Irritation from brush or reaction to soap?

[oc_in_fw]

True lanolin allergy is supposed to be fairly rare, but it does happen. The test is simple: try lathering up some MWF on your bare hands, with no brush. If there is no skin reaction, then it was almost certainly brush-burn.

Assuming it isn't an allergy, try some bowl-lathers or palm-lathers to figure out the right technique for MWF. I agree with the earlier advice to load up the brush.

I would try that on the forearm instead. There are things (like hydraulic fluid) that will not even faze my hands, but I will get splotches and irritation on my inner forearm if any gets splashed there.

 

[Mink]

There's a pretty easy test. Make a bowl of lather, soak your face/beard, and apply the lather. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes. Don't do anything to your face during that time. If you have any kind of reaction to the soap - it's the soap. If not, then it's something in your brush or face lathering technique. Try lathering with one of the tallow based sticks like Speick or Valobra. They're easy to build up a lather. I can't face lather because it always gives me "tomato face" - regardless of the soap/cream or brush. I don't have a heavy beard.

 

[anouncement]

I think you're having an allergic reaction.

I get the same from Mühle Sea Buckthorn soap. It takes a little while, but the burning gets intense and painful during the third pass, and I can feel it at the start of the second pass.

If you're really unsure and want to isolate it, try another brush. I wondered the same when I had my problems, since the brush was new as well as the soap!

I get the exact same thing when using Truefitt and hill UC cream, and to a lesser extent with trumper's cream.

I think I need to get some prorasso to try and see if it's the myristic acid or the stearic acid. Prorasso appears to be myristic acid free.