Just been researching this option as a way to reduce neck irritation, unsure as to if I should try or not, does anyone have any tips or advice to lend on cold water shaving for this purpose.
Cheers
Cheers
Cold Water Shaving to reduce irritation
- Thread starter Colmcc
- Start date
Cool water shaving worked for me to reduce irritation and weepers. It's all I use anymore.
Go ahead and try it, there's nothing to lose.
Go ahead and try it, there's nothing to lose.
Check out this thread. You will find many folks swear by this kind of shaving.
It's totally counter-intuitive. Cold water, on my face? Oh no, that sounds dreadful. I couldn't get my brain around it until, as Taborcarn says, I just did it! What an improvement. My soaps and creams didn't know the difference -- they lather up just as well with water from the cold tap as the did with the hot. Unpleasant? Not at all. Think of all those guys who search for those super mentholated creams, just to get that cold sensation on their face. The cold water shaver gets the same effect, and there are added benefits: fewer weepers, less irritation, quicker and easier prep. I know you can't take somebody's word for it. The only way to get there is to give it a try.
It is the only way I shave. Cold water and face lathering everyday.
Here is my two cents on the subject. I used cold water to shave for a while to reduce irritation and weepers on my neck. It did work, but was not as pleasant as using warm lather. So, I stopped using cold water. I focused my attention on truly following the hair grain on my neck while using warm water. This gave me 2 benefits. First, I still got to experience the wonderful sensation of using a warm lather. Let's face it, cold lather doesn't really feel all that good. It gets the job done, but that is about it. Second, following the grain (neck hair grows in many different directions) greatly reduced my irritation. The level of redness and amount of weepers was down significantly, just like when using cold water. So, in short, I propose that you use water temperature that feels comfortable and just pay close attention to the direction that your hair grows. This will probably solve most of your problems.
I find cold water shaving to be more comfortable. However for neck irritation I found that going with the grain helped a lot. It took me 20 years of shaving to figure out my neck hair switches direction about half way down and starts to grow upward. Adjusting my first pass to go with the grain ended razor burn. Of course YMMV.
If you're only doing it for irritation I'd suggest a lighter hand and WTG/XTG passes. Of course I'm a shower shaver so the cold water only thing makes me pause...
Apparently cold showers are good for you too.
http://wakeup-world.com/2012/04/11/ten-health-benefits-of-cold-showers/
I guess with summer just about here it's the best time to try.
+1 It sure helped my shaves! Once you get used to it, it really becomes normal and in the colder months you can use lukewarm water.
