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I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Please Help

Hello guys for some reason every shave just keeps getting worse. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing wrong. The dam chin area it’s just a dam nightmare again for me. I thought I had this but it just keeps getting worse.

The blade is just NOT GLIDING through the whiskers on my chin area. I swear I try not to put any pressure but the blade just does not glide through...I had to stop because I was already feeling burning on my face. After the “supposed” second WTG pass. I had to do another WTG pass because the blade just didn’t cut the hair.

Please tell me what I’m doing wrong. I’m just frustrated again with my coarse whiskers and really sensitive skin.

Is it because I’m using mild blades? I tried this time a Wilkinson Sword because it was supposed to be almost the same as a voskhod but either my technique is getting worse or I don’t know what.

You guys are probably tired of me which I would understand. I really just don’t know which direction to go or what I’m doing wrong but the burning of my chin is just depressing.


People tell me to try a fatip grande or feather blades but if I’m getting this much irritation and burning with mild blades and a mild razor I’m just really really scared to try an aggressive razor or blade and really destroy my face...


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Either way I do want to thank all of you for the the help you’ve given me. I really really love this hobby and really am trying to do everything posible to just have a descent smooth and irritation free shave.


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Looks like you are trying to shave more than 24 hours growth. I perform an initial knock down pass with no detail. This way my subsequent passes are handling less growth.

I also apply more lather if needed and never go over an area without lather on my chin area. Like you, the irritation can be uncomfortable.

Glycerin soap before shaving can help.

I prefer Astra SP to Feather although I use both. I find them more comfortable.
 
Hello guys thank you so much for your reply’s.

Right now I’m using a Gillette Tech razor, Tabac Soap, and razorock synthetic brush. I don’t think it’s a reaction of the soap because I have been using this soap with the voskhod blade that was the only time it went well for me. I think the lather is quite good. I’ve worked really hard to get a slick lather practicing on my hand on Off shaving days. I also shave with cold water because I felt with the voskhod that it helped with the irritation on the chin. I don’t mind at all using another soap if that will help. I also don’t think the plate is upside down but putting a picture of the razor just in case. I also have a merkur 34c and a fatip grande.


Here is my routine:

PRE-SHAVE
• Put Brush in Mug with WARM Water
• Shower with WARM water
• Wash face with warm water in shower
• Don’t towel dry the face after shower
• Start Preparing your Lather (I use “another cut above vídeo lather)
• After the shower soak face with cold water
• Apply remaining's of lather soap on face with hands and gently scrub face with hands
• Apply REALLY COLD TOWEL on face and leave on for 1-2 min
o Take off lather with towel
• Apply Pre-shave Cream PREP Original
• Start 1st pass lather

LATHERING ROUTINE
• Take out brush from mug and shake water off to leave it damp but not dry
• Start swirling lightly the bristles on the dry soap for around 30 seconds to gather enough soap where it is sticky and pasty.
o NOTE: You NEED to dip the tip of the bristles in water once or twice depending on soap and brush while swirling
• Start lathering face BY PAINTING IT
• Dip tip of bristles and paint again
• NEED TO KEEP DOING THIS UNTIL LATHER IS BASICALLY WATERY AND YOU CAN SEE THROUGH LATHER YOUR FACE
• Start swirling your face and neck
o NOTE: You probably need to dip the tip of the bristles once or twice depending on soap and brush
• When soap looks like Yogurt and NOT Whip Cream, and it feels slick, then its ready to go.

POST-SHAVE ROUTINE
• Rinse Face with Warm Water
• Rinse Face with Cold Water
• Apply Alum Block with Cold Water
• After 1 min Rinse Off Alum block with Cold Water
• Dry Face gently with towel
• Apply The Cool Fox to help with irritation
• Apply Moisturize Balm Nivea sensitive skin
• Keep moisturizing between shaves as needed



Please let me know if you see something that’s not right


Thanks again guys


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Skip the alum block for a week or so, and use witch hazel instead. This helped me with skin irritation when I started wet shaving.
 
Also, it sounds like the blade is just tearing off the hairs as opposed to slicing them off. Could be a bad blade or batch of blades. For the time being I would stick with the 34c which is a nice mild razor, and try to establish if it is indeed a blade issue.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
It's always possible to get a blade that doesn't agree with your face/beard/technique combo, but my first guess would be blade angle.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
A Tech and Tabac. Hard to go wrong with those two...

One thing I noticed, if you're following this point,

• Put Brush in Mug with WARM Water

You'll have a harder time making a lather. Try not soaking the brush. Wet the soap, dip the tips of the brush and start loading. I'll bet you get a richer lather more quickly.


The blade is just NOT GLIDING through the whiskers on my chin area. I swear I try not to put any pressure but the blade just does not glide through...I had to stop because I was already feeling burning on my face.

The razor should glide over your skin like an air hockey puck with little to no resistance. The blade is secondary to that. If the razor isnt in firm but gentle contact with your skin the blade will tug the hairs as they're cut. That can lead to irritation.

The whole 'no pressure' idea, I believe, is a fallacy. In comparison to using a cartridge razor and the pressure required to make one work, far less pressure is needed with a DE but you do still need some pressure.

I'd suggest switching blades. The Tech is a very mild and very gentle razor but it needs a blade thats compatible with your whiskers. Dont overthink it and dont be afraid of the razor, just shave with confident strokes. Adjust pressure and angle as your shaving.

Avoid a Fatip until you can get the most from your Tech. The only difference between my Tech and my Fatip Grande is the efficiency level. What my Tech takes 5 passes to accomplish, my Grande does in one. Both are incredibly smooth and both will give a comfortable and close shave.

I dont think anyone is tiring of you or your questions. Thats why we're here. :)
 
A Tech and Tabac. Hard to go wrong with those two...

One thing I noticed, if you're following this point,



You'll have a harder time making a lather. Try not soaking the brush. Wet the soap, dip the tips of the brush and start loading. I'll bet you get a richer lather more quickly.




The razor should glide over your skin like an air hockey puck with little to no resistance. The blade is secondary to that. If the razor isnt in firm but gentle contact with your skin the blade will tug the hairs as they're cut. That can lead to irritation.

The whole 'no pressure' idea, I believe, is a fallacy. In comparison to using a cartridge razor and the pressure required to make one work, far less pressure is needed with a DE but you do still need some pressure.

I'd suggest switching blades. The Tech is a very mild and very gentle razor but it needs a blade thats compatible with your whiskers. Dont overthink it and dont be afraid of the razor, just shave with confident strokes. Adjust pressure and angle as your shaving.

Avoid a Fatip until you can get the most from your Tech. The only difference between my Tech and my Fatip Grande is the efficiency level. What my Tech takes 5 passes to accomplish, my Grande does in one. Both are incredibly smooth and both will give a comfortable and close shave.

I dont think anyone is tiring of you or your questions. Thats why we're here. :)

Thanks Esox. Do you think I should use a sharper blade instead? Or keep trying with the voskhod. Since I’m sure it’s definitely my bad technique, I’m scared with the voskhod I don’t get a smooth shave as well and it was probably just luck the time I tried a voskhod blade. I do have one more from the sample pack that I could use. Or should a go with a sharper blade?

And it’s exactly what’s happening to me. I feel the blade tugs the hairs instead of gliding. I feel that’s the reason why on the chin area I’m not cutting at all as well since I feel the tugging, to protect my skin I move the handle higher causing the blade to not even cut the whiskers




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Also, it sounds like the blade is just tearing off the hairs as opposed to slicing them off. Could be a bad blade or batch of blades. For the time being I would stick with the 34c which is a nice mild razor, and try to establish if it is indeed a blade issue.

That is exactly what I feel. I felt the blade just tearing off the hairs and face with the astra sp on my previous shave and felt it again but worse with the Wilkinson sword.


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No need to soak a synthetic brush.

Less pressure. You are pressing too hard. Lighter touch needed. Focus on angle.

This takes time. Do not get frustrated. No one learns golf, tennis, fencing, or softball in a few days. Same with this shaving thing.
 
Ok - step 1 calm down.

Looking at the pics of your chin it looks like you have fairly rugged beard growth. Milder blades can hang in tough whiskers like those. Also, cold water can harden them, which will be GREAT later, when your technique develops a bit. For now, I suggest skipping the cold steps and keep them warm. Use a hot towel just for a little while before returning to the cold shaves. I know the cold feels good on irritated skin, but the goal here is to not irritate the skin to begin with.

So yes, a sharper blade may actually help a lot in regards to the blade slicing cleanly with no pulling or irritation. Don’t let the “sharp” reputation scare you off, even the “mildest” blades we use are still razor blades and will still do a number on your skin if not respected properly, so it’s not like feather, Bic, or kai are any more “dangerous” and in fact may be exactly the smoother cutter you need.

Finally, yes, your technique is going to need refinement. Aside from the issue of pressure/no pressure, which everyone describes a little differently, there is also angle to consider. Search on this forum for the term “cap riding” and read through the results until you have a solid understanding of blade angle and how it interacts with your shave. I tend to recommend a cap riding angle for new shavers, because it helps them cut smoothly and learn to shave more readily.
 
As a fellow new DE user, I use even shorter strokes than normal on my chin. And try and ride the cap. If I miss bits I try and pick them up on the next pass. I have found some blades (Personna) just seem to be tugging, almost like I'm going against the grain especially on the chin. I had to whizz round with a cartridge blade to finish off. Cartridge blade just glided over everything, not that it gave a very close finish. So far I rate the three blade types I've used as Personna worst, Derby second best and Astra the best. Astra was only good for about four shaves and although the Personna felt blunt I had very little irritation.

I find showering before shaving also makes my skin "squeaky" clean and can make the top cap stutter. So I start by just washing my face with warm water and a flannel. Then maybe a hot flannel on the face before lathering in a bowl and applying. Do a WTG and 1 or 2 XTG with tidiying up, mainly on my chin area and neck.
 
1. "Apply REALLY COLD TOWEL on face and leave on for 1-2 min"
Either hot towel or no towel. Avoid cold water before you dry your face before putting on alcohol splash.

2. Warm water, cold water, then alum with cold water.
In between warm water and cold water, use the alum then. Let it sit, rinse with cold water, dry with clean towel, and go for the alcohol splash.

Make sure you start your blade angle 30* which is the handle perpendicular to your skin, and not the safety bar perpendicular to your skin. The safety bar should start parallel with your skin.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
Thanks Esox. Do you think I should use a sharper blade instead? Or keep trying with the voskhod. Since I’m sure it’s definitely my bad technique, I’m scared with the voskhod I don’t get a smooth shave as well and it was probably just luck the time I tried a voskhod blade. I do have one more from the sample pack that I could use. Or should a go with a sharper blade?

And it’s exactly what’s happening to me. I feel the blade tugs the hairs instead of gliding. I feel that’s the reason why on the chin area I’m not cutting at all as well since I feel the tugging, to protect my skin I move the handle higher causing the blade to not even cut the whiskers




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All blades are sharp. How easily they cut through your stubble is another matter. When I was testing blades I already knew how to use a DE because thats what I learned to shave with when I was young so I had a bit of an advantage.

I think its less a matter of blade choice than it is a problem of technique. Virtually any DE blade should give you a decent shave in a Tech.

When you start a shave, place the cap and/or the safety bar against your skin with light but firm contact and start your stroke. I start with the cap against my skin and keep it in contact, then I roll the razor handle downwards until the blade starts cutting. If the blade tugs for me I know it isnt working and I change blades but not always to a 'sharper' blade. I can have a fantastic shave with a Derby Extra and they're one of my top 3 blades. Blade choice is far less important than proper technique.

If on the other hand like @Macfrommichigan suggests, you're using too much pressure and its tugging as bad as you say then its most definitely a poor blade choice. It sounds like you're using such little pressure that you cant get a smooth shave because the razor itself isnt in firm enough contact with your skin so it jumps and stutters over the hairs tugging and pulling them. If either the cap or safety bar is in constant contact with your skin that can happen much less and you'll have a smoother shave.

Dont be afraid of the razor. Use it the same as you do a cartridge razor but with less pressure. Not none, less. The rest is in the angle of use. Cartridge razors have the angle built into them and all you do is apply pressure and shave. With a DE, you need to find the proper angle because it isnt built into the razor.

There are few, if any, razors more gentle and yet effective than a Gillette Tech but they need to be used properly. Be confident, not tentative.

First you need to develop a solid technique. Pick a blade you're most comfortable with and work on building your technique. Once you have a solid technique, you can start evaluating blades. There are differences among them but without a solid and consistent technique its more difficult to evaluate them properly.

FWIW, Feather and Gillette Yellow blades are what I used in my Tech. If I was to use it again, a Feather would likely be my only blade in that razor. Dont be afraid of Feather blades either. A Derby Extra can cut you just as easily as a Feather, believe me. Feather blades are just another blade. Treat them all with respect.
 
Thanks esox.

I’m pretty disappointed with this whole wet shave so I’m going to take a break from it at least to let my face heal properly. Just can’t seem to see what I’m doing wrong and feel I’m just going in circles with the whole irritation and burning.

Thanks again guys for all your help.

Will talk to ya soon.



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Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
Thanks esox.

I’m pretty disappointed with this whole wet shave so I’m going to take a break from it at least to let my face heal properly. Just can’t seem to see what I’m doing wrong and feel I’m just going in circles with the whole irritation and burning.

Thanks again guys for all your help.

Will talk to ya soon.



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Your welcome.

Take your time and use a DE when you feel like it.
 
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