Hi all,
I recently got back in to DE shaving a few weeks ago and have been lurking this forum for the latest tips. A few years ago, I briefly tried shaving with an old Gillette SuperSpeed, but gave up after awhile. My trigger to get back to a DE came when I sliced off a dime-sized layer of skin close to my hairline with a 3-blade razor (rushing + too much pressure).
I’m a black male in my 30’s and have always struggled with razor bumps after shaving. I started with an electric shaver when I first starting shaving. Out of curiousity I stumbled on DE shaving for the first time and gave up because I felt like my badger brush was irritating my face. After that I went back to electric, this time shaving with just a trimmer and accepted that I’d never be able to shave close.
I was brought back into wet shaving when I started losing my hair, and realized that wet shaving my head was actually more comfortable than the trimmer I had been using. So out of convenience...I started wet shaving my face again. Luckily, by this time, being clean shaven wasn’t a requirement at work. I’ve spent the last 1.5 years shaving only twice a week, with the grain, but using a 3 blade razor.
It wasn’t bad. Luckily, the skin on my head tolerates shaving much better than my face. I still had/have razor bumps on my face and especially my neck, but I’ve been used to them by now. Also a day or so’s worth of stubble seemed to mask the issue well enough. But then, as I said above, I sliced that layer of skin off due to too much pressure. I actually looked for heavy handles for cartridge razors, knowing that the weight would help me NOT put pressure on the blades. But during my research, I came to my senses and decided to back to a DE for shaving both my face and head.
The concluding of this novel-like post is the beginning of me tracking my shaves. As I got back into DE shaving, over the past weeks, I had a brief and intense bout of SAD. That led me to the products and routine I plan on using for the next month as I re-learn to shave.
Prep:
- Cold shower (I do this for other reasons)
- Use Salicylic acid wash on nape of neck and areas of face to be shaved
- Rub a few drops of Shave Secret pre-shave oil on head (repeat later for face)
- Make Proraso White lather in bowl and paint on
Shaves:
- SAD, and this forum, led me togetting splurging on a Rockwell 6s. I’m going to use it on setting 3 for head and face and desperately try to avoid going to different settings for now
- I have 10 Astra premium blades I am going to work through, two shaves per blade
Post shave:
- Wipe Stridex pad (more Salicylic Acid) on shaved face area only
- CeraVe Mousterizer
- Sunscreen (when shaving in morning)
That’s it! Thanks for taking the time to read this long post, and I’m looking forward to documenting my progress! I’m hoping to hold myself accountable to keeping a consistent routine, and stop changing a lot of variables at the same time. Nice to meet you all!
Attached is a picture of what I’m using
I recently got back in to DE shaving a few weeks ago and have been lurking this forum for the latest tips. A few years ago, I briefly tried shaving with an old Gillette SuperSpeed, but gave up after awhile. My trigger to get back to a DE came when I sliced off a dime-sized layer of skin close to my hairline with a 3-blade razor (rushing + too much pressure).
I’m a black male in my 30’s and have always struggled with razor bumps after shaving. I started with an electric shaver when I first starting shaving. Out of curiousity I stumbled on DE shaving for the first time and gave up because I felt like my badger brush was irritating my face. After that I went back to electric, this time shaving with just a trimmer and accepted that I’d never be able to shave close.
I was brought back into wet shaving when I started losing my hair, and realized that wet shaving my head was actually more comfortable than the trimmer I had been using. So out of convenience...I started wet shaving my face again. Luckily, by this time, being clean shaven wasn’t a requirement at work. I’ve spent the last 1.5 years shaving only twice a week, with the grain, but using a 3 blade razor.
It wasn’t bad. Luckily, the skin on my head tolerates shaving much better than my face. I still had/have razor bumps on my face and especially my neck, but I’ve been used to them by now. Also a day or so’s worth of stubble seemed to mask the issue well enough. But then, as I said above, I sliced that layer of skin off due to too much pressure. I actually looked for heavy handles for cartridge razors, knowing that the weight would help me NOT put pressure on the blades. But during my research, I came to my senses and decided to back to a DE for shaving both my face and head.
The concluding of this novel-like post is the beginning of me tracking my shaves. As I got back into DE shaving, over the past weeks, I had a brief and intense bout of SAD. That led me to the products and routine I plan on using for the next month as I re-learn to shave.
Prep:
- Cold shower (I do this for other reasons)
- Use Salicylic acid wash on nape of neck and areas of face to be shaved
- Rub a few drops of Shave Secret pre-shave oil on head (repeat later for face)
- Make Proraso White lather in bowl and paint on
Shaves:
- SAD, and this forum, led me to
- I have 10 Astra premium blades I am going to work through, two shaves per blade
Post shave:
- Wipe Stridex pad (more Salicylic Acid) on shaved face area only
- CeraVe Mousterizer
- Sunscreen (when shaving in morning)
That’s it! Thanks for taking the time to read this long post, and I’m looking forward to documenting my progress! I’m hoping to hold myself accountable to keeping a consistent routine, and stop changing a lot of variables at the same time. Nice to meet you all!
Attached is a picture of what I’m using