Perhaps Haslinger Schafmilch would be a good test. Wonderful and inexpensive. Pucks are rather small but last a long time. Badgers are too prickly for me but I haven’t noticed an allergic reaction with one.
Mitchels or badger brush allergy?!?
- Thread starter Wom
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- #22
On cougnaught they sell haslinger and it lists peanut oil as an ingredient unfortunatly my wife has a bad nut allergy so i dont think ill be buying there soaps afterall and yeh i was wondering if due to the pricklyness i was too agressive with the face lathering
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- #23
Well this morning i carryed out a test face lather with the synthetic makeup brush no itching or stinging better lather then with the badger so i plucked the courage up to shave again. started out with the parker 34r with the derby premium blades felt very snaggy on my first cheek i do have incredibly wiry thick hairs. So i imediatly swapped it out for the dark stag razor with the feather blade in it that glided through my hairs with breeze i managed a 2 pass wtg shave with one weeper under my nose and one on my neck with very little irritation. Followed up with nivea balm and my face feels pretty good some under chin hairs could do with an atg pass and ive missed a couple of hairs but ill take this as a victory and baby steps to the bbs..
So either my failing was
*bad technique
*incompatible to the derby blades
*bad technique
*badger brush allergy
*bad technique
*brushing to aggressive
Question is do i go for the yaqi as it seems they are the knot supplier for alot of brands and its a decent price?
Cheers for the patience with me abd the advice from all of you.
So either my failing was
*bad technique
*incompatible to the derby blades
*bad technique
*badger brush allergy
*bad technique
*brushing to aggressive
Question is do i go for the yaqi as it seems they are the knot supplier for alot of brands and its a decent price?
Cheers for the patience with me abd the advice from all of you.
I am definitely allergic to MWF. So if you find you are, you are not alone!
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- #26
Yeh i feel the derbys may have been a contributing factor as i had probably dragged them arround my face to try and get them to work when the feathers just glided through. I have got a sample pack of astras shark some other derbys
and also gillette silver blues coming but i like the feel of the feathers atm so i think ill stick with them for a while at least finish this blade off. Im looking at getting the yaqi black marble plisson i think i hear there tuxedos are more the go to knot but the plisson is only £14 .
As for the hasslinger my wife has a serious nut allergy and penut oil is listed as one of there ingrediants so i think im going to sway away from there products
That sucks there are plenty more soaps at least
What reaction do you get if you can remember? I just got a sore face with red dots mainly on either side of my chin under my lip where no hair grows today my face has felt perfect ever since the shave using a synthetic brush im going to moniter it incase anything changes.- Thread starter
- #27
In case you swirl your brush on your face lathering for a long time then you are going to have problems as you described.
More than 60-90 seconds you will probably have problems, depending on how sensitive (not allergic) you are.
More than 60-90 seconds you will probably have problems, depending on how sensitive (not allergic) you are.
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- #29
Yeh the bristles on the badger brush i have feel quite prickly so it could have been that i was to agresive with it strangely it wasnt where i was swirling that flared up but under my lip
I did not see a mention of the type of badger brush you are using. If you are using a cheap pure badger or black badger brush, it may be so scritchy that it is irritating your face.
My skin is sensitive, so I cannot use pure badger or black badger brushes and I even have irritation issues with the one best badger brush I have. I like either two-band fines badger or three-band silvertip badger brushes as they have a much softer face feel. Even then, I generate my lather in a bowl and paint the lather on my face to minimize the contact time. I do have a couple of brushes that are soft enough to face lather.
Although synthetic brushes normally do not have a lot of scritch, some can be scrubby. I do not get irritation from my synthetic silvertip (SilverSynth) brush, but do get some from a Tuxedo brush.
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- #31
My bad it was an edwin jagger best badger and im very new to this so i probbably have spent far to long attempting to face lather the mitchells as i really struggled with it at first but i can get a far better lather now with the synthetic makeup brush and in no where near as long plus no irritation today
My bad it was an edwin jagger best badger and im very new to this so i probbably have spent far to long attempting to face lather the mitchells as i really struggled with it at first but i can get a far better lather now with the synthetic makeup brush and in no where near as long plus no irritation today
Although best badger brushes are not scritchy as pure badger or black badger, they still have some scritch. Mitchell's Wool Fat is not the easiest soap to lather, so if you are face lathering, it can understand how you might get irritation. There are many soaps, especially better artisan soaps that are much easier and quicker to lather.
That sucks there are plenty more soaps at least
Yep, I remember! Red face, skin felt like it was burning, and for several days after, I would have red bumps and my face would break out with acne as well, all over my face... but especially my neck.
Glad you are finding its not the MWF! Its good stuff if you arent allergic to it!
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- #34
Yep, I remember! Red face, skin felt like it was burning, and for several days after, I would have red bumps and my face would break out with acne as well, all over my face... but especially my neck.
Glad you are finding its not the MWF! Its good stuff if you arent allergic to it!
Sounds rough
sounds similer but worse to what i felt then only today it felt better. im not going to be shaving every day to ease my face into this new routine of straight shaving now but i did shave every day for the first 4 hopefully i just over did it +scratchy badger Yeh i probably will end up with some other soaps over time mwf did lather alot faster with the synthetic brush so ive ordered that yaqi now hopefully its as soft as everyone says they are
I am allergic to all badger and boar hair brushes. Took me years and lots of money to figure it out. Even when very broken in and/or very expensive I had a reaction. Now I use a Yaqi synthetic which is fantastic in terms of value and performance.
Mitchell’s Wool Fat is the only soap I use now. I was concerned about the reports that some people had bad reactions to it or found it hard to lather. But it works fantastically for me and had an unbeatable post-shave feel.
Mitchell’s Wool Fat is the only soap I use now. I was concerned about the reports that some people had bad reactions to it or found it hard to lather. But it works fantastically for me and had an unbeatable post-shave feel.
Are you also allergic to dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, wool, horses, etc? I have always heard the people who are allergic to such animals are often allergic to proteins contained in the saliva that is distributed to the hair/fur when the animals groom themselves. However, once a brush is thoroughly broken, such proteins should have been removed. Thus, I am not sure why you would be allergic to both badger and boar. They are much different types of animal hair.
At least we have some excellent synthetic brushes available these days, so you have options. I am glad you found one you like.
Mitchell's Wool Fat is one of those soaps that works best if you use it every day. That way, the soap never dries out, making it much easier to load and lather. I had to use MWF for three days in a row before I could get a decent lather. I have so many soaps in rotation that I only use a soap once every few months, so MWF does not work for me.
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- #37
Well today i had another fairly incident free shave using the synthetic brush to lather while i wait for my yaqi to arrive so i think i can pretty much confim its not mwf im going to go again tommorow to see if its ok without a day in between
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- #38
Another shave today and a few weepers abd irritation from my lack of concentration and didnt get mwf lathered right till my second pass and didnt get a very even shave but progress is progress! doesnt help when my son is asking me to cut him a plum up while im trying to shave 
im hoping for a better run tommorow. my neck on my dominant hand side is giving me abit of shaving rash but i have always has this even with carts or electric! Would be nice to iradicate that now im acctually in control
im hoping for a better run tommorow. my neck on my dominant hand side is giving me abit of shaving rash but i have always has this even with carts or electric! Would be nice to iradicate that now im acctually in control- Thread starter
- #39
Today was a big milestone ive had alot of trouble getting mitchells wool fat to work over the past couple of weeks ive tried numerous methods of lathering and fail to get a consistant lather either it is to bubbly and fades or dries to quickly and still got some stinging when face lathering so ive predominantly been palm lathering. Well today some palmolive shaving cream came in the post so after holding out shaving for 2 days while i waited for it i gave that a shot. The scent is peculiar but not to overpowering but the lather i acheived was far superior to what i have managed with mwf. I managed a 3 pass shave concentraiting on technique alone and not smoothness and it was my best shave to date. No irritation aftorwards and overall a pretty smooth feelingbar a couple of patches. Maybe i am infact allergic to lanolin...
Palmolive cream is a favorite of mine. I currently have a half dozen tubes. I first used it in the 1960’s and it is still just as good. Another excellent inexpensive cream is a Bulgarian product available on eBay, Kapo (pronounced Kari) - very mild but lovely scent. The problem you are having with WMF is very similar to the problem many have with Williams. This can be overcome by not using as wet a brush to begin the lathering. Just use enough wetness to get a thicker pasty lather going to prevent the bubbling stuff then add a little water to the brush and work the lather until you reach the level of hydration you want. I lather creams on top of a puck of Williams and it makes lathering the cream quicker. Give it a try with your Palmolive on top of the WMF. This may help the MWF to break in. It works for Williams. Another thing you can try is to grate the WMF and squash into a cup/bowl and it will provide more surface area and traction for your brush. Ultimately, the WMF will lather and it is worth it.
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