot water face rinse, pre-shave oil, lather and WTG, rinse and lather XTG, then same with ATG. I tried the same procedure with a Mach3 cartridge and did not get the irritation. What am I doing wrong?! Thanks in advance.
Newbie help
- Thread starter trolltaxi
- Start date
I suspect you’re applying too much pressure, which is easy to do with light and inefficient razors. Use a very sharp blade to improve efficiency, Feather, Nacet, Perma-Sharp, etc, and skip the ATG pass until you master the Henson. The neck is always the most prone to irritation, so BBS may not be worth it.
More specifically related to the Henson itself, especially the mild:
Although you should stay on the flat side, it's possible to accidentally let it go steep especially if you are coming from a cartridge. Because there is no blade feel, you really have to take some time to learn the handle angle that keeps the side flat on your face and not let it slip. Also, use short swiping strokes like your cartridge razor and not a rolling stroke. This has happened to a lot of people starting out since I have been here so you are not alone. And no pressure, as mentioned above.
Although you should stay on the flat side, it's possible to accidentally let it go steep especially if you are coming from a cartridge. Because there is no blade feel, you really have to take some time to learn the handle angle that keeps the side flat on your face and not let it slip. Also, use short swiping strokes like your cartridge razor and not a rolling stroke. This has happened to a lot of people starting out since I have been here so you are not alone. And no pressure, as mentioned above.
My biggest mistakes with the Henson mild were applying pressure and going over difficult areas too many times trying to get it BBS, leading to weepers and irritation.
edit to add: Welcome to B&B!
edit to add: Welcome to B&B!
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Welcome to B&B! The reason you keep reading that blade/razor angle and too much pressure are probably the cause of your irritation is because virtually everyone has to learn those two things at the beginning of this process.
Less pressure is immediately available, just try to use a little less and then cut that in half. If you're not dropping the razor in the sink you've got plenty of pressure.
Razor angle will take a bit of experimentation/practice. You might want to consider skipping the ATG neck pass for a week or two.
Less pressure is immediately available, just try to use a little less and then cut that in half. If you're not dropping the razor in the sink you've got plenty of pressure.
Razor angle will take a bit of experimentation/practice. You might want to consider skipping the ATG neck pass for a week or two.
You've gotten good advice so far but you might consider trying a more aggressive razor. I get less irritation (and a better shave) from a more aggressive razor and less passes.
Welcome to the forum !!
Welcome to the group.
What has been said is correct. Another thing I found with this razor was it has a small window for being at the proper angle and getting the best from it. Meaning if you tilt it up or down just a little more than being flat against your skin it will not c
well. And then you try more pressure and passes to fix it.
Learn the razor if you want to keep using it. Its a nice one. Just light and picky.
IMO
What has been said is correct. Another thing I found with this razor was it has a small window for being at the proper angle and getting the best from it. Meaning if you tilt it up or down just a little more than being flat against your skin it will not c
well. And then you try more pressure and passes to fix it.
Learn the razor if you want to keep using it. Its a nice one. Just light and picky.
IMO
- Thread starter
- #9
Thanks for the help, I’ll try y’all’s suggestions later today and report back. I had tried the blades that were suggested in the first post with the same results, that’s why I thought I’ve got to be doing something wrong. I’m about 100% positive I’m using too much pressure. Before I made my original post I was thinking the razor wasn’t aggressive enough and I bought the aggressive version from shave nation and it should be at my door later today. Do y’all think adding a heavier handle will help or hinder?
Bad idea for right now. What’s going to happen is the weight is going to make the razor want to rotate down into a steep angle. It can work once you learn the razor, but most handles are way too much for the aluminium head.
You'll need to be extra careful with the pressure with it, it's much more aggressive than the mild. Plenty of experienced shavers who can shave on autopilot with the mild or medium have reported drawing blood shaving the same with the aggressive. It's a great razor, most say they can get as good a shave with it as with a mild or medium with fewer passes. But if you're using too much pressure with the mild, you'll need to pay even closer attention to pressure with the aggressive.
I've never tried one, but I've never seen any reason to either. I doubt the handle is your problem, but I suppose YMMV.
Welcome to B&B!
As others have said above - do not apply any pressure and make sure you are not going over the same area more than once.
By no pressure, that really means no pressure. Do not do what you did with cartridges, there you have to press to make the head pivot and the razor work. With a DE, you barely need to feel it on your face.
By not going over the same area twice, that is another thing to unlearn. With cartridges, most of us raked our faces over and over. Doing that with a DE will cause irritation. Each pass is about whisker reduction, not elimination. Lather, then go over each area of your face once, then rinse and do it again. Don't go over a place once you've removed the soap.
It can be smart to accept a less-good shave for now, as you are learning DE wet shaving. You'll soon be onto better shaves, but nobody gets there with their first shave. Some will just stick to WTG for the first few shaves, then add XTG, and only later adding ATG. You may not want to do that, but that is one way to ease into it. I am not patient, but I should have done something like this when I started.
If you are getting irritation with the mild, do not try the aggressive! There is a big difference between the two, I have both. Master the mild, then try others. Good luck and best wishes!
As others have said above - do not apply any pressure and make sure you are not going over the same area more than once.
By no pressure, that really means no pressure. Do not do what you did with cartridges, there you have to press to make the head pivot and the razor work. With a DE, you barely need to feel it on your face.
By not going over the same area twice, that is another thing to unlearn. With cartridges, most of us raked our faces over and over. Doing that with a DE will cause irritation. Each pass is about whisker reduction, not elimination. Lather, then go over each area of your face once, then rinse and do it again. Don't go over a place once you've removed the soap.
It can be smart to accept a less-good shave for now, as you are learning DE wet shaving. You'll soon be onto better shaves, but nobody gets there with their first shave. Some will just stick to WTG for the first few shaves, then add XTG, and only later adding ATG. You may not want to do that, but that is one way to ease into it. I am not patient, but I should have done something like this when I started.
If you are getting irritation with the mild, do not try the aggressive! There is a big difference between the two, I have both. Master the mild, then try others. Good luck and best wishes!
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Great advice above!
To reiterate:
1. Maintain an optimal razor angle.
2. NO pressure!!
Stick with this and you will get the results you want.
To reiterate:
1. Maintain an optimal razor angle.
2. NO pressure!!
Stick with this and you will get the results you want.
- Thread starter
- #14
So I shaved with the aggressive razor a little while ago. I used a nacet blade and have 2 days growth. I could definitely feel the difference between it and the mild version. I used light pressure as suggested and did not go over the same spot twice without lather being present. The blade seemed to be pulling the hair at first. After the next pass the pulling was reduced. Did a 3 pass shave. Did not get any razor burn this time, but I did not shave as fast as I had been and did not apply any pressure like I was either. The shave was not as close, definitely not BBS….guess that’ll be my next challenge.
I will let others take it from here, but your next task is beard mapping and developing a pass strategy; meaning one, two or three and what direction on each. After much experimentation, by goal is to shave in two passes with a touch up on the bottom of my neck. It took some time, and the right razors, to get there. That's really good that you now have a baseline down.
Ha, Ha, I forgot to same welcome again!
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Welcome to B&B.
@trolltaxi Welcome to the best shaving forum on the planet!
I totally concur with all the great technique advice above. However, Wrong choice of blades in my opinion. Many new Brothers start out with the idea that the 'sharpest' blades will give the best result.
It ain't necessarily so. Unless you have a heavy and dense beard a good old Gillette Platinum or Silver Blue will work great. They are sharp enough for almost all beard types, are very smooth and get smoother as you use them.
The sharper blades recommended above can be very unforgiving, especially if your technique is not perfected, and will just increase irritation in sensitive areas, especially the neck and upper lip.
The Plats and Silver Blues tend to be very forgiving in terms of irritation, that's my experience with them.
The main thing is to work on your technique, and don't give up!
I totally concur with all the great technique advice above. However, Wrong choice of blades in my opinion. Many new Brothers start out with the idea that the 'sharpest' blades will give the best result.
It ain't necessarily so. Unless you have a heavy and dense beard a good old Gillette Platinum or Silver Blue will work great. They are sharp enough for almost all beard types, are very smooth and get smoother as you use them.
The sharper blades recommended above can be very unforgiving, especially if your technique is not perfected, and will just increase irritation in sensitive areas, especially the neck and upper lip.
The Plats and Silver Blues tend to be very forgiving in terms of irritation, that's my experience with them.
The main thing is to work on your technique, and don't give up!
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Welcome to B&B! 
Welcome.
So, you changed the razor but it seems that you also modified your technique in several ways: lighter touch, did not go over the same spot twice without lather, and you shaved slower. All good stuff.
My point is that you should be able to achieve the same result shaving with either razor, if you apply the same technique.
Remember that shaving is about beard reduction. I use, and prefer, mild razors. I expect that when I rinse my face after the first pass that I will feel a lot of stubble in various areas. It may be shorter but it is still there, and I know I will get it all on subsequent passes and finish with some gentle touchup.
I'm fine with that, and expect that my shave will be a slower process because I'm generally using a less efficient (milder) razor. Some guys prefer a higher level of efficiency and don't want to feel any (or less) stubble remaining after the first pass, but the trade-off with a more efficient razor may be a more aggressive razor that requires more attention to prevent getting bit.
It comes down to practice, with some trail and error and, of course, seeking advice. It's a process, but it sounds like you are on your way to success.
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Welcome to B&B! A great deal of excellent advice above, by some of the best here on the forum.
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