Resting Your Face

[markfarrell22]

Hey guys,

I've been wet shaving for a little over a year. I think I have gotten my lather and shave technique down, but I suppose I could be doing something wrong. I normally take a 1-2 day shaving hiatus over the weekend. I find that my Monday shave is great and always the smoothest. By the end of the week, I am feeling a little razor burn. Not horrible razor burn, but a little. I assume that it is just that my face is healing over the weekend, but I wondered if everyone faces this, or if there is something that I could do to change my routine a bit. I normally use the same blade for five days. I'm going to try switching after three days instead. I switched today (Wednesday), but still got a bit of razor burn. My current routine is:

-Take a hot shower
-Apply pre-shave oil (I'm just using Almond Oil)
-Lather shaving cream (currently working through a sampler of T&H, Trumpers, and TOBS) I make a thick lather (yogurt consistency).
-Apply lather to face
-Shave with the grain
-Reapply lather to face
-Shave across the grain
-Reapply lather to face
-Shave against the grain
-Wash remaining cream off with water
-Apply witch hazel (Humphrey's)
-Wait a couple of minutes
-Apply T&H Aftershave balm

Thoughts?

 

[Ron Scott]

Hey guys,

I've been wet shaving for a little over a year. I think I have gotten my lather and shave technique down, but I suppose I could be doing something wrong. I normally take a 1-2 day shaving hiatus over the weekend. I find that my Monday shave is great and always the smoothest. By the end of the week, I am feeling a little razor burn. Not horrible razor burn, but a little. I assume that it is just that my face is healing over the weekend, but I wondered if everyone faces this, or if there is something that I could do to change my routine a bit. I normally use the same blade for five days. I'm going to try switching after three days instead. I switched today (Wednesday), but still got a bit of razor burn. My current routine is:

-Take a hot shower
-Apply pre-shave oil (I'm just using Almond Oil)
-Lather shaving cream (currently working through a sampler of T&H, Trumpers, and TOBS) I make a thick lather (yogurt consistency).
-Apply lather to face
-Shave with the grain
-Reapply lather to face
-Shave across the grain
-Reapply lather to face
-Shave against the grain
-Wash remaining cream off with water
-Apply witch hazel (Humphrey's)
-Wait a couple of minutes
-Apply T&H Aftershave balm

Thoughts?

no need to "rest the face". Figure out what's causing the razor burn by varying technique.

 

[cheesepiece]

I rest my face and the first shave back is always the best. It's just the way it is.

 

[Mbuckwash]

Yea perhaps just give the ATG pass a break for a week, incorporating another XTG pass from the opposite direction. Perhaps the ATG is giving you the burn? Also, where is the burn? Perhaps your growth patterns aren't what you believe them to be (I.e. you think you're shaving WTG on your neck and you're actually going ATG). I think all of your products and such look to be fine....try varying techniques including ensuring proper blade angle, specifically where your burn issues are.

 

[cheesepiece]

If I had to shave daily I would lay off at the weekend. I leave as long between shaves as I can get away with. Sometimes that means shaving daily and at others it means days between shaves. I leave as long as possible between shaves as I enjoy the great lawn mower performance of a great, first-day back shave. I find that daily shave gradually depreciate in quality the longer the daily shaving continues. I have suffered the same as you where you get towards Friday and the shave is ok but the skin is unhappy. To combat that I just shave whenever I must, not sticking to a rigid schedule. It means my sampling of blades, soaps and the like is slow but I suppose it just keeps the ADs at bay.

 

[Toothpick]

I shave every other day. And that's mainly because I'm lazy, and a 3 day beard if just to rough for me to shave, so every other day works for me.

i've shaved everyday in the past and when I skip a day it's always better. I like to think that it does in fact give my skin a chance to heal. but who really knows, it's just more comfortable.

Your routine is very similar to mine, minus one pass. I do 2, and a touch up pass.

 

[rxonmymind]

I shave Thursday night have Friday off and won't shave till Saturday morning. So a day and a half. I do find my face feels better after a small break. No matter how light the touch or how mild the blade by day five I'm a little tender and can feel the A/S.

 

[NingYupOwaDat]

I shave every 2 days. It is definitely better for my skin than 1. shaving everyday or 2. leaving 3 days or more between the shaves, that is actually the worst.

 

[Niles]

I usually shave every other day. It's just what works for me. You may want to try a second xtg pass instead of atg and see if your face feels better.

 

[Hardik]

I remember reading here about a dermatologist suggesting to shave everyday to make the skin less sensitive(callous ) and prevent ingrowns.

As always YMMV

 

[funi_guy]

Because of my work and schedule I always take a shave break once or twice a week. For me it helps to give my skin a rest.

 

[Chevyguy]

I had to shave daily during my last job so to cut down on irritation I skipped the atg pass. All I did was a wtg, and xtg, it left me looking clean shaven and irritation free. Now I still shave daily but I switched from a DE to a Schick Injector that allows me to get almost bbs without irritation.

Clayton

 

[jasonb8736]

I rest my face and the first shave back is always the best. It's just the way it is.

+1. Shaving five days in a row is a bit tough on my face so I try to take a day off from shaving here and there. It's never raw or painful, but occasionally slightly irritated.

 

[Lmarkow]

I'm a daily shaver. Until I got my technique right, I would need to take a rest once in a while. That was only because I was not shaving properly, not because my skin was too "sensitive."

 

[California Cajun]

Hey guys,

I've been wet shaving for a little over a year. I think I have gotten my lather and shave technique down, but I suppose I could be doing something wrong. I normally take a 1-2 day shaving hiatus over the weekend. I find that my Monday shave is great and always the smoothest. By the end of the week, I am feeling a little razor burn. Not horrible razor burn, but a little. I assume that it is just that my face is healing over the weekend, but I wondered if everyone faces this, or if there is something that I could do to change my routine a bit. I normally use the same blade for five days. I'm going to try switching after three days instead. I switched today (Wednesday), but still got a bit of razor burn. My current routine is:

-Take a hot shower
-Apply pre-shave oil (I'm just using Almond Oil)
-Lather shaving cream (currently working through a sampler of T&H, Trumpers, and TOBS) I make a thick lather (yogurt consistency).
-Apply lather to face
-Shave with the grain
-Reapply lather to face
-Shave across the grain
-Reapply lather to face
-Shave against the grain
-Wash remaining cream off with water
-Apply witch hazel (Humphrey's)
-Wait a couple of minutes
-Apply T&H Aftershave balm

Thoughts?

I went through that scenario for about 40 years because the multiblade razors really irritated my skin, but with DE razors and now straights it isn't really necessary for me to give my face a rest. I do on occasion, but don't really need to any more. Makes me wonder if you are putting too much pressure against your face with the razor.

 

[Kotton]

I have to shave every other day or on the third day. My neck gets to feeling it. It's weird, bc last night would of been almost two days off, and I looked at my neck, and it was irritated. That that was 44 hours for my neck to get irritated, doesn't make much sense. So I didn't get to shave last night.

 

[Ron Scott]

The concept of "resting the face" seems logical enough. Give it a rest and you won't get razor burn, right?


But in reality that's just rhetorical and doesn't jibe with what doctors and researchers find to be true.


"Resting the face" actually makes things worse...



From DERMATOLOGY TIMES

Q What is razor burn

A Razor burn is the common vernacular for cutting of the skin around the follicular ostia. If you examine skin afflicted by razor burn, you will note that a superficial to mid-dermal wound is present. This injury creates the pain and inflammation associated with razor burn. The skin around the hair shaft is preferentially cut because it sits above the surrounding skin.


It may be worthwhile to discuss what can be recommended to decrease razor burn, since patients commonly casually ask this question of their dermatologists.


The best way to minimize razor burn is to decrease shaving pressure. Shaving pressure is the force with which the blade is pushed into the skin. Patients push the razor into the skin to achieve a closer shave, but this also cuts the skin around the hair shaft.


A close shave can be obtained without increased shaving pressure by moistening the beard to soften the hair; using a shaving gel to decrease blade/skin friction; using a sharp blade; selecting a razor handle with the proper blade angle; shaving frequently to minimize hair length and create calloused skin; and leaving the shaving cream on for three to four minutes prior to shaving.


Many times, people with razor burn prefer to shave infrequently to minimize the skin symptoms. The better approach is to shave every day and develop a skin callous on the face that minimizes skin sensitivity and keeps hair short. These steps can minimize razor burn in a patient who prefers not to grow a beard.


Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D., is a Dermatology Times editorial adviser and consulting professor of dermatology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.




Bottom line: Shave daily and focus on your technique. If you insist on suboptimal technique then resting your face is probably all you can do to avoid the carnage...

 

[Lmarkow]

This is consistent with my experience/results.

 

[mce00771]

Thank you for the dermatologist info. I too have been resting my face on the theory that it helps to let the face heal before the next shave. I will stick with daily shaving now (better for my job in any case). It makes sense that developing calloused skin would help with the problem.

 

[btafan]

Zoe Diana Draelos is just a Gillette shill!
I'm shooting for twice a day because I enjoy it so much. Sometimes I have to go back to once a day because sometimes I treat my skin badly due to experimenting with all the different combinations I'm trying. When I get a good shave it doesn't make the next one poor or not as good as a 2-day shave