Cruel and Unusual Shaving Punishment

[jcm03c]

Some people just love learning the hard way.... and by some people I mean me.

Here's the scenario: I knew all last week that I had a domestic flight to take on Thursday night. I had decided that because it was just a weekend trip I would only take a carry-on bag with me. I realized that in doing so I would be unable to take my DE blades with me. And for some reason I didn't feel like mailing some out to my weekend destination. So I opted to travel with my Fusion razor and put it to work after months of bench warming. I also decided I would just use my friend's shaving gel instead of taking some shaving cream and a brush. The truth is I kind of wanted to try the cartridge/gel combo again to compare it to my current wetshaving routine.

First day: I did my regular pre-shave prep to soften the stubble after the shower to prepare for the shave. I grabbed my friend's Edge Pro Gel and attempted to make some lather. Let me just say, I had forgotten how impossible it is to make decent lather out shave gel. I had to use soo much to get it to cover my face and it also felt like it was actually drying my face. I did a 3 pass shave WTG, XTG and ATG. And it didn't turn out too bad. The irritation wasn't bad and the shave was pretty close. I was thoroughly surprised. Not bad.

Second day: Ouch! I attempted to shave after the shower but my face just wouldn't allow it. Every pass of the razor was unbelievably painful. I ended up just shaving WTG, which for my thick stubble is like not doing anything. The irritation I got was bee swarm attack worthy. During the shave I just remembered that this used to happen every morning before I started wetshaving.

I guess I just needed a reminder of how miserable shaving was before wetshaving swept me off my feet. Fellow B&Bers, please learn from my above ignorance, there's no need for you to endure cruel and unusual shaving punishment.

 

[Mr. Igg]

I had a very similar experience on a recent trip.

Day 1: Really good shave, rivaling my very best DE experience.
Day 2: Hmmm.
Day 3: Uh oh.

 

[Jatte]

one day i had slept over at my girlfriends house and ended up having to shave before church with a 4 bladed gillette something or other, it gave a surprisingly close shave, but the razorburn was unbelievable, my cheeks were red and actually seemed scratchy, like i had slight carpetburn all over my face and had a whole shaved region mini-scab, where plasma had leaked out of my face

it was horrible , now i have a de and a straight and strop hidden in her house
and got her dad using a brush and soap and have a tube of proraso and a bowl of c&E nomad that we got her dad and i have a badgerhair brush hiding above the mirror,

 

[grouse79]

Ah, the hazards of having to shave with whatever's on hand . . .

Probably one of my cheapest and nastiest shaves was when I was still using the Mach3 and slept in, arriving at work at my usual time albeit unshaven. A while before I had bought some ultracheap disposable twin blades (I think they were 25 PENCE for 10) and kept them in my desk drawer for just this eventuality but had neglected to get any foam or gel.

So I lathered up with the liquid handsoap from the dispenser in the gents and went to work on my face with a two and a half pence razor. I drew blood a few times, but worse than that was the smell during and afterwards from that liquid soap. A small dab on your hands you don't notice but a faceful was horrible.

Now I keep a plastic DE, pack of blades, cheap brush and Palmolive cream in my desk.

 

[burnwood]

Hmmm, DE or back to the fusion and canned goo my shaves are about the same. Price is why I went to DE.

 

[Psychdude]

one day i had slept over at my girlfriends house and ended up having to shave before church with a 4 bladed gillette something or other, it gave a surprisingly close shave, but the razorburn was unbelievable, my cheeks were red and actually seemed scratchy, like i had slight carpetburn all over my face and had a whole shaved region mini-scab, where plasma had leaked out of my face

it was horrible , now i have a de and a straight and strop hidden in her house
and got her dad using a brush and soap and have a tube of proraso and a bowl of c&E nomad that we got her dad and i have a badgerhair brush hiding above the mirror,

Well there's your prblem, right there

 

[DunEdinRanger]

one day i had slept over at my girlfriends house and ended up having to shave before church with a 4 bladed gillette something or other, it gave a surprisingly close shave, but the razorburn was unbelievable, my cheeks were red and actually seemed scratchy, like i had slight carpetburn all over my face and had a whole shaved region mini-scab, where plasma had leaked out of my face

it was horrible , now i have a de and a straight and strop hidden in her house
and got her dad using a brush and soap and have a tube of proraso and a bowl of c&E nomad that we got her dad and i have a badgerhair brush hiding above the mirror,

Well there's your prblem, right there

Perhaps our friend, after sowing wild oats, was praying for crop failure?

 

[mdunn]

Perhaps our friend, after sowing wild oats, was praying for crop failure?

 

[Joshua Da Silva]

Perhaps our friend, after sowing wild oats, was praying for crop failure?

You sir, are killing me with laughter!

 

[BroJohn]

jcm03c --

Goo is not the answer. Goo is *never* the answer...

HTH.

-- John Gehman

 

[soapbox]

Hmmm, DE or back to the fusion and canned goo my shaves are about the same. Price is why I went to DE.

Erm, and me hounding you about it...then sending you a SuperSpeed razor...

 

[soapbox]

Hmmm, DE or back to the fusion and canned goo my shaves are about the same. Price is why I went to DE.

Price is an important factor for me. I initially abandoned M3 because of the price but then I got miraculous shaves compared to the M3 (and when I started I was using the Merkur blades that I bought with my HD...!)

 

[RayH]

I don't wish to go back to the other way of shaving. No multiblades for me. I have given thought about traveling with a carry on. I'd probably take one of my DE razors and buy some blades at where ever I'm going to. Or if not, put some blades in my checked baggage. Also I would take some shaving soap and a ramekin in my carry on. VDH would be best, don't want to take anything to terribly expensive. If I didn't take a DE, I'd get some Bic SE sensitive razors to take with me. And of coarse my VDH boar brush. It it gets lost or stolen I won't cry over it.

 

[Mainecanefan]

There better be absolutely, positively no other option available to me to get me to shave with a multiblade again. I already had my "let's see what it's like again" moment a couple of months ago on a business trip. I quickly remembered that parts of my face were still stubbly, that I had razor burn and ingrown hair after shaving with an M3. There is no razor like my Slant.

 

[adonnellyr]

The same thing happens to me with my Fusion. I get one good shave out of it and if I do it more than one day I end up with a ridiculous amount of ingrown hairs that don't go away for about a week and then leave a scar for approximately a month--annoying!

 

[sphiny]

I actually experienced the same thing with a Fusion and a Mach 3 recently.....the shaves didn't leave me "raw," but the red bumps on my neck never seemed to fade, and I had a flare up from some acne, and eventually got a few full-blown ingrowns. As far as comfort during the shave, it was smooth sailing......the after-effects didn't show up until the second day, and then persisted for about a week.

Oddly enough, I have used a Personna Matrix 3 a few times, and I didn't experience these results at all. I got a good shave, with minimal irritation. I don't know if it has anything to do with the razor design. I have to admit that I changed a bunch of factors when I was using the Gillette razors as well (face wash, toner, and moisturizer). However, I've used some of the same products with a DE with no ill effects.

Also, the shave with the Gillettes felt "greasy", with my face slick until I washed excessively as compared to a DE shave. I didn't get this feeling with the Matrix 3 either, so maybe it has something to do with the lube strips on the Gillette cartridge razors?? Overall, the experience was really just......odd........ The razors did a pretty good job, but they never seemed to get as close (though it wasn't that far off, in terms of touch), leaving more "shadow" on the face after the shave.

 

[jcm03c]

Thanks for the replies guys. I can honestly say there will be no multiblade revisiting happening any time in the near future. And by near future, I mean my lifetime. I felt so primitive shaving with the multiblade even though it is newer technology than the DE. The canned goo was battle in it of itself. Today was my first DE after getting back and man it still hurts because my skin is still irritated. Oh and another thing trying to shape my side burns with the multiblade was futile. In my particular case it was less burdensome to travel with the Fusion than the DE gear. However, in the end any benefit received from doing so was eroded as I shaved with the multiblade.

This is one wetshaver that's never looking back!

 

[GoldenMonkey]

I had one of those "d'oh! what am I DOING?" moments myself the other day...I usually shave at night because I like to take the time and enjoy the whole process without being half asleep or rushed, but the downside is stubbly mess the next day.
Anyway, I did my usual evening shave and it was great...Musgo all the way (shower with body bar, Lime Glyce on the face, MR cream, splash, and followed up with balm since I had been dried out recently). My shave was great (DFS, but not BBS - I had a five days growth, and didn't want to push it with too many passes for a BBS). I figured "oh what the H, I can just clean up any stubble with the Fusion or the Braun in the morning after my shower".
Sure enough, I had bits of stubble in the usual suspect places, and so I lathered in the shower with some Cremo (it's a hand-me-down to SWMBO for the gams, and just happens to live in the shower). Grabbed the (unpowered) Fusion, dragged it around a bit, got the stubble, got out and finished the stubble that took all of five minutes to grow back with the electric. Didn't really think about it until I used some alum, and...HOLY HELL, THE BURNING!!!! Not only did I ruin a perfectly serviceable shave by trying to chase phantom stubble, I gave myself two ingrowns, a neck full of redness and irritation, angry follicles, and a face that took three days to recover.
Don't do what I did and backpedal, thinking that you can still get a good shave with those things...you can't. All you will do is cause harm. The horror...the...horror...