Ready to give up

[steveclarkus]

As you continue, it will get better without much, if any effort on your part. Don’t over think it, just keep shaving and all will be revealed. Don’t worry about BBS as it will happen from time to time. My first pass always gives a very acceptable shave but I do two because I enjoy it. Five minutes is not enough “enjoy” time. Sounds like you are doing very well just keep at it and your enjoyment will grow along with your skill.

 

[Dzaw]

Master Steve is, as usual quite correct.

It can be hard to hear when you're frustrated with razor burn and aren't even sure what the culprit is. Believe me, I know that frustration! There is, nonetheless, something real and powerful about the "stay the course" approach as well. There will be breakthroughs and setbacks. Not sweating the setbacks is tough in the moment, but 20 shaves down the road you'll re-read this thread and be like: "Damn if I didn't make that a bigger deal than it needed to be", or something like that.

In the mean time, if the razor is HHT 3 all along, I wouldn't worry about getting it to 4 or 5, though you can try if you are so inclined.

When I finally "found my line", it kind of snapped into place, and shaving got suddenly easier. I still get weepers, and occasional irritation in some specific area, but the general standard of shave has become both better and more consistent overall.

 

[Twelvefret]

Lord Steve knows his stuff.

 

[AndyPM1]

Most bar soaps are alkaline enough to do well at this, but many can be drying to the skin. Many body bars, body washes, etc. aren’t actually soap and aren’t alkaline enough. Personally, I can recommend Yardley of London bar soaps as being highly alkaline as well as moisturizing, and they’ve taken my prep to another level.

On the strength of this recommendation I bought a couple of bars of "Yardley London Lemon Verbena Moisturising Soap" and was very impressed with it.
I live in a very hard water area but this soap lathered up quickly providing a very soft slick lather, when left on the face for a couple of minutes before shaving (even when not having previously showered) it certainly does make a difference to the softening of the hairs before lathering up with shaving cream/soap, I have started to incorporate this into my usual shave routine as I'm sure it does contribute to a more comfortable shave.
No, I have no connection with Yardley, just took what turned out to be good advice from DZAW!!

Andy

 

[Dzaw]

Thanks for the shout out Andy! Glad it worked well for you!

 

[monco]

As you continue, it will get better without much, if any effort on your part. Don’t over think it, just keep shaving and all will be revealed. Don’t worry about BBS as it will happen from time to time. My first pass always gives a very acceptable shave but I do two because I enjoy it. Five minutes is not enough “enjoy” time. Sounds like you are doing very well just keep at it and your enjoyment will grow along with your skill.

Thanks, it indeed seems that all is fine again.

I just had a break for 4 straight days for shaving, to let my skin heal, and there was considerable growth already. But shave was smooth and skin feels ok. I went extra slow and was careful with pressure. At certain spots I was hoping the razor would be sligthly sharper, but I was able to go through the entire shave just fine, nevertheless.

I wasn't able to get parts of the razor back to HHT-4, not even with Dovo Red; they're more like HHT-2/3. But I guess it doesn't matter too much as I was able to shave.

Meanwhile, I have been able to hone 3 other razors to presumed shave-ready status. By HHT and arm-hair test they seem real sharp. I shall try them soon so I won't be on mercy of one single razor.

 

[steveclarkus]

You are coming along just fine. Keep at it.

 

[monco]

TLDR: No big questions here, just wanted to update you on my progress. And big thanks to everybody for support, this is quite an adventure!

I took the razor all the way back to Dovo Green, gave it 150 laps (tested after each 50 for it to show promise). Then went 100 on Dovo Red, 100 on Dovo Black, 50 on 0.5u diamond paste, and finally 30 on linen and 100 on leather. When stropping a sharp razor, I can feel slight drag, or suction, below the razor. The feeling is very subtle, happens only when I keep the strop extra taut and use extremely light pressure. It is easy to understand why a newbie (like me) would not notice it at all.

HHT is better on the problem areas of the edge now (although still not solid HHT-4). More importantly, the shave was super smooth this time. The actual shave took only 11 minutes, whole shave ritual from start to finish being 20 minutes! I didn't rush at all: the time saving came from the fact that whatever part of the face I was shaving, the razor shaved effortlessly. And I didn't need to use any pressure (although I am still probably using too much pressure and not optimal angles). I even shaved my once so troublematic chin with a few diagonal strokes accross the jaw and it was like a hot knife through butter (it comes to mind that maybe I did it too "easy" and fast, but my chin feels quite ok). As before, one light WTG pass (with couple of XTG strokes here and there) gave a very acceptable shave. I didn't have any need to do multiple passes at this point.

So the shave felt very very smooth and easy, but later the day I noticed that my skin feels somewhat "raw" after the shave, not very much unlike last week with those horrible shaves. Problem areas are cheeks mostly, chin is quite ok. My skin looks bit tight on the cheeks and around the mouth especially. I feel a sligthly tingling sensation on my face. This is quite subtle and I wouldn't describe it being very bad, certainly nothing so serious that it would stop me now or anything, just that I noticed it this time. It may be that the razor is even too sharp now (or not smooth, although after all the pasted stropping I doubt that). Or that Tabac is drying on my face. Or it could be Proraso Pre-Shave cream, as well. Or it may be all those together mixed with my beginner skills. But I am not worrying too much about it.

All in all, I am gaining confidence that even when the razor starts going south, I can bring it back with pasted balsa.

 

[idanbarber]

Unfortunately I am on the edge of giving up SR shaving, just after less then 10 times of using it.

Making a (not so) long story short, I've started my SR journey with great confidence, looking for:
1. Better results then my classic DE Merkur 34
2. Beautiful Boker SR
3. A kind of art sensation
4. Less expensive on the long run, compared with DE safety razor

It all turned into a sort of a nightmare.
I will start from bottom up:
4. This is the worst argument for SR. Nobody is explicitly pointed out that one will need to BUY some stones (from 1000 to 12k), maybe some paste, for sure one (at least) strop, some oil and... a lot of time to keep your SR working at peak performance.
3 and 2. I still enjoy my SR. It is far beyond any DE. I really feel like a special person using it.
1. Using my SR made me understand why DE razor became so popular, practically replacing the vast majority of SRs'. A single moment of off-focus... and you're done. Too much pressure, or a slightly wrong angle, and you're done again: razor burn, red skin, some (real) injuries.

Conclusion:
Using a SR is a very special experience, but it is NOT for everybody. In fact it is a kind of mystical, religious approach.
My respect and congrats for all SR users - keep going on!

 

[monco]

Unfortunately I am on the edge of giving up SR shaving, just after less then 10 times of using it.

Making a (not so) long story short, I've started my SR journey with great confidence, looking for:
1. Better results then my classic DE Merkur 34
2. Beautiful Boker SR
3. A kind of art sensation
4. Less expensive on the long run, compared with DE safety razor

It all turned into a sort of a nightmare.
I will start from bottom up:
4. This is the worst argument for SR. Nobody is explicitly pointed out that one will need to BUY some stones (from 1000 to 12k), maybe some paste, for sure one (at least) strop, some oil and... a lot of time to keep your SR working at peak performance.
3 and 2. I still enjoy my SR. It is far beyond any DE. I really feel like a special person using it.
1. Using my SR made me understand why DE razor became so popular, practically replacing the vast majority of SRs'. A single moment of off-focus... and you're done. Too much pressure, or a slightly wrong angle, and you're done again: razor burn, red skin, some (real) injuries.

Conclusion:
Using a SR is a very special experience, but it is NOT for everybody. In fact it is a kind of mystical, religious approach.
My respect and congrats for all SR users - keep going on!

I agree with you, one has to believe in this to go forward. I am sure it is all based on science but there are so many variables that it becomes like one's personal path to enlightenment. It is not easy to get a clean, comfortable shave. It makes one wonder, how did they manage to do this in the olden times...? But perhaps we are just too used to comfortable shaves. I never saw anything awfully wrong with cartridge razors, for example. Never had any issues of razor burn etc.

But it simply is 100 times more awesome to shave with a straight razor. And following this path to my personal enlightenment with straight razors has become a hobby for me. Hopefully the shaves will also become better in the future. So I encourage you to continue, you have only 10 shaves behind you after all! You know, when I started this thread, I was almost given up hope. But with the help of fellow forum members, and perhaps with my own effort and sheer luck as well, I was able to make real progress. At this point I am not even considering going back anymore.

 

[idanbarber]

Thank you for all your support, Monco!
I really admire your (and all fellow members of this forum) determination into SR shaving.
But unless this becomes a hobby, with all related expenses and time dedicated to it, and with its great satisfaction, for me, and probably for the vast majority of men, the effort is too high.
This morning my old DE Merkur gave me a very good and quick shave.

 

[steveclarkus]

Thank you for all your support, Monco!
I really admire your (and all fellow members of this forum) determination into SR shaving.
But unless this becomes a hobby, with all related expenses and time dedicated to it, and with its great satisfaction, for me, and probably for the vast majority of men, the effort is too high.
This morning my old DE Merkur gave me a very good and quick shave.

For me, it is just a way to shave while I do find it interesting. It really doesn’t have to be expensive. Get a couple of vintage blades, a piece of acrylic and a pack of film and a strop and you are set for life. A straight razor gives me just as quick,comfortable, close shave as a DE and without the nicks. If you aren’t willing to put in the effort to learn don’t bother with it. After all, it’s jist shaving.

 

[monco]

Back to the original problem. I've got three weeks of shaves behind me. With a straight razor that I feel is very much shave-ready. But something is still off.

In the past, my problem was that I couldn't shave my chin at all, razor was not sharp enough. Cheeks were ok and didn't become irritated by the shave.

Then I was able to hone my razor and it has been shaving my entire face for three weeks now. I can shave my chin sideways with few passes, razor glides smoothly and cuts the stubble. So I figure the razor is clearly sharper.

First week was superb, I remember no irritation at all, except maybe sligthly tingling feeling on my chin. Second week was quite horrible, with few incidents of horrible irritation of skin that lasted entire day, even couple of days. It was then that I figured my razor needs refreshing. Third week was better, razor being refreshed with my best effort, but the irritation still continued.

So, after the first perfect week, my face and especially my cheeks (not so much the chin) have started to feel "raw" and irritated after most of the shaves--sometimes less and sometimes more, but it is always there. The feeling comes usually slowly during the day and lasts the entire day. It is quite slight and almost bearable but still very annoying. There is dryness and tigthness of skin. Skin is not red and I wouldn't desribe it as razor burn, but I am not familiar with these conditions. This condition is actually not visible, but I recognize it as it is the same feeling I tend to get on extremely cold days when the icy weather makes the air extremely dry. Now we are in the middle of the spring and weather is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, not specially dry or anything. And my face feels like it wants some good amount of moisturing cream.

What could be going on?

I have few theories:

• Preparation: I used Proraso Pre-Shave Cream for first two weeks. Leaving it out didn't help.
• Lather: occasionally, and especially today, I get exceptional lather which makes the razor glide smoothly. And still the irritation follows.
• Too sharp razor? Before I had duller razor and couldn't shave my chin, but my cheeks were ok and I didnt get such irritation there.
• Razor became dull after first week? In the beginning the razor was solid HHT-4 all around. Now it is HHT-4 only partially, mostly HHT-2 or weak HHT-3, which is quite alarming to me. The razor still seems to shave well, however, considering how effortlessly it cuts whiskers.
  
• Bad technique? Maybe my skin was healthy and ok in the beginning. And it simply took one week of bad technique to remove all hydration and oils protecting the skin. Too much pressure maybe? My angle is almost flat to the skin already.

 

[idanbarber]

Razor burn and irritation was the trigger of my decision on giving up SR shaving.
Never ever had such terrible experience with DE razors.
In my opinion the reason is the bad angle, probably combined with too much pressure. My entire skin was burning, not only where irritation was visible.

 

[steveclarkus]

I’ve been experimenting with different edges and have had more than a week of razor burn and it is not fun. I’ve given up and gone back to Method and a pasted balsa edges. Tomorrow, there will be no burn. I’m burned out. I feel your pain.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

If the SR weren't at the top of the heap for comfort I probably wouldn't have persisted. Almost 200 shaves into it I am seeing better and better shaves when my razor is sharp, but none of my shaves lack comfort.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[monco]

I am also looking for comfort. The shave itself has been very comfortable and enjoyable now, but the irritation follows after a few hours (except for the first week).

Any idea why this would happen? To me, most logical answer seems to be that the razor lost its sharpness, so I am planning to take it back to 5 or 3 micron film and progress from there.

 

[MO1]

I am also looking for comfort. The shave itself has been very comfortable and enjoyable now, but the irritation follows after a few hours (except for the first week).

Any idea why this would happen? To me, most logical answer seems to be that the razor lost its sharpness, so I am planning to take it back to 5 or 3 micron film and progress from there.

Could be many reasons, micro chipping, not sharp enough, too sharp, too much preassure (this also depends on what kind of edge you have)
Not wet enough lather.
Do you use an alum block after shaving?
You may also consider investing in a pocket microscope to see whats going on at the edge.
Im glad your shaves are getting much better!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Simple to use. Under $5 on eBay. Tiny but does the job for me. I dislike the others I've buy'd and tried.

 

[Dzaw]

I am also looking for comfort. The shave itself has been very comfortable and enjoyable now, but the irritation follows after a few hours (except for the first week).

Any idea why this would happen? To me, most logical answer seems to be that the razor lost its sharpness, so I am planning to take it back to 5 or 3 micron film and progress from there.

The first thing I would suspect after only a few weeks is technique - some combination of angle and pressure. When I had been shaving for a couple of weeks, I hit a similar rough spot, and thought my edges had gone south. It caused me to do a whole lot of unnecessary honing, and I even swapped razors with a mentor here who sent me a razor he had honed, and I sent him one of mine. That experiment showed very plainly that the edges on my razors were just fine. That meant that it was user error.

As frustrating as that can be, it does get better. Some of it is just practice. Some of it is trial and error. Some of it is perspective, as when you start to get some consistently decent shaves, the frustration suddenly seems trite and overblown.

While it is surely possible that something has gone awry with the edge of your razor, it is more likely pilot error. Remember that back when straight razors were the only tool available, young boys learned to shave when they still had fuzz. By the time their beards were as developed and tough as yours are now, they had several hundred shaves worth of experience to lean on. You're trying to tackle this learning curve with a man's fully developed beard growth. That will make this more difficult. Keep at it, and it will improve!