Chop, Chop, Chop, Chief's Orders

[hairychief]

Hello fellow B&B members (and lurkers)

I finally decided to give DE shaving a try because for years I've dealt with irritation from every shaving method you can think of. I am a black male with curly facial hair which makes shaving a nightmare. Before trying DE shaving I had been dreading the whole ordeal of shaving because of the irritation that would start sometimes hours after my shave with an electric trimmer. This disheartened me and turned me away from shaving altogether but didn't stop me enough to make me quit looking for an answer to my problems.
After reading about solutions to ingrown hairs and razor bumps (which I'm questioning whether these are the same thing or not now) I kept hearing about single blade razors being the key to success. I gave the idea a try by getting the Bump Fighter razor a chance on my face. The shave was ok but not to my liking. Like many others on their mission here, I am looking for the baby butt smoothness that I've imagined in my dreams.
To fast forward for everyone, I was able to convince my cheap self to buy a DE razor and a whole set of products and accessories.

Here you go:
Razor: A Merkur Long Handled Razor (purchased from Amazon for a reasonable price. Nothing special)
Synthetic Brush (Walgreens, my dear friend) along with a bowl and soap out of a starter kit.
I also have a sample pack of razors. The latest one that I used was Derby's Extra's which I have little opinion for at this point.

While I waited to get all of the stuff together I read all the information I could for DE shaving while also watching Mantic59's videos and more.
I started the whole process off by:
Hopping in a hot shower and doing my normal routine of facewashing. I use a face wash that was given to my family by some water softner people, I'm not sure of the name or ingredients. I also used a daily face scrub that I got from Walgreens which supposedly brightens and preps my face for shaving by removing the dirt and dead skin from my pores.

I got out of the shower with my face air drying and started to make my lather. With the lather I feel it is self explanatory what consistency you want. Mantic did a good job in showing people that and with the lather I felt that I have no problems but I don't think its a fancy soap because the whole kit itself (brush, bowl, and complimentary soap) was $12.

After making the lather I use my brush to apply it onto my face in a circular motion. I do this for about 45 seconds to a minute.

I start the shave off with my sideburns, going down my cheeks in a slow motion. I rinse with each stroke or 2 and leave my underchin(?) and neck area for last as to let the lather moisturize the hair.

With the 2 shaves that I've done I never changed the direction in which I was shaving. Even though I know this is wrong (Now I do) I shaved my whole face in the downward direction, even my neck. After my shave I felt a bit of stinging, almost a hot feeling, which I eased with Micheal Jordan aftershave balm. It relieved the burn momentarily but it persisted for about an hour and a half.

Today (Day 3) my skin is riddled in razor bumps and not to mention that it is sore and burning to the touch/rub. I want to say that there is a big combination of things that could be going wrong in my shaving. The most glaring point is that I don't know/understand what direction my hair grows. When I use the technique of rubbing my fingers over my hair in certain directions, it feels like they all sort of give in each direction. Against the grain I can feel and understand but I have a hard time finding the right direction. I would also say that I am putting pressure on the blade and causing irritation in that way. I have to try to drop the old habits of electric trimmers. Other than this if anyone would like to help me on my journey with information they have found I would be so thankful. My goal is to be able to touch my face and not feel bumpiness and irritation.

Thank you for your time if you read this far, I'm an undercover writer.

 

[Billski]

Welcome to Badger and Blade, Texan.

Forget that BBS shave.

Some fast readers will help you.

 

[hairychief]

Yeah the more I thought about it, just being able to shave with no irritation would make me happy. BBS is just a plus if it gets to that. Thank you for the reply

 

[hairychief]

Just updating: My skin seems to be healing quite nicely. After my first shave I had major irritation at the right of my neck and in certain spots along the jawline and sideburns. I think that tomorrow I'll shave down my beard with my Norelco so that I can let the skin heal completely and be able to give shaving another chance. I've been scouring the internet and other threads similar to my problem and found that I'm most likely applying pressure and that I'm shaving against the grain on my neck. Trimming my beard should give me stubble which will finally reveal for good the direction of my hair growth. I wish the best of luck to my face and I will update this thread tomorrow with the news of the Norelco.

 

[Smattayu]

First off, welcome to B&B! It could very well be that you're adding some pressure, but if you've watched mantic59s videos, you probably know to only use the weight of the razor. Of course, knowing and having it internalized are two different things, a lesson I've learned well from using a straight razor lol. I've also found that I get different levels of comfort from different blades.

I've tried several blades and always come back to the Astra SP. If you have Gillette Silver Blue, or Persona lab blue, those are in the same league, and usually have a good balance between sharpness and smoothness. Either way, you went a good route in getting a blade sampler.

There are a lot of very helpful people here, and it's worth checking other parts of the forum and asking questions. Also, splashing some Thayer's witch hazel on right after every shave has helped my face a lot. Thayer's is one of the unsung heroes of the wet shaving world.

Good luck, and hope to see your progress here!

 

[dexutter]

I agree, it's probably a pressure thing more than anything. But you'll get that after a few shaves. I actually think my best shaves at the beginning were the days after a rough shave. The razor burn kept me from pushing hard and I got some great shaves, but I never had big bumps, so probably not worth going over those! Also - give Witch Hazel a shot, or an AS splash with Alcohol. I had some days where the burning never went away, I found using a AS splash worked better than balms for me. Best of luck! And keep it up!

 

[hairychief]

Friends! I trimmed my face like I said I would and took your advice, Dexutter, and mixed aftershave splash and balm together for an ultimate aftershave concoction. I'll be picking up some witch hazel soon and will most definitely be using it in my next shave. The irritation on my face has definitely died down a bit, with a little bit of soreness on my face in certain spots and some minor bumps still left. I'll be lathering in a differently because while rewatching Mantic's videos I found that the way I lathered was most likely too dry. It was an ok lather but the way he did it in his bowl was a lot better and so thick that I'm pretty sure you could slide wire over your face no problem. Also no pressure!
Thank you for following my journey

 

[Smattayu]

Sounds like you're making progress. Great to hear!

 

[dexutter]

Awesome! I think the technique (pressure and angle) are difficult to pick up because they're so different than electric/carts... Lather is just a new beast all together! Glad the AS splash helped some! I haven't used witch hazel, but I just got a WH based AS that I'm excited to try!

 

[hairychief]

Today I got too excited and shaved my slightly irritated face. I put a hot towel to it for a little over a minute and lathered up with the shave soap I got from the starter kit I bought. I shaved with Personna Blue using my Merkur Solignen. Even though I've found the way my hair grows I felt anxious and just decided to shave downward for my whole face. This has so far yielded good results as my face is itch free. I could have gone for another pass but felt that I shouldn't try my luck just yet and that I should wait and see how my skin reacts. Thank you for reading and good luck to everyone else.

 

[Smattayu]

Sounds like a good call on playing it a bit safe. Glad to hear that your getting good results.

 

[Smattayu]

That was strange. It double posted me for some reason lol.

 

[hairychief]

So an update... After my 1 pass shave I suffered from one razor bump/ingrown hair? Its a bump on my sideburn that turned into a white head (which I refuse to pop). But other than that the shave was successful. It cured my itch and reduced the hair on my face. I'll be shaving later tonight. I haven't settled on going with my unique grain or doing 2 passes both downward yet but when the time comes I'll update and revise. Happy shaving everyone

 

[Smattayu]

Good to hear. Keep us posted!

 

[hairychief]

BOOM!
Back at it again. After a long morning of fishing, I took my detachable showerhead and rinsed my beard with warm-hot water for about 1 minute. I already had my brush (100% boar hair) and bowl prepping in water beforehand. I made a lather by swirling the brush on the soap puck (Van Der Hagen) and then swishing it around in the moist bowl I had. Very thick and soapy lather, and after circling in quadrants on my face I painted the lather against the grain to get it deep into the hairs. The soap was way too... soapy... but worked as it was supposed to. I loaded my Personna- Lab Blue blades in and finally went to work on my face.

I shaved 1 pass again. After watching a Youtuber named Nick Shaves I found a lot of great knowledge and technique improvements on my part. I finally figured out how to hold the handle and how to make sure not to apply pressure. On top of this I was able to find the angle that I enjoyed. I went slow but made sure that my strokes were decisive and executed right. After I did my whole downward pass I noticed that I missed the spot under my ear where my jaw curves onto my neck. I went over it downward but found that to be useless. Without thinking I turned the razor to an across the grain position and got the area (on the other side as well, the same way). Just to play it safe I stopped at this point. I still fear the irritation that I got when I first started and am desperately trying not to repeat it.

I finished the shave with a rinse off of warm water, a pat down with a towel, another rinse of cold water, a pat down, then onto a CVS cooling aftershave splash (BUUUUURN! ) along with Lubriderm's Men 3-IN-1 Body, Face, and Post Shave Lotion after the aftershave dried. When I had razor burn this lotion was a life saver but it seemed like the relief only lasted for about an hour or two.

Post Shave Results:
No nicks. So far little to no irritation. Shave is still mediocre because I'm not going close, just presentable, but next week I'll be starting my second pass across the grain if things go well. The Personna's are sharp and did their job well Definitely can't wait to go further but I don't want to mess up my face anymore.
Tell me what you guys think about my routine and if you have any input definitely feel free to throw it in. Merry shaves and let no pressure be with you.

 

[Smattayu]

Great shave and read. You are wise to tread cautiously when applying sharp steel to your face.

I usually have to hit that same spot under my ear during my clean up. The grain goes in an odd direction, and I always seem to not quite nail it the first couple passes.
I like Nick Shaves. He gets some great info out to beginning wet shavers, and does some very good reviews as well.
I've been trying a preshave soap(Ach Brito glyce lime)and have been getting great results from it. I tried leaving it on for extra slickness the first time I used it, but it caused some burn. After some experimentation I found that it does a great job of hydrating and softening my facial hair if I wash with it, scrub it in for about 20 seconds, and rinse it off thoroughly. I get no burn that way, and it is very effective.
Good luck on your journey. It looks like you're making great progress!

 

[hairychief]

Thank you for your advice. I totally agree with the the grain situation. I'm going to this store near me that sells shaving gear so maybe I can pick up the preshave you are talking about. Extra protection sounds like a perfect addition. Definitely a great improvement.

 

[Attila]

In my oppinion you don't need more or different products. That will never be your solution.

Trying different blades is a good idea. When I was starting out using DEs I got a blade sampler pack and through trial and error found Astras, Personnas and Feather blades worked best for my skin. I use straights now since having extremely sensitive skin, I found no shaving method was gentler to my skin.

The #1 thing you can do to reduce your bumps and irritation is not using too much pressure. The number two biggest thing is to resist touching your face or your neck after a shave or anytime for that matter. We have tons of bacteria on our hands and touching your face or neck anytime will simply increase the odds greatly of causing breakouts on your skin.

The last things I would suggest is to make sure you rinse all of the soap residue off of your skin before patting dry with a towel. Don't rub. Also, don't try to shave too closely in the beginning until your technique improves.

Getting a close comfortable shave beats a very close uncomfortable shave any day. If you are getting any razor burn and your lather is decent, you are using way too much pressure. Full stop.

Good luck with the journey!