Last week I bought a puck of unused Provence Sante, which arrived on Friday. As I recall, I did a quick shave with it and had no irritation, but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, that afternoon I used an old cheese grater I had lying around to mill it down into a bowl I bought for it at Target.
I shaved with it on Sunday and Monday, and both times were extremely irritating. I brainstormed and came up with several possibilities, including an allergy to an ingredient, something in the water, small rust spots I later noticed on the grater (or something else on it), bacteria on my equipment, and so on. Today I did some shaveless tests to try and figure out the problem. Because I'm not dragging a blade over my face when it's irritated, the burning goes down within a couple of hours rather than needing an entire day, but its presence tells me what I need to know.
Test 1: I lathered my face with the Provence Sante and left it on there for a few minutes. This was to confirm that I could feel irritation without shaving, and I did. It also means my razor was not the cause, since the irritation appeared without using it.
Test 2: A couple of hours later, I flipped a puck of VDH, which has never given me trouble, and grated a small part of the unused end of that with the same grater. I lathered with those gratings, and also got irritation, although not quite as much. This seems to indicate that an ingredient in the Sante was not the problem.
Test 3: After that irritation went down, I cleaned my brush with shampoo to remove anything that might still be on it from the bad soaps. Then I lathered with the usual (non-grated) end of my VDH soap to confirm that it would not irritate me. There was a very slight bit of irritation, probably because it's been irritated so much lately, or maybe I didn't get the brush 100% clean. At any rate, the difference was noticeable enough that I'm willing to say that there's no problem with VDH.
Test 4: After that, I lathered one side with the Sante, and had to wash it off within a couple of minutes. Just to be sure, I lathered the other side with VDH, and had no problems. It seems the logical conclusion is that rust or some sort of bacteria on the grater is the cause.
To my noob knowledge, it seems this puck is ruined. But it seems like great stuff, and I'd hate to throw it out after spending almost $10 on it. Has this happened to anyone else? Would anybody happen to know of any ways to disinfect it?
Thanks!
I shaved with it on Sunday and Monday, and both times were extremely irritating. I brainstormed and came up with several possibilities, including an allergy to an ingredient, something in the water, small rust spots I later noticed on the grater (or something else on it), bacteria on my equipment, and so on. Today I did some shaveless tests to try and figure out the problem. Because I'm not dragging a blade over my face when it's irritated, the burning goes down within a couple of hours rather than needing an entire day, but its presence tells me what I need to know.
Test 1: I lathered my face with the Provence Sante and left it on there for a few minutes. This was to confirm that I could feel irritation without shaving, and I did. It also means my razor was not the cause, since the irritation appeared without using it.
Test 2: A couple of hours later, I flipped a puck of VDH, which has never given me trouble, and grated a small part of the unused end of that with the same grater. I lathered with those gratings, and also got irritation, although not quite as much. This seems to indicate that an ingredient in the Sante was not the problem.
Test 3: After that irritation went down, I cleaned my brush with shampoo to remove anything that might still be on it from the bad soaps. Then I lathered with the usual (non-grated) end of my VDH soap to confirm that it would not irritate me. There was a very slight bit of irritation, probably because it's been irritated so much lately, or maybe I didn't get the brush 100% clean. At any rate, the difference was noticeable enough that I'm willing to say that there's no problem with VDH.
Test 4: After that, I lathered one side with the Sante, and had to wash it off within a couple of minutes. Just to be sure, I lathered the other side with VDH, and had no problems. It seems the logical conclusion is that rust or some sort of bacteria on the grater is the cause.
To my noob knowledge, it seems this puck is ruined. But it seems like great stuff, and I'd hate to throw it out after spending almost $10 on it. Has this happened to anyone else? Would anybody happen to know of any ways to disinfect it?
Thanks!
