Brush burn?

[soo-do-nym]

Hey all

I've been playing around with a few of the soaps and creams that I have lately, just trying to refine my lather technique and experiment with a bit of face lathering.

Here's the thing; after a few goes through, irregardless of what I am lathering, my face burns like I've taken too many passes with a week old blade - complete with redness and everything! (to clarify, I'm not using a razor or anything, just lathering, washing, re-lathering and so on)

I'm using a Simpson Beaufort B1 (Pure Badger) and I wonder if it's just normal that you can't lather 5 or 6 passes on your face without discomfort or, perhaps, the brush is not cut out for dedicated face-work? (it works really well in my bowl ... my normal lather routine)

If it's a brush issue, could I expect a noticeable improvement with a different grade of hair (silver-tip perhaps?) or different material (synthetic?).

The question is somewhat academic as I don't normally face lather 6 times to shave but it got me to thinking so I'm asking

 

[Mike H]

I could not build lather 5 or 6 times on my face, regardless of the brush type.

 

[soo-do-nym]

I could not build lather 5 or 6 times on my face, regardless of the brush type.

I had my suspicions that it might have been a 'nature of things' kind of issue. Thanks for the input!

 

[Go West Young Man]

I can't facelather even ONE pass with a Pure badger brush without irritation, let alone 6 times.

 

[Nick Danger]

I can't facelather even ONE pass with a Pure badger brush without irritation, let alone 6 times.

Same for me. I started off with an Escali pure badger brush, and it was really irritating my face. Far too "scritchy". Switched to a T&H silvertip, and now using my brush is one of the greatest pleasures of my wet shaving routine.

Nick

 

[taco8slo]

I gave myself brush burn once as well, it was due to "building" lather so many times in a row on my face. Usually we build lather once then spread the lather for subsequent passes (with the occasional little building here and there). It burned bad too, felt like a sunburn, plus I was doing it on a freshly shaved face (more sensitive then).

 

[Loric]

+1 for it being a issue with pure badgers. They have skritch, there is no getting around it. When you multiply that by 6 lathers its a heck of a lot of exfoliation. Six face lathers with any brush is pushing it though, however with something softer it would not be a fraction of the issue you had with it.

 

[celestino]

5-6 lathers is quite a bit, especially with a pure badger brush. You are sure to get brush burn that way. You may consider a good synthetic like Frank Shaving 24mm, or a good silvertip and try more paint-brush strokes when face-lathering. Good luck.

 

[life2short1971]

I think its a soap burn myself.

 

[CHSeifert]

I never face lather more than 3 times in a row, even a semi soft brush would give me a bit of burn from more than 4 times in a row.....

 

[StephenS]

Are best and silver brushes both softer than pure?

 

[Squidma]

Been there test lathering different brushes and soaps...use your hand to test lather, your face will thank you!

 

[ZackP]

I face lather with a "scritchy" brush when I want to exfoliate a bit. Horse hair is quote soft if you're into that.

 

[Squidma]

Horse hair is quote soft if you're into that.

Sounds deviant when you phrase it like that!

 

[dieselfuel79]

I started off with a Vulfix 1000a in Pure. Around the 3rd lather of a 3 pass shave, my face would actually start to rash up and bleed a bit from the brush. Needless to say it did not last long in my den.