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OUCH! The most horrible shave of my life. Why?

Hey!

I'm not new to wet shaving, but this morning made me think I am...

...I've been shaving for 15 years now, the last few of them with a 34c/Derby (the good ones). I started shaving ATG regularly three weeks ago, and finally, my skin tolerates it. My face wasn't that smooth since I was a kid, and I have no razor burn at all. I shave every 1.5 days and use cream in a mug.

This morning, I wanted to try another blade (yellow Gillette 7 o'clock), and I used Palmolive soap lathered on my face for the first time. I used the Palmolive cream before, and I'm not new to face lathering with creams either, although I used a mug for years now.

The lather was really nice, but I felt some burning even after the first WTG pass. Stupid as I am, I continued to shave XTG and ATG, and as a result, I have the worst razor burn of my life and a lot of bloody spots on my neck. Furthermore, I still have some stubble on my face. Thank god I don't have to leave the house today.

Well, it wasn't the brightest idea to change three things at once (lathering on the face/new soap/new blade) - I have no idea what caused this massive reaction.

I heard only good things about the 7 o'clock, the soap has a good reputation (and I never had a problem with the Palmolive cream) and I lathered on my face without a problem before.

So, what do think was the most probable reason for this fiasco? I'm leaning towards the 7 o'clock, as the lather seemed really nice, but on the other hand, the right side of my face seems a little bit more battered, and that's where I started lathering/lathered the most (I'm right handed).

I'd just go back to my old stuff, but I really like to know what was wrong this morning. Opinions?
 
Welcome to B&B! 15 years of shaving with a DE is quite a long time. :thumbup1:

To your question: you've got no other option than experimenting around a bit. Needless to say you're gonna experience a bit more irritated skin that way.
 
Hi Dharion, thanks for your reply! Yeah, I guess that's the only way to really find out what was wrong. The problem is, if I don't eliminate the source on the first try, I'll look like I shaved with a rusty lawnmower blade, again. :blink:

Can lather make a shave that bad? Mind you, it looked and felt okay. Maybe I'll lather the soap in a mug and shave with a Derby tomorrow.

Sadly, I didn't shave with a DE for all those 15 years, the first few of them I tortured myself with cartridge razors. :wink2:
 
Honestly, the Yellow 7 O-Clocks were not good to me either and I've been DE shaving for a year. They cut me a few times. Close shave, very smooth, but cuts also.

I guess different peoples' skins will react differently to the same blade.

You just have to find the blade that works best for you: close shave without cuts.

For me, the best blade is a Crystal. I've tried a lot of brands and have pretty much settled on using that blade daily. I also like the Red Pack IPs, but those Yellow Packs and Derby blades butcher me up.
 
it can also be a conjunction of factors.

what kind of brush do you use ? Face lathering is pretty more aggressive to the skin than bowl lathering. So if your skin is sensitive, it is already weakened by the face lathering and you pass a fairly aggressive blade on it.

the combination of your razor and this blade might be wrong as well.

Now you are obliged to try new combinations of lathering/razor/blade/soap/brush to find out what went wrong. Good luck with it, it might take a few time but you will find !
 
S

stubble trouble

just my two cents worth, but the sampler pack suggestion I followed showed me just how different these blades can interact with the other variables in one's lineup. They've also taught me to get the best shave I can get without discomfort. Luckily, I am now to the point where a SAS is always possible with alternating DFS's. I am committed to keeping my neck area comfortable and my technique improves as long as I don't revert back to bad habits (repeated passes "trying" to get BBS when it just ain't gonna happen. As for blades, I definitely noticed the sharpness of feathers, but prefer the forgiveness of the IP reds, now onto the crystals and finally the astra's. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for all your replies!

Honestly, the Yellow 7 O-Clocks were not good to me either and I've been DE shaving for a year. They cut me a few times. Close shave, very smooth, but cuts also.

I guess different peoples' skins will react differently to the same blade.

You just have to find the blade that works best for you: close shave without cuts.

For me, the best blade is a Crystal. I've tried a lot of brands and have pretty much settled on using that blade daily. I also like the Red Pack IPs, but those Yellow Packs and Derby blades butcher me up.

Yeah, I suspect the 7 o'clocks are the main factor as well - I had no problem with my Derby blades for years, but the new ones (vertical logo) seem to be pretty bad from what I heard. I was searching for a replacement, hence the sample pack. Too bad that the first blade of the pack chews up my face.

I'm glad I didn't start with the Feathers...

it can also be a conjunction of factors.

what kind of brush do you use ? Face lathering is pretty more aggressive to the skin than bowl lathering. So if your skin is sensitive, it is already weakened by the face lathering and you pass a fairly aggressive blade on it.

the combination of your razor and this blade might be wrong as well.

Now you are obliged to try new combinations of lathering/razor/blade/soap/brush to find out what went wrong. Good luck with it, it might take a few time but you will find !

Thanks! I really want to give the Palmolive soap another chance, the lather built up fast and felt really nice, even better than the Tabac soap. I just made some lather in a mug and tested it on my skin, there doesn't seem to be an allergic reaction.

I used a pretty soft badger, no silvertip though. Used it to lather on the face in the past from time to time without problems, but it was the first time I face lathered with a soap stick and went ATG. Maybe the rubbing of the hard soap in my face wasn't such a good idea either.

After my recent ATG success in the last weeks I was pretty confident in my shaving proficiency. Oh well, seems like I was wrong and did everything I could to kill my face this morning. :biggrin:

just my two cents worth, but the sampler pack suggestion I followed showed me just how different these blades can interact with the other variables in one's lineup. They've also taught me to get the best shave I can get without discomfort. Luckily, I am now to the point where a SAS is always possible with alternating DFS's. I am committed to keeping my neck area comfortable and my technique improves as long as I don't revert back to bad habits (repeated passes "trying" to get BBS when it just ain't gonna happen. As for blades, I definitely noticed the sharpness of feathers, but prefer the forgiveness of the IP reds, now onto the crystals and finally the astra's. :thumbup:

Yeah, I guess really sharp blades aren't really what I need. The Derby blades are so smooth (and still sharp enough for my soft hair) that I got a bit careless, I never thought a blade could tear up my face like that. It still hurts like hell.

The next few shaves I'll use the Derby again and try the red Personnas after that, the sharp blades from the sampler are out of my league, I guess. Well, that's what sampler packs are for.

@Ouch

LOL, sorry about that.
 
With this being the first time with Palmolive maybe you didn't apply it in a way that was protective to your skin.....ie too thin or watery. I have found that when I use a new soap I have to test a spot on my face and apply very light pressure on the blade to see if there is enough cushion to get a smooth pass. I tweak the lather until I find the perfect consistency and technique for that soap....because what works with one soap might not work well with another.

A fresh blade shouldn't have given you that bad of a razor burn in my opinion. I say keep using the blade and keep working with the Palmolive until you get the right slickness/cushion.
 
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That might be true, I had some problems to get good lather with different soaps and creams in the past few years, especially some soaps.

But never ever I had a shave like that, not even when I had to use canned foam. I never had any problems shaving with the grain, no matter what I used. This time, it started to burn after the first light pass WTG.

In addition, I felt that the Palmolive soap seemed especially moisturizing, I was looking forward to a really nice shave. :biggrin:

I'll play around with the soap a bit, but I don't think I want to put a 7 o'clock to my face in the near future.
 
The blade change could definitely be the source. It could also be a combination of too much pressure, which might have been permissible with the milder Derby blade, and the sharper, more aggressive Gillette blade. It's repeated here often, but make sure to avoid any pressure when shaving. Let the weight of the razor do the work.
 
This must happen to us all with us all trying different de's and blades and like you i have been de shaving for quite a few years and this happened to me yesterday with my first go at a slant, nicks to my upper lip and neck area and not a very enjoyable shave to say the least:huh:
 
Maybe the Yellows are more aggressive and 1.5 days is not enough for your skin to recover...and...changing 3 items at the time is not the best way to achieve smooth shaves...
 
I find going back to a soap or cream that I haven't used in a while pretty much guarantees one lousy shave - for some reason it takes a couple tries to get the right lather consistency down no matter how well I know the product.
 
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