Worst shave I can remember :

[jschaefer7406]

Hello all,

New here, and went for my second DE shave tonight. Using a DE89 with Derby blades, said to be a gentle combo for beginners. First shave was Tuesday night, and hadn't shaved for approx. a week and 3 days before then. That time went okay, only one small cut on my adam's apple (didn't hold the swallow long enough? lol). Minor irritation, like with the Fusion I had used prior. Was a nice close shave though, very smooth (but took 3 passes).

Tried again tonight and can't believe the difference. Horrible irritation and burn, and worst of all, wasn't even a smooth shave. I still have stubble, but had to quit for the sake of my face. If it wasn't for looking half-shaven, I would have stopped after one pass. Did most of a second pass, and could take no more. Was THAT bad . Don't think I used too much pressure, but anything is possible I guess. Splashed on some witch hazel, hope it repairs the damage quickly...

Now, please don't think I'm whining or looking for someone to pinpoint where I went wrong via the internet. I know there are probably a thousand variables. What I'm interested in, is what would you guys recommend I do NEXT?

For a little background, I have only ever been able to shave about once a week since I was a teenager. My skin just became too irritated if I do more often. Thought I'd try again sooner with the DE, as most say they get much less irritation with it and can shave much more often. Did I maybe try again too soon?

I used EJ soap both times, and the lather was decent but thin. Would coat my face well, but wasn't something you could pile on thick. Was the lather maybe the wrong consistency? Should I switch back to the canned gel and try that with the DE89?

Thing that has me wondering most about this is that the shave tonight wasn't even minutely close. First pass left me looking like I had visible stubble still, but caused irritation. If the pass was enough to irritate so badly, why was the shave so poor? Bad angle?

I also have a pack of Crystal blades, not sure if they'd make things better or worse than with the Derby's...

Anyway, any suggestions on how (and when) to move forward are appreciated. Again, not complaining or giving up, just discouraged.

Thanks guys,

Joe

 

[virtute et armis]

Sorry to hear you got torn up. I know the feeling. My first few shaves were quite discouraging. I definitely would not shave again until the irritation is mosly gone. If you shave again too soon you will likely make it worse. I have sensitive skin so I just a very mild soap and lotion and give it time to heal. Keep practicing the lather in the meantime and read up on the blade angle business

 

[Metal241984]

Did you use the same blade as the first shave? I know this isn't the case for everyone but I noticed the second shave on the same blade usually causes me irritation. With how cheap the blades can be had, I don't mind using a fresh blade for every shave. Like I said this isn't the case for everyone. Its also sounds like your lather was a bit thin. Just keep at it and watch your angle and you will get better.

 

[zygalski]

Ditch the Derby & try a Personna platinum chrome instead.

 

[jschaefer7406]

Thanks for the encouragement guys .

Yes, same blade. Have been doing as much reading as possible, but find blade angle somewhat hard to judge. My thought is that, if the angle were too steep, the shave would at least be somewhat close (irritating, but close). This time, it didn't even clear my face ...

Thanks guys,

Joe

 

[jschaefer7406]

Ditch the Derby & try a Personna platinum chrome instead.

Someone mentioned the Personna is similar to (or maybe even the same as) the Crystal? I have Crystals on hand, try them?

Thanks,

Joe

 

[ajbones]

If you haven't tried it yet, try a pre-shave cream. I normally apply pre-shave as soon as I get out of the shower, so it has a couple of minutes to soften the hair before I lather and shave.
If you stick with it, your shaves will improve! Good luck!

 

[jschaefer7406]

Thanks!!

No, haven't tried any pre-shave. Is there any particular brand you'd recommend?

 

[virtute et armis]

Thanks for the encouragement guys .

Yes, same blade. Have been doing as much reading as possible, but find blade angle somewhat hard to judge. My thought is that, if the angle were too steep, the shave would at least be somewhat close (irritating, but close). This time, it didn't even clear my face ...

Thanks guys,

Joe

That hasn't been my experience thus far. Too steep of an angle does the same thing to me. Poor cut and lots of irritation. I would rather error on the side of too shallow of angle and do another pass or some touch up. I hate getting irritation, takes me a while to get rid of it

 

[djh]

My experience would tell me that your problems lie in a combination of factors. I'm guessing that your lather was sub-standard and that you also used too much pressure and probably had poor blade angle as well. Most of the experienced hands here will tell you that technique will trump equipment 11 times out of 10.

I would suggest that when you are building lather that you start with much more product (either cream or soap). Lather is what protects your face and allows the razor to glide properly so it is very important. Try making just one pass- if you were only able to shave every week or so, it might take a while to adjust to more regular shaves. Even if your results aren't necessarily what you are looking for at the moment, take your time and let your skills develop.

It does get better!

 

[MrSmith]

I am similar to yourself in that I normally shave only once a week because my skin would get so irritated that I couldn't touch it for a few days and to shave more often would be unbearable. I am now working on being able to shave every 3-4 days with DE. I still consider myself a neophyte to DE shaving, so here's what I do in between shaves. Hopefully it helps.

1. I read all of the tutorials, etc from the wiki section and watched some recommended you tube videos and then tried to practice what I learned before shaving.
2. To practice blade angle I would "shave" the back of my hand or arm to see what a proper blade angle looked like and try to duplicate that angle without a blade on my face. Also take note of what "very little to no pressure" looks like on the skin.
3. I mapped out the direction of hair growth on my face to make sure that my With The Grain passes were with the grain. I also decided that a decent shave without an Against The Grain pass was better than an irritated BBS with an Against The Grain pass. I normally do (2) WTG and (1) XTG pass and find that the second pass is nice since the first pass took down the stubble and the Across(X) The Grain pass gets things decent. I can still feel "stubble" if I go against the grain, but then again you will have stubble in 24hrs or less, so it doesn't matter unless you are rubbing your face on a baby or your significant other, in which case an against the grain pass may be worth the irritation to you to forgo irritating the others mentioned.
4. I practice lathering in a bowl/scuttle adding a little water at a time to judge how much water to use with the soap that I had loaded or to see if I required more soap to get the amount of lather for my 3-pass shave. I then transfer the lather to my face for a final "dialing" in to get the lather as perfect as possible since the face gives a bit better feedback than my eyes alone. This daily ritual will help your lathering technique tremendously and your face since you will get the benefit of not only practice lathering but also a nice exfoliating facial cleanse that should help prevent irritating in grown hairs, pimples, etc. I also intentionally over saturate the lather when I first get a new soap to determine what too much water looks and feels like with each soap. The variations in water are relatively small so add water slowly. Also some soaps have a greater "sweet" spot than others, so this will also help you figure out the subtle nuances of lathering.
5. I also logged each shave noting the prep, setup (blade, soap, cream, etc), how many and what type of passes I made, general feeling before and after the shave, and also the time of day I shaved (morning, evening, before shower, after shower, etc), and also how many days since last shave. I know that's a lot of work, but will help point out things that could be responsible for horrible shaves, like shaving too soon or a simple change in pre-shave prep.
6. Never change more than one variable at a time. Don't do an entire new prep and different blade, etc and wonder what was good and what was bad. One change repeated at least twice to determine if it was beneficial, negligible, or worse. Then on to the next change. This makes the process slow, but also gives you ample time to improve technique which I feel are the greatest cause for most irritations.
7. There are going to be some soaps, blades, etc that just aren't good for you. It's ok to find out that a highly recommended product doesn't work for you. Note the type of product (glycerin based, tallow, etc) and try something a bit different to see what you prefer. Also find a soap that you consider the "standard" by which other soaps must achieve to stay in rotation so that you always have a soap that you know (are familiar with) enough to judge others by.

I know that others here can add more to what I have here and I'm sure that I've probably forgotten a few things, but hopefully this "insight" into what has helped me will perhaps help you in some way. Again I want to stress that it's not "rocket" science but sometimes you need to be "scientific" to rule out the goods from the bads. And as far as the perfect shave, try for a SAS, then a CCS, and finally a DFS not the unicorn irritation free BBS.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Abbreviations

Best of luck and stay with it, as with most things you will get better with time and practice.

 

[radwyn]

Hi,

I've only been shaving 2 weeks.
Like you my second shave was an absolute disaster, horrible irritation and multiple cuts. I was so discouraged that in spite of my hefty investment in my new gear I went back to Mach 3 shaving the next day. The day after that I went back to my DE shaving and I'm very glad I did.

Today I had a marvelous comfortable glowing shave, so it is possible in your near future you might get great results.

There is a lot to learn but you will learn quickly;

Lather wise I found this a very helpful thread http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ake-decent-lather-with-six-teaspoons-of-water

Also let the lather soak in for a few minutes

Remember too no pressure let the blade glide over your skin, if I was in your position I would try a sharper blade also the crystals might be better than the Derbies.. I have developed a strong preference for the sharper blades like feathers and Polsilvers.

Also your right to in suspecting angle I found 30 degrees about right and concentrating on keeping your wrist locked is a good start.

Maybe too pick up some Nivea After shave balm from your local dug store it is cheap and highly regarded here for soothing irritation.

Good luck and be sure to keep asking questions on the forum. I have found the advice is why I am getting good results.

 

[jschaefer7406]

Thanks guys for the great advice. This site is great, would be lost without it ,

The only thing I did differently is the lather itself. Both times I left a small amount of water on the surface while I showered, read that it helps to soften (especially the Edwin Jagger soaps, which can be hard they say).

This time though, I soaked the brush while showering, while the first time I simply wet it. But, I also shook more water out this time (after reading the thread linked by radwyn). So, soaked the brush and shook vertically 3-4 times so it wasn't dripping wet. Tried applying more soap and less water basically, as seems to be the latest advice...

Not sure if that is what the problem was though, personally think it was two things. First, should have skipped the third pass the first shave. Went for smooth, and knew better after all of the reading I've done. Couldn't resist though, because I didn't feel irritation at the time. I think this set me up for waiting longer to shave again, which I think is the second part of the problem. In my excitement to learn this, I wanted to shave again as soon as possible (and I'm sure you all know what I mean lol). Should have probably waited until tonight or even tomorrow, rather than pushing it again last night.

Anyway, hopefully I recover soon, as I'm excited to try again. Used some Gilette gel over the witch hazel last night and, while I feel a sting this morning, my face visibly looks better than I expected.

Thanks again,

Joe

 

[alex2363]

Thanks guys for the great advice. This site is great, would be lost without it ,

The only thing I did differently is the lather itself. Both times I left a small amount of water on the surface while I showered, read that it helps to soften (especially the Edwin Jagger soaps, which can be hard they say).

This time though, I soaked the brush while showering, while the first time I simply wet it. But, I also shook more water out this time (after reading the thread linked by radwyn). So, soaked the brush and shook vertically 3-4 times so it wasn't dripping wet. Tried applying more soap and less water basically, as seems to be the latest advice...

Not sure if that is what the problem was though, personally think it was two things. First, should have skipped the third pass the first shave. Went for smooth, and knew better after all of the reading I've done. Couldn't resist though, because I didn't feel irritation at the time. I think this set me up for waiting longer to shave again, which I think is the second part of the problem. In my excitement to learn this, I wanted to shave again as soon as possible (and I'm sure you all know what I mean lol). Should have probably waited until tonight or even tomorrow, rather than pushing it again last night.

Anyway, hopefully I recover soon, as I'm excited to try again. Used some Gilette gel over the witch hazel last night and, while I feel a sting this morning, my face visibly looks better than I expected.

Thanks again,

Joe

Joe, this takes trial and error, time, practice, and many other processes that only you can fix as it arises, all we can do is guide as needed.
Keep us posted on your next shave, and try to stay within that 2 pass shave, less is better for the skin as a newbie.