I think I’ve lost it

[Alex Jr]

Gents, this is new to me.

I’ve been doing this for over a decade, great shaves always, autopilot mode.

I’ve always kept a small rotation, EJ89, progress, Fatip. Lately, RAD kicked in and I’ve acquired lots of different razors.

I began having trouble shaving ATG under jaw and neck with some of these new ones, as reported in another thread.

The sequence of bad shaves was so constant that I’ve decided to put a stop to the rotation madness for a while and go back to my comfort zone.

To my surprise, my comfort zone is gone.

It’s like I tried to change my technique so much trying to adapt to new razors that I’ve messed up what was a perfect autopilot task.

I’ve destroyed my under chin/neck 3 days in a row shaving ATG with razors that I could shave with my eyes closed a few weeks ago!

I don’t know what kind of madness this is, but it’s like I’ve lost my hand skills. And there’s nothing worse than beginning an ATG pass with an insecure hand and “fear” of getting hurt.

It seems like a crazy story, and it is. I don’t know what the heck is going on.

I’ll take an even further step back and shave only with a mix of XTG and sliiiiiiiiiiightly carefull ATG under jaw/chin/neck and go from there.

I may have to learn again what I’ve done perfectly for quite some time.

 

[thombrogan]

Some folks can switch up gear and get great shave after great shave.

Not me.

Possibly not you, either. Very sorry to read your discovery.

Please heal soon

 

[@ngel]

I may add that it could also be that your skin still in the process of healing from those bad shaves and even going back to your trusted razors still pushing your face a bit.

And I hear you, it happened to me when I was adventuring about, trying every different kind of razor I could get my hands on, I felt that I would miss out on finding the “perfect” one. But after that ordeal, I came back “home” to the couple of razors that had already gave me the love I was so desperately looking for.

It’ll come back to you, just be patient!

 

[Jayson74]

Well that sucks!
I find that I am much better off using 1 razor for the week or longer before changing things up. Shave of the Week for me!

 

[dotKomo]

Sorry to hear of your predicament.

Try and breakdown your shave. Are you using too much pressure? I always have to remind myself to go light - especially ATG.

It'll come back to you.

 

[Tillerman]

Now you get to relive the excitement when you first started wet shaving. Maybe it is a blessing.

 

[Alex Jr]

Some folks can switch up gear and get great shave after great shave.

Not me.

Possibly not you, either. Very sorry to read your discovery.

Please heal soon

Thank you for the words, I’ll try to keep one or two at rotation for now and slowly build it back. Even when changing in the future, I’ll approach it in a different way, WTG/XTG only until comfortable with the new equipment.

I may add that it could also be that your skin still in the process of healing from those bad shaves and even going back to your trusted razors still pushing your face a bit.

And I hear you, it happened to me when I was adventuring about, trying every different kind of razor I could get my hands on, I felt that I would miss out on finding the “perfect” one. But after that ordeal, I came back “home” to the couple of razors that had already gave me the love I was so desperately looking for.

It’ll come back to you, just be patient!

What I’m truly saddened is that I thought going back to my trusted razors would solve it, but somehow it didn’t.

You may have a point. I’ve skipped 4 days trying to reset the skin but it still felt sensitive when I returned to it, with an ATG final pass as usual. Maybe that was my mistake.

I don’t know how many days it takes, but I may have to stop for 2 or 3 more and shave only WTG/XTG for a while after returning.

Sorry to hear of your predicament.

Try and breakdown your shave. Are you using too much pressure? I always have to remind myself to go light - especially ATG.

It'll come back to you.

I’ve got to tell you, the frustration was so big that I even thought I was using too much pressure due to experimenting with lighter razors, so I used almost none and it was a tug fest. Next day, tried using more again, no good.

Literally, it feels I somehow unlearned shaving ATG below jawline, it’s that crazy.

Now you get to relive the excitement when you first started wet shaving. Maybe it is a blessing.

I like your perspective, thank you for that.

Maybe it’s just one more unknown learning curve that I’ll in a way benefit from in the future, who knows….

But it’s for sure a weird one.

I mean, after a long period of great autopilot careless shaves you wouldn’t imagine going back to irritation and technique questions like it’s the first week of wet shaving.

This is so weird man, so weird…

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Gents, this is new to me.

I’ve been doing this for over a decade, great shaves always, autopilot mode.

I’ve always kept a small rotation, EJ89, progress, Fatip. Lately, RAD kicked in and I’ve acquired lots of different razors.

I began having trouble shaving ATG under jaw and neck with some of these new ones, as reported in another thread.

The sequence of bad shaves was so constant that I’ve decided to put a stop to the rotation madness for a while and go back to my comfort zone.

To my surprise, my comfort zone is gone.

It’s like I tried to change my technique so much trying to adapt to new razors that I’ve messed up what was a perfect autopilot task.

I’ve destroyed my under chin/neck 3 days in a row shaving ATG with razors that I could shave with my eyes closed a few weeks ago!

I don’t know what kind of madness this is, but it’s like I’ve lost my hand skills. And there’s nothing worse than beginning an ATG pass with an insecure hand and “fear” of getting hurt.

It seems like a crazy story, and it is. I don’t know what the heck is going on.

I’ll take an even further step back and shave only with a mix of XTG and sliiiiiiiiiiightly carefull ATG under jaw/chin/neck and go from there.

I may have to learn again what I’ve done perfectly for quite some time.

It’s all good. It’s part of the learning process and when you figure it out you’ll be a better shaver with everything you use. And you’ll have other setbacks and learn to overcome those too, and improve. One day you’ll be able to get consistently great shaves with any of your razors, but you’ll only get there by having the disappointing shaves and thinking about what you could try differently the next shave. The thing is, your skin, hair, beard-map, preferences and expectations are unique to you, so in the end only you can figure out the best way for you to shave.

The only thing to avoid is settling for average shaves and doing it the same way forever, without trying different things. I did that for years and I learned nothing and never improved.

I know people are down on YouTubers, for many good reasons, but I think it is also useful to watch how other people shave, how they prepare their lather, etc. It won’t all be good techniques, but it will open your mind to a bunch of different ideas and you’ll develop more of your own too. The way I shave today, what works well for me - I’m sure nobody else shaves like that and it may even be very bad for someone else to do. But it’s great for me and it’s all from looking at where each shave wasn’t completely successful and thinking of something new I would try next time.

 

[Alex Jr]

Quick question guys.

I’ve been using for some time a water spray containing B5/panthenol, followed by a balm with the same ingredients. (On my face)

Panthenol is known for strengthening the hair, making it more “healthy” and strong.

For you mad scientists out there, could that be something making the whiskers even harder and stiffer to shave?

That would explain the tugging, hurting and weepers ATG.

By the way, correlated or not, I didn’t use anything other than aftershave when I had wonderful autopilot shaves.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Quick question guys.

I’ve been using for some time a water spray containing B5/panthenol, followed by a balm with the same ingredients. (On my face)

Panthenol is known for strengthening the hair, making it more “healthy” and strong.

For you mad scientists out there, could that be something making the whiskers even harder and stiffer to shave?

That would explain the tugging, hurting and weepers ATG.

By the way, correlated or not, I didn’t use anything other than aftershave when I had wonderful autopilot shaves.

Don’t know anything about panthenol but I think any kind of oil, including skin oil, will inhibit your hair from softening when you do your pre-shave prep. I always use a glycerine soap to strip any oils from my stubble before I lather up, and that gives me consistently good shaves. The foaming face washes people use instead of soap bars are designed to stop the skin from drying, and not strip oil, which is nice, but bad for shave preparation.

You might be onto something. But doesn’t mean you can’t use this stuff, it’s just something you should probably strip from your stubble before you lather.

 

[Alex Jr]

Don’t know anything about panthenol but I think any kind of oil, including skin oil, will inhibit your hair from softening when you do your pre-shave prep. I always use a glycerine soap to strip any oils from my stubble before I lather up, and that gives me consistently good shaves. The foaming face washes people use instead of soap bars are designed to stop the skin from drying, and not strip oil, which is nice, but bad for shave preparation.

You might be onto something. But doesn’t mean you can’t use this stuff, it’s just something you should probably strip from your stubble before you lather.

That’s very very interesting. Great info on oils and hair softening.

Weird thing is, just after one of the first so so shaves I had this past 3 weeks, I immediately started using this serum and balm, both containing panthenol.

I was simply trying to make the skin heal faster. The more I began having bad shaves, the more I used this combo.

Coincidence?

That’s something to think about. I’ll stop everything, let it heal naturally.

Maybe, just maybe, I’m not only strengthening the hair but also preventing it from softening before shave.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

That’s very very interesting. Great info on oils and hair softening.

Weird thing is, just after one of the first so so shaves I had this past 3 weeks, I immediately started using this serum and balm, both containing panthenol.

I was simply trying to make the skin heal faster. The more I began having bad shaves, the more I used this combo.

Coincidence?

That’s something to think about. I’ll stop everything, let it heal naturally.

Maybe, just maybe, I’m not only strengthening the hair but also preventing it from softening before shave.

The keratin that forms the outer part of your hair softens considerably when you soak it. You can see this clearly if you soak one hand in water and then cut the fingernails (also keratin) on both hands. If your hair is coated in oil then it prevents the water from soaking the hair - the water is just repelled by the oil - so your stubble doesn’t soften.

Washing my face with a glycerin soap before lathering - I use Ach Brito Glyce - was maybe the best improvement I made to my shave ritual, and I get completely consistent shaves since I started doing that.

 

[Alex Jr]

The keratin that forms the outer part of your hair softens considerably when you soak it. You can see this clearly if you soak one hand in water and then cut the fingernails (also keratin) on both hands. If your hair is coated in oil then it prevents the water from soaking the hair - the water is just repelled by the oil - so your stubble doesn’t soften.

Washing my face with a glycerin soap before lathering - I use Ach Brito Glyce - was maybe the best improvement I made to my shave ritual, and I get completely consistent shaves since I started doing that.

Some quick research about panthenol below. I’m really starting to think it’s not a good match for a shaving routine, despite its obvious other benefits.

“Panthenol is quickly absorbed in the hair shaft. It provides nourishment from within, keeping the strands strong, far from damage and brittleness, without causing build-up.”

“By leaving the hair cuticle smooth and the hair strands coated, panthenol prevents hair breakage and damage. Hair also appears thicker and it becomes more flexible. That means it's less susceptible to breakage.”

“Aiding in the creation of new cells, reducing damage, and keeping the scalp balanced, panthenol contributes to follicle health. Healthy, strong, nourished follicles mean strong, thickened, vibrant hair.”

“Panthenol has benefits for the scalp as well. It’s fast absorbed by the skin, as a precursor of vitamin B-5. So it has direct effects on the scalp, such as increased hydration and elasticity, skin rejuvenation, enhanced micro-circulation to the follicles, and boosted hair growth.”

I don’t think strong, flexible and thick hair are beneficial from a shaving perspective. I really don’t.

Maybe this is one of the issues causing the tugging, pulling and overall discomfort.

Maybe… just maybe.

My beard is already coarse and thick, I don’t think I’ve made a wise decision.

 

[thombrogan]

I’ve been using dimethicone oil as a pre and post shave application. Less than a drop on wet skin will cover whiskers on face and neck.

The shaving lore says it’s supposed to soften whiskers and ruin natural fiber brushes (win-win?…) and the googlz says it coats skin and hair locking in natural moisture (varieties of dimethicone make up Neutrogena Hydro Boost products). Best part? The bottle smells horrible, so staying to the minimum is easy to do.

 

[Alex Jr]

I’ve been using dimethicone oil as a pre and post shave application. Less than a drop on wet skin will cover whiskers on face and neck.

The shaving lore says it’s supposed to soften whiskers and ruin natural fiber brushes (win-win?…) and the googlz says it coats skin and hair locking in natural moisture (varieties of dimethicone make up Neutrogena Hydro Boost products). Best part? The bottle smells horrible, so staying to the minimum is easy to do.

I’m anxious to give my skin some days without any balms or serums, specially that one mentioned above.(panthenol)

I hope this is somehow related to the ultra strong tuggy unshavable beard I’m experiencing (ATG).

It leaves me with some hope. If it’s in fact strengthening the hair to the point it’s affecting the shave, it’ll be a nice find.

I’ve always shaved my under jaw ATG so smoothly that is really disappointing to have such a different experience.

It’s not a subtle difference, it’s simply huge. Amazing (not in a good way)

 

[CCS]

Honestly, I have trouble understanding this problem with a guy who's got a decade+ of experience, especially going back to razors you're familiar with and used with success prior to trying some new razors. You already know how to solve your issue between using a lighter touch, checking your angle, use a simpler preshave routine (all you really need is warm to hot water), don't reshave areas you already hit with and across the grain until you get your confidence back. You've, apparently, given yourself the yips.

 

[thombrogan]

To the return of smooth ATG shaving, @Alex Jr

 

[Alex Jr]

Honestly, I have trouble understanding this problem with a guy who's got a decade+ of experience, especially going back to razors you're familiar with and used with success prior to trying some new razors. You already know how to solve your issue between using a lighter touch, checking your angle, use a simpler preshave routine (all you really need is warm to hot water), don't reshave areas you already hit with and across the grain until you get your confidence back. You've, apparently, given yourself the yips.

You’re totally right, I have. Although this thread made me think about other factors that might be adding up.

I’m really sorry to bother you guys with these weird out of the blue shaving set backs.

The thing is, it’s so strange and difficult to understand, like you’ve said, that I just had to share that with someone.

I play tennis since I was a little kid, it’s like waking up one day and all of the sudden not being able to hit the ball.

 

[Alex Jr]

To the return of smooth ATG shaving, @Alex Jr

It will, for sure!

 

[Trollky]

Flitting from one razor to another every day is not for everyone (it certainly isn't for me) Alas, it appears it isn't for you either.

On the bright side, you already know which razors give you great shaves so perhaps ditch the new acquisitions...?