Bad shave 3 weeks in

[Blade4vor]

Things had been going very well, but I ended up with a bad shave recently. I was using my Merkur HD with a Feather blade and ended up with really bad razor burn on my neck and a puncture in the mole on my left cheek.
After I went back and checked my razor, it appears that the blade wasn't quite square in the razor. Hence, one side was shy and crooked, and the other side was more exposed with a corner sticking out a bit. It was very disappointing, but I'm not discouraged. I guess I just need to pay more attention to my hardware and check things out sooner when things aren't going as planned. Lesson learned, I guess?

 

[DVPremo]

Yep, a crooked blade will get you every time. I learned that lesson the hard way myself.

 

[xxvaleria]

It happens sometimes. All you can do is be as careful as possible.

 

[Blade4vor]

I posted in hope that it might help others early on in the adventure. I've REALLY enjoyed my time wet shaving with a DE. I have to admit that it's gone almost too smoothly. I think I got a little cocky and didn't admit to myself that I had missed something. The thing is, if it doesn't feel right, then there's probably something wrong. I tend to be bullheaded sometimes and this time it caused me some discomfort.
Well, all things considered, I got back on the horse(or boar, as the case may be), and had a great shave this morning!
Just keep your eyes open when dealing with sharp objects!

 

[TreadwayJohnA]

Just keep your eyes open when dealing with sharp objects!

+1 Well spoken

 

[admvalentine]

Try shaving with the dt s lol (alcohol withdraws)

 

[Armiger]

The "reminder shave" happened to me last week after numerous BBS shaves. I used to much pressure and to steep a blade angle on my upper cheeks due to being in a hurry. Looked like I had either sunburn or was extremely embarrassed for a 24 hour period. Good reminders and keeps us humble!

 

[Eaaqas]

Good reminder! I'm about to pull out the shavette again. I'll look to make sure the blade is square!

 

[PMT]

Welcome!

 

[kthejoker20]

Just a suggestion this helped me....

I was actually getting an allergic reaction to the face scrub, shave soap, and after shave. that was causing my face to bump and then when i shaved, i was actually shaving the bumps cutting myself.

Try washing your face, let it dry, then put hdrocortison cream on it and let it sit for 12 hours. Then try shaving with just a plain old bar soap.

 

[BSAGuy]

Some days they say that you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you.

 

[KipNoxzema]

You're using the sharpest blade on the planet, so everything has to be just right to avoid scrapes and nicks.

 

[lowks]

Ugh I feel for you man..... wonder what does a punctured mole looks like

 

[Blade4vor]

You're using the sharpest blade on the planet, so everything has to be just right to avoid scrapes and nicks.

Even with a lot of prep, my whiskers seem to be made of wire. The sharp blades work best as long as everything is lined up right and time is well spent in preperation. Like I said, this was really the first problem I'd had in the first three weeks.

My biggest mistake was getting ticked off and just "pushing through." In the future, I hope I have enough sense to stop and investigate why things are going so poorly.

 

[Blade4vor]

Ugh I feel for you man..... wonder what does a punctured mole looks like

Thanks for the support. I didn't take any pictures, but I can tell you my sweet, young, and lovely won't be happy when she sees the towel.

A punctured mole doesn't look any different from before, but it bleeds like crazy! If it flattened out every time I caught it, I wouldn't have to worry about it any more. Thank God for the styptic. (And my wife's towel.)

 

[lowks]

Reminds me of the bad cut I had few weeks back even the stick did little to lessen the red flow. The trick after that was to shave while avoiding the healing scar

 

[Herm2502]

I usually get irritation when I go over the same spot to many times in search of that perfect shave. Sometimes you just have to stop and say "that's good enough". Don't give up.

 

[Shiloh]

I usually get irritation when I go over the same spot to many times in search of that perfect shave. Sometimes you just have to stop and say "that's good enough". Don't give up.

Indeed.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Man, I have only been doing this a few months after 15+ years of Mach 3 shaving and I haven't had a really bad shave until last night. I was on the fence about replacing the blade but went ahead and didn't. I used Trumper's Skin Food as my pre-shave, lathered my Cella and went to work. When I was done my face was on FIRE and the Fine American Blend didn't help it. I thought I screwed up big time but I put some of Trumper's Coral Skin Tonic (basically rosewater) on my face and topped it off with Trader Joe's Oil Free facial moisturizer and the pain went away within 5 minutes and absolutely no irritation today. A punctured mole is a different story though

Best of luck going forward, there is always a little pain as we learn a new art form. Pain is a good incentive to improve technique

 

[MajorBurnz]

These things happen. A lot of razors allow some play in the blade positioning. It irritates me, as it seems to be such an easy thing to fix at the design stage.

I'm sorry your shave wasn't good. Hopefully, now that you know it can happen, you can avoid it in the future.