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Sensitive Skin? Balderdash!

I'm often an outlier. When I read someone claiming sensitive skin, I figuratively shrug and tell myself, "You're a fortunate dude." I don't know what it means, but I'm glad I don't have it. Buffing every square millimeter of my face at least 20 times every day has not yet caused me a problem. I'm a fortunate dude.
How dare you, sir!

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I used to think i had sensitive skin. That was my belief all the way up until i discovered wet shaving. Then I was convinced I had sensitive skin and continued shaving only two or three times a week. Well that went on about a year until one fine day I had the brilliant idea of buying a straight. No particular reason, just had to do it. You might say that DE's were the gateway to a journey that lead inevitably to the straights. You know what i mean. Well I discovered two things right away after my first straight shave. First; I'm pretty dang good with a straight; as in, no red in the sink my first time. Now, i did go on to experience some impressive blood letting due to various mishaps and other things we'll just attribute to 'the learning curve'. The second epiphany was that I in fact do not have sensitive skin; but rather, had suffered most of my adult life from poor technique. Graduating to a straight forced me to evaluate everything I thought I knew about how to shave which admittedly was not too much but nevertheless I had to basically start over but with the advantage of having several years experience with a DE under my belt. That and having discovered this and other forums loaded with every possible bit of information one would ever need to get started towards right shaving. I'm not necessarily trying to make any point, just rattling on.

cheers...
 
I used to think i had sensitive skin. That was my belief all the way up until i discovered wet shaving. Then I was convinced I had sensitive skin and continued shaving only two or three times a week. Well that went on about a year until one fine day I had the brilliant idea of buying a straight. No particular reason, just had to do it. You might say that DE's were the gateway to a journey that lead inevitably to the straights. You know what i mean. Well I discovered two things right away after my first straight shave. First; I'm pretty dang good with a straight; as in, no red in the sink my first time. Now, i did go on to experience some impressive blood letting due to various mishaps and other things we'll just attribute to 'the learning curve'. The second epiphany was that I in fact do not have sensitive skin; but rather, had suffered most of my adult life from poor technique. Graduating to a straight forced me to evaluate everything I thought I knew about how to shave which admittedly was not too much but nevertheless I had to basically start over but with the advantage of having several years experience with a DE under my belt. That and having discovered this and other forums loaded with every possible bit of information one would ever need to get started towards right shaving. I'm not necessarily trying to make any point, just rattling on.

cheers...

+1. I have not yet graduated to a straight, but switching back to DE shaving/becoming active in this forum led me to identify my beard's pattern (among other general technique issues) and thus a drastic reduction in the irritation I attributed to sensitive skin. With that said, many mainstream skin products are chock full of harmful chemicals which may render the average person's skin to be relatively sensitive to mass produced products.
 
Have you noted something like 90% of new to wetshaving men and women report having sensitive skin? And even after a couple years' experience more than half still claim it?!

In the case of the first group, many just do not have the technique down, and so cause irritation. But the experienced shavers? If more than half claim so-called sensitive skin, it is apparant most shavers have what is being called sensitive... and thus it is actually perfectly normal. In other words, the skin of most shavers is tender. And if that is so, your claim of extra sensitivity is nonsense. It is in the normal range. You're not really special. Except to your Mom, of course.

So, let's have no more special claims of sensitivity, my tender friends. You are only as sensitive as the next guy or gal-- unless you have a note from your dermatologist. Or Mom.

Mac

Sensitive skin is a real thing. It doesn't surprise me so many people on a shave forum dedicated to shaving would report sensitive skin. In my case, a big reason for becoming more conscious and wanting to be more knowledgeable about shaving and skincare was to deal with skin sensitivity

My skin has actually become more sensitive as I've gotten older. I think I understand now why I was shaving only a few times a week in the past few years, and tended to avoid it as much as possible.

Sensitive skin isn't the difference between razor burn and no razor burn, it's more like how your face reacts to irritants. For instance, I can't use Old Spice on my face anymore or it feels like I've been sunburned for hours. That's an example of sensitive skin. Likewise, I can't use pure/best badger brushes and face lather. And yet, if you look at my skin after a good shave, it's not razor burned or red. But if I put the wrong stuff on my face, or use the wrong kind of brush, it will be.

40% of shave soaps burn my skin without using a blade.

The blades and technique aren’t my problem.

So, I guess I have “ingredient sensitive normal skin”????

I can relate to this, and yes, being sensitive to ingredients in shaving products is not that rare and is an example of real skin sensitivity (not razor burn, which has to do with technique and tools you use). Alot of soaps people say are great "skincare" are irritating to my skin, even uncomfortable. Shave creams don't seem to have this problem nearly as much.

Most soaps have a pH over 10, or even 11. It's actually a miracle that more people don't react to that sort of thing. I am finding using rosewater and witch hazel after a shave helps alot to cut down on the irritation. It's an old trick from the ladies called "toner", from the days when all women had to wash their faces was the same harsh soaps many of us men deem acceptable for shaving what is, dermatologically, compromised skin that needs far more care than is usually deemed necessary in the traditional wetshaving community.

I don't think there's enough appreciation at times for what shaving can do to skin. Shaving isn't merely removing hair, it's a procedure that involves taking a sharp blade to a major organ in your body and it always involves the skin in some kind of micro-traumas After all, they've had cases of MRSA transmitted through shaving alone, just by people sharing razors.
 
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Have you noted something like 90% of new to wetshaving men and women report having sensitive skin? And even after a couple years' experience more than half still claim it?!

In the case of the first group, many just do not have the technique down, and so cause irritation. But the experienced shavers? If more than half claim so-called sensitive skin, it is apparant most shavers have what is being called sensitive... and thus it is actually perfectly normal. In other words, the skin of most shavers is tender. And if that is so, your claim of extra sensitivity is nonsense. It is in the normal range. You're not really special. Except to your Mom, of course.

So, let's have no more special claims of sensitivity, my tender friends. You are only as sensitive as the next guy or gal-- unless you have a note from your dermatologist. Or Mom.

Mac

Just found this.

I could get very snarky on this. It reminds me of someone who claimed a certain severe allergic reaction didn't exist because she didn't have it.

Yes, sensitive skin exists. The question is sensitive to what? There's different kinds. I sunburn easily, which makes my skin sensitive that way (and why I prefer wide brimmed hats). Some fragrances set me off, usually like mild hay fever, but also with itching. That's another type of sensitivity. Maybe some are sensitive to abrasion. I don't seem to be, but because I'm not doesn't mean everyone else isn't. It's like some having hair bumps so bad they have to use something like Magic Shave (tm). Given the number of canned foams and shaving gels marketed for sensitive skin, obviously there's a sizeable number who do have it.
 
Just because the OP does not have sensitive skin, it does not mean that some do not. There are many different types of skin types and complexions. I have blue eyes and fair skin. I have also been diagnosed by a doctor with Rosacea which means there are a lot of capillaries just under the skin. My face is always pink and it turns red if exposed to sun, heat, cold, wind, etc. People think I have been to Florida and gotten a sunburn if I have only gone out on a cold windy day.

My skin is so sensitive that I cannot stand any scritch or scrub in a shaving brush. Even a synthetic Boss knot has enough scrub to irritate my face if I were to face lather. Fortunately, there are some shaving brushes that are soft enough for me to use for painting on the lather after I generate it in a bowl. However, even with premium silvertip and finest badger brushes, I examine the canopy of the brush carefully to remove any dark colored hairs that feel like a hypodermic needle pricking my skin. I cannot use pure or best badgers brushes as they always cause irritation.

My skin is also sensitive to a number of scents often found in shaving soaps: lemon, lime, grapefruit, cinnamon, and clove. If I try using a soap with a high concentration of these scents, it feels like gasoline was splashed on my face. I do know what it feels like to have gasoline splashed on my face, so I am not exaggerating.
Fortunately, low concentrations of these scents do not bother me, so I normally select cologne type scents with numerous scent in a complex accord.

Thus, for me, I can encounter sensitivity issues long before shaving technique ever comes into play. If I can get my face lathered without irritation, my shaving technique is good enough to prevent irritation. However, I rarely get more than 3-4 shaves out of a DE blade or 5-6 shaves out of a straight razor before a refresh of the edge becomes necessary.
 
I tend to believe the majority of this forum would have more sensitive than average skin, which may be why they got into anachronistic shaving and joined the forum.

Where I think OP should’ve gone with this is how 90% of the forum ALSO claims their whiskers are steel cables and dull blades faster than anyone else’s out there. I find the sensitive skin claim goes hand in hand with a tough beard claim, and that’s where I suspect very few of us are actually outliers with mega tough beards and even fewer have super sensitive skin AND tough beards.
 
Products for sensitive skin cost more, so advertisers try to convince everyone they have sensitive skin.

Sometimes it just involves using less scent in the products

The Nivea sensitive skin aftershave balms cost more or less the same as their regular balms, or avoiding fragrances that are known to be sensitizing (like clove or certain woods).
 
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