Razor Burn on Upper Lip?

[rbscebu]

This past week I have been shaving morning and evening for the enjoyment. Morning is WTG, XTG+CdM and XTG in opposite direction. The evening is WTG, XTG and XTG in opposite direction.

This evening I decided to include a CdM with the first XTG pass. To my surprise, I got faint razor burn on my upper lip. I haven't experienced razor burn for years .

What is the cause of razor burn?

 

[Mitzie]

Strangely I find if I do Cdm (fool's pass) at the very start of my shave I don't get razor burn. I can only conclude that the longer the skin is in contact with the lather the more softer and tender it becomes, and is more prone to irritation, nicks and cuts?

 

[rbscebu]

Strangely I find if I do Cdm (fool's pass) at the very start of my shave I don't get razor burn. I can only conclude that the longer the skin is in contact with the lather the more softer and tender it becomes, and is more prone to irritation, nicks and cuts?

Interesting. I might give that a try tomorrow night.

 

[cugel]

I can get it everywhere BUT my upper lip. I can do fools passes all day long and no burn. but my neck? Whole different story: prone to burn and ingrown hairs. Yuk

 

[JPO]

Strangely I find if I do Cdm (fool's pass) at the very start of my shave I don't get razor burn. I can only conclude that the longer the skin is in contact with the lather the more softer and tender it becomes, and is more prone to irritation, nicks and cuts?

Maybe it's got something to do with the angle you are able to use. When I do my upper lip with the grain my nose gets in the way. When I go atg under my nose I can go in almost flat.
I will try to ony do a atg pass under my nose, because this is usually where I can get some burn. I think the angle gets too steep, especially if I am using an edge on the upper end in sharpness.

 

[deafficianado]

The cause of the burn is a layer of skin is getting sliced off. Just go WTG for those sensitive areas as recommended by dermatologists.

 

[swellcat]

Just go WTG for those sensitive areas . . .

But that doesn't eradicate the around-the-mouth cactus sensation (for me, at least), and that residual irritant is just unnerving.

 

[RayClem]

Every time you shave you are removing some skin cells along with your stubble. It takes a while for the skin to replace those lost cells. If you have too frequently, irritation is a warning from your face that you need to do something differently. If you can shave daily with no irritation, then do that.

 

[Steve56]

Razor burn is too much exfoliation. The usual suspects are a little too high of an angle or a little too much pressure, or both. Higher angles exfoliate more.

 

[jason12768]

You should shave your "trouble" spots first, at least, if they require your sharpest edge. So shave them first.
MdC shaves much closer than many of my other soaps. Much easier to acquire a close shave with it.

 

[rajagra2]

It's been a very long time since I did cdm.
In fact it's been a long time since I even aimed at proper BBS with a straight at all. And my shaves are infinitely better for it. If it feels bbs when I stroke with the grain, that's perfect for me. I finally feel like a real, full time, straight razor shaver.

However, here's my suggestion, something I only recently discovered. When shaving the top lip, pull the skin taut from the side, from around the cheek area. This is the ONLY way I can get a great result above the corners of my mouth without going ATG. It also works on the rest of the top lip. I'm sure it can smooth out a cdm pass too.

Incidentally, I've been straight shaving twice a day for a couple of weeks to try out all my razors and brushes, most of which I'd stored away for many years. I've not had irritation or redness once. When you stop trying too hard, magical things happen.

PS I'm an old B&B user but just had to re-register. Was inactive for too many years!

 

[rajagra2]

It's been a very long time since I did cdm.
In fact it's been a long time since I even aimed at proper BBS with a straight at all. And my shaves are infinitely better for it. If it feels bbs when I stroke with the grain, that's perfect for me. I finally feel like a real, full time, straight razor shaver.

However, here's my suggestion, something I only recently discovered. When shaving the top lip, pull the skin taut from the side, from around the cheek area. This is the ONLY way I can get a great result above the corners of my mouth without going ATG. It also works on the rest of the top lip. I'm sure it can smooth out a cdm pass too.

Incidentally, I've been straight shaving twice a day for a couple of weeks to try out all my razors and brushes, most of which I'd stored away for many years. I've not had irritation or redness once. When you stop trying too hard, magical things happen.

PS I'm an old B&B user but just had to re-register. Was inactive for too many years!

Hold on, I just realised cdm (coup de maitre) ISN'T the Fool's Pass, as someone suggested above. Do I need to refresh my vocabulary?

 

[rajagra2]

Hold on, I just realised cdm (coup de maitre) ISN'T the Fool's Pass, as someone suggested above. Do I need to refresh my vocabulary?

It's been a very long time since I did cdm.
In fact it's been a long time since I even aimed at proper BBS with a straight at all. And my shaves are infinitely better for it. If it feels bbs when I stroke with the grain, that's perfect for me. I finally feel like a real, full time, straight razor shaver.

However, here's my suggestion, something I only recently discovered. When shaving the top lip, pull the skin taut from the side, from around the cheek area. This is the ONLY way I can get a great result above the corners of my mouth without going ATG. It also works on the rest of the top lip. I'm sure it can smooth out a cdm pass too.

Incidentally, I've been straight shaving twice a day for a couple of weeks to try out all my razors and brushes, most of which I'd stored away for many years. I've not had irritation or redness once. When you stop trying too hard, magical things happen.

PS I'm an old B&B user but just had to re-register. Was inactive for too many years!

I find the coup de maitre (downwards) stroke completely uneventful. I can only suggest using a lighter touch. Think the words "stroking" or "brushing". If it even occurs to you to think the word "scraping" then you've probably jinxed it! Apologies for stating the obvious.

Are you correctly rolling the blade flatter as you progress downwards?

Who hones your razor(s)? My honing skills are now adequate if not expert. A lot of my early misadventures were undoubtedly down to trying to compensate for my poor honing.

For a long time I convinced myself that a reddened face was a nice, youthful look! Don't make that mistake.

My straight shaves only got good when I stopped messing about. I exclusively used my humble Wapinecia razor for a few years and stopped chasing perfection. Everything just fell into place and kept improving.

 

[DrStrange]

Hold on, I just realised cdm (coup de maitre) ISN'T the Fool's Pass, as someone suggested above. Do I need to refresh my vocabulary?

I think it means when you hit the head waiter.

 

[RobertScalchi]

You should shave your "trouble" spots first, at least, if they require your sharpest edge. So shave them first.
MdC shaves much closer than many of my other soaps. Much easier to acquire a close shave with it.

Sometimes we overlook the obvious in chasing "excellence or perfection" I will try that next. Troublespots first