Is my Skin Sensitive?

[Cracker]

I would guess your skin has problems with irritation from menthol and / or peppermint oil. A lot of guys have that problem. Known side effects of applying peppermint oil to the skin can include skin rashes and irritation, and it is also a known allergen. So, good news, you can use all soaps and creams without peppermint and menthol . But maybe stay away from those with known allergens in it, or in general stay away from stuff that is prone to cause irritiation and reactions like lanolin and such.

 

[Bill_G]

I would guess your skin has problems with irritation from menthol and / or peppermint oil. A lot of guys have that problem. Known side effects of applying peppermint oil to the skin can include skin rashes and irritation, and it is also a known allergen. So, good news, you can use all soaps and creams without peppermint and menthol . But maybe stay away from those with known allergens in it, or in general stay away from stuff that is prone to cause irritiation and reactions like lanolin and such.

Thinking menthol & peppermint are my primary suspects. But now I'm leaning towards the peppermint. Gillette Pure also has those 2 ingredients. Have never had any issues in the past with menthol in foam/goo although never my favorite scent.

Received my new creams yesterday but did not have a chance to use them. Had already showered/shave & used something mild, the Van Der Hagen Shave Butter. But I'll either use one tonight or try the Green again with NO Clubman after shave. Which I'm now sure it made it worse.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Bill_G, your quest has inspired my own to try and nail down what it is in the soaps that causes me irritation. I thought for a bit that it might be Castor Oil which is found in about half of the shave soaps out there but is not included in two soaps that I tolerate well which are Captain's Choice and Wickham Soap Co. But then I noticed that Castor oil is in Seaforth! soaps by Spearhead Shaving and so I know that it isn't it. Stirling Soaps include Almond Oil which is the most likely culprit of why those irritate me because I am allergic to almonds. For the others I have to conclude that it is most likely something included under "fragrances". Most likely some product from trees as I have allergies to many trees. I find it weird that I can eat all of the apples I want as long as I don't try to eat the peel. Anyhow good luck with your quest. It looks like you are moving in the right direction.

 

[BigJ]

I’m with the consensus: looks like you are sensitive to one or more ingredient in your soaps/creams.

Figuring out precisely what the problem is can take a bit of effort but well worth it in the end!

 

[BaPh96]

Other things to remember before you start trying to mix things up is cleaning of your shaving gear. You will probably want to take a gentle dish washing soap, without antibacterial chemicals which are nasty in their own rite, and using a soft tooth brush scrub your razors to get rid of any potential allergens.
Also you may need to shampoo your brushes with something mild as well so that any residue isn't buried in the knot and randomly re trigger a reaction.

 

[Bill_G]

Just finished using the Proraso White & it felt much worse on my face than the Green. As soon as I put in on my face & neck started to tingle! I couldn't even use any after shave at end because of the burning sensation! Don't understand why the one labeled sensitive would be much worse on my face than the Green. My issue with the Green was only at the end of the shave.

I tried the Palmolive White briefly but it burned my face also. But to be fair my face was already burning from the Proraso White. Will try this cream tomorrow.

 

[tamahagane]

If you're looking for products that might be irritating here's what I've gathered having had some discussions with others on this forum as well as from my personal experience.

Avoid the following ingredients:

If you can see an ingredient in the INCI list, then it is one of the following:

• A substance which comprises a big enough part of the total product mass (1% at least AFAIK, but don't quote me for your PhD)
• A substance which is a known irritant or allergen

Therefore, if you avoid all INCI ingredients, you would be on the safe side. The problem is then you would have nothing to choose from. Natural does not automatically translate to good and synthetic does not neccessarily translate to safe. If you suspect an allergy, get tested by a professional so that you know what exactly to avoid and what is safe.
BTW, you don't need to shave with every new cream. Apply a thin layer on the skin between your wrist and elbow and see whether you get redness, itchiness, blisters or burning. If yes, don't use it. You might want to take a photo and present it to your physician.
@BudgetShaverGuy mentions product quantity as an important factor and I agree. This is the main reason why I prefer soaps - it is hard to get the amount wrong. Maybe you should try a (hard) soap?
Another thing to consider is the blade and razor. In my experience with some blades which do not agree with me (e.g. Russian Gillettes), the shave might feel OK if I have 1-2 days stubble, but after the shave I feel like I have washed my face with vinegar and then applied rosehip jelly to top it.
To answer the question in the topic, yes - wellcome in the sensitive skin club.

 

[Bill_G]

Yesterday was not blade related. I'm 100% sure. As soon as I started applying the cream to my face it started to tingle & slightly burn. I should of seen this as a sign & stop right there. But I was thinking this is the sensitive version & continue to do a 3 pass shave. Which out side of my skin being on fire & still feeling sore this morning was great. Like I said the White was worse on my face than the non sensitive Green by a mile!

Thanks for the tip about applying the cream between your wrist & elbow. I wasn't familiar with this. Also I don't know if this makes a difference but since I'm trying new creams I've been applying them directly to my face without a brush. Don't think I'm using to much. I just take a small amount about the size of a pencil eraser & spread that all over my face & add water to make a lather.

 

[Lefonque]

A very interesting read.

 

[Forged]

You are making things worse by face lathering. If you have sensitivities you need to limit the amount of time you have the cream on your face. Lather the cream in a bowl, apply quickly with a brush or your hands and shave.

Doing 3 passes and shaving everyday is also going to make things worse, at least until you figure out which products you can use without irritation.

Finally, never persist with a product once you feeling tingling, burning or itching - clean it off your skin immediately and (if you must) finish off your shave with something you know wont cause irritation.

With your current course of action you are risking permanently sensitizing yourself to much greater degree, this is a well known phenomenon, proceed at your own risk.

 

[Bill_G]

I'm going to return the Proraso White since It's worse on my face than the Green. At least I can use the Green. Also @tamahagane suggested putting shaving cream on your skin to test it. Proraso White has been on my forearm for over a half an hour with no ISSUES!!!!!

Will have to try another cream. Hopefully the Palmolive White will work better but If I do shave today I will not be using this cream.

 

[Bill_G]

Just returned the Proraso White to Amazon. The best part was I didn't have to send it back. Down the road I'll try it again & if I experienced the same issue will give it to my son.

Depending on how my shave goes with the Palmolive Sensitive I will probably try the TOBS Jermyn Street next.
Thanks Everyone.

 

[BaPh96]

You also might need to take a few days off from shaving if you are hyper sensitive at this point everything needs a chance to calm down.
Gentle face wash and hypoallergenic moisturizer to rebuild the dermal layer. If you use an exfoliant cut back the number of times a week you use it untill you think you are back reasonably to baseline.

 

[Bill_G]

Thanks for the reply. I have not taken a day off in between shaves. Next day I went back to one of my regular creams and had no issues. Since I got to keep this cream I will retry it again in the future.

 

[Bill_G]

Today I finally tried the Palmolive Sensitive cream & had no issues. But I did not apply this cream directly to my face. I made the lather in a bowl & brushed it on my face. Later this week I'm going to try again the Proraso white & see if this makes a difference.

 

[Ckmaui]

I have severe allergies
one thing to me is the straw that breaks the camels back thing so I get exposed to some pollen and maybe some food and say my breaking point is 10 that food was 3 the pollen was 5 and the shave lotion is a 4 and BOOM over the top
the problem is the other days I used it I was not exposed to the pollen so I never had a issue kinda thing


if you had allergy testing you know its often a scratch test of some kind so when I shave I think sometimes its the post irritation so that soap gets in and reacts more

I am just trying as many as I can and finding some are brutal and some AS one day I am fine the next its like I splashed red dye on my face goes down but yeah not so fun

I never got into any AS or scents because of this and at 57 having fun with it but I might just have to go back to nothing but a few things and super mild balms and call it a day

the other issue is once I get irritated my shaves tend to nic those tiny irritated bumps that can happen and create more issues and a few times been forced to just pull back and not shave or do a single pass

just started the bowl and doing better than face because of that irritation

I reckon just going to take a while to figure out what works and then sell off give off whatever the other product that is not working

 

[Akke]

Bill_G, your quest has inspired my own to try and nail down what it is in the soaps that causes me irritation. I thought for a bit that it might be Castor Oil which is found in about half of the shave soaps out there but is not included in two soaps that I tolerate well which are Captain's Choice and Wickham Soap Co. But then I noticed that Castor oil is in Seaforth! soaps by Spearhead Shaving and so I know that it isn't it. Stirling Soaps include Almond Oil which is the most likely culprit of why those irritate me because I am allergic to almonds. For the others I have to conclude that it is most likely something included under "fragrances". Most likely some product from trees as I have allergies to many trees. I find it weird that I can eat all of the apples I want as long as I don't try to eat the peel. Anyhow good luck with your quest. It looks like you are moving in the right direction.

Listen upp these writing. Its fragrances. They can include "whatever".

 

[Bill_G]

I have recently revisited both Proraso creams that irritated my face, The Proraso Green & White. Both times in the past I applied the cream directly to my face & made the lather. This time I decided to make the lather in a bowl & then apply it to my face. The results were interesting but not too surprising. The Proraso White still irritated my face somewhat. But it was nowhere as bad as the first time I used it. This cream started to burn my face the instant I applied it. However the Green which only gave me a slight tingle in the past worked with no issues at all. At least now I know I can use the Green & need to be careful of the White. Might even consider trying a Red down the road provided I can return it.