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YOUR ADVICE on best soap & blades for coarse hair

Hi,

Having got started to use soap+brush & DE razors for a couple of months, I have been keeping looking for soap and blades for my coarse hairs to get rid of the burning spots post-shave feelings. Here is the list of the products that I have used. I normally shave every day in the morning. I've rarely had a close and smooth shaving experience with them. I'd like to see your recommendations.

Pre & After Shave: ProRaso
Soap: Tabac, DR Harris & Co Windsor Shaving Soap, Barrister and MANN Cheshire, Fine Accoutrements Shaving Soap Lavender
Blades: Feather, Personna platinum, Astra
Razors: Rockwell 6C (setting 4), Merkur 34C, KingC Gillete

The products listed on the fronts are used more frequently.

Thank you!
 
Get a large sample pack of blades and try all :)
I might say try a creme ? TOBS Jermyn street ? Or Speick ? Or I find cremo works even though some do not :)
never had luck with the proraso pre ? Some have
I also tried about ten razors and found the one that worked for me the timeless has been great and the Henson have been great
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
Despite what you may see about people with hundreds of products, the products you use, once of good quality will often be able to provide a good shave.
First it is about technique, make sure whatever soap you use is well lathered and provides you with a thick protective lather, don't be afraid to use more product.
Second, pick one razor for a couple of weeks and stick with it, different razors may require different handling so try to cut down on the variables.
Third, map your beard growth, your beard grows in different directions so learn which areas grow in which directions.
Fourth, try one or two passes WTG (with the grain) and XTG (across the grain) before trying ATG (against the grain). Your goal is to reduce the hair over three passes so don't try and chase a BBS from the beginning.
Fifth, do not go over an area again that has no lather on it, that is a sure recepie for irritation.
Sixth ask any question you need, and you'll always get an answer on B&B
Seventh, fall down all the rabbit holes until you have more soap, blades, razors and brushes than you could ever hope to use. You will at some point end up chasing the perfect shave.
 
You have good quality razors, soaps and blades.
Techniques in shaving, loading and applying the lather and aftershave selection could be an issue.

If you are suffering from irritation or burning spots then it may be due to one or more reasons:

# Needs to put Less pressure while shaving

# Under loading the brush and hence poor lather. Poor lather will lack protection, it may cover your stubble but glide might be missing.

Well hydrated, structured and rich lather will definitely help in reducing the post shave irritation.

Do look at the home page of B&B for "How to make a great lather" and give some practice runs on the lathering techniques.

# Inconsistent blade change maybe a reason. Keep a look out for tugging and skipping of the blade, it usually is a sign of blade losing it's efficiency.

# Try adding warm towel soak on face / stubble before shaving, it tends to help a lot.

# Brush burn: this is a less likely but possibly reason, over scrubbing the brush on a shaved (1st pass done) might bring the burning sensation.

Avoid scrubbing the brush too much, try painting motions.

# Which brush are you using?
If boar brush is used, is it broken in properly?

Try synthetic brushes and make sure to use painting motions.

# Face lathering or bowl lathering?
Try bowl lathering for some time to give the face a rest.

# Since you are shaving daily, 2 Pass + touch up DFS+ should be a good idea to get irritation free shaves.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
You might try bowl lathering for a while (if you're now face lathering) to eliminate the possibility of brush burn. Any bowl will do: raid the kitchen.

A Feather blade is usually excellent for coarse hair. You might try Med Preps (Labs), Gillette Silver Blues - a small sampler of sharp blades you can put together yourself.

As long as you're making good lather, I suspect you may have a technique problem. Lots of good advice in the preceding post. I generally find that the easiest way to produce that post-shave razor burn is with too much pressure and incorrect razor angle. It absolutely is possible that your razor selection is not perfect for your face, but that would only produce a less than satisfactory result - not razor burn.

Less pressure is easy and immediately available. I remind myself every day to use less pressure as it is way too easy to add just a little. If you're not dropping the razor in the sink you have enough pressure. Even if you think the pressure is light enough, try using a little less.

Razor angle is more difficult, and can be slightly different with different razors. I think it might be a good idea to select your favorite razor from your collection and stick with it for a couple of weeks. Move the handle a little closer to your face, and then out a bit and find the sweet spot. Unfortunately, our faces are not flat. Make as many flat areas as you can (stretch the skin while you make funny faces), but you'll never make the area from your chin to your Adam's apple flat. Try very short strokes - with less pressure.

I try to shave each inch of the skin with only one swipe of the razor on each pass. If you shave an area and the razor doesn't cut the required amount for that pass you probably missed the razor angle. Much better to add a little lather before cleaning up with an additional pass, but don't take 4-5 tries on the same patch of skin. If your horse dies, dismount. In that case you know you need to try a different razor angle - preferably the next day.

Everyone goes through the razor angle experimenting dance. Your version is made more difficult by the coarse beard, but you will absolutely get it with a little more experimenting.

Good luck.
 
Your equipment looks pretty good already. Try to stick with one setup for about a month and develop your technique (for example Rockwell/Feather/Tabac). Don't chase BBS results during this month, focus instead on getting an irritation-free shave. You have received a lot of good advice about that from people in the posts above.
 
Excellent advice above about learning the right technique. If you are new to wet shaving, you might be pressing too hard on the razor (because you had to press harder with cartridges and/or carts were more forgiving on this one thing).

To me, using a DE is like playing golf. In golf, the club does the work; in shaving, the DE razor does. In golf, you just make a swing through the ball, you don't try to hit at it. Same for shaving. You glide the razor over your face (the stroke); don't shave 'at it' or you can get irritation quickly. Just my two cents. Fwiw, I have not played golf in over 10 years, but I think the analogy works.

With that said, I hear that some people with coarse hair really like Gillette Nacets. I prefer Silver Blues over them. Otherwise, a Rockwell and B&M soap should not lead to irritation in general.
 
Great advice above!

To me, your current set up looks fine.

As others note, technique trumps everything else in ‘traditional‘ wet shaving. I suggest you read through the WiKi, then focus on getting the most from your current set-up! In the end, you will get there quicker!
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I’ve found that if the bottom of the bowl is too large it’s harder to make a good lather. Narrower bowls work better for me as long as there’s enough room to work the brush and soap. There’s been some good advice from others as well

If you like bowls I would recommend a scuttle - warm lather all winter. But they come in different sizes, and if you try a bunch of different bowls you'll find out which size works the best for you.
 
I don't think I saw it anywhere in the recommendations. Contrary to the precious post, I would suggest that you try only cold water shaving. It's a bit uncomfortable the first time, but you get used to it and it's actually quite pleasant. That's what got rid of a majority of my irritation. I'm not saying it WILL fix your problem, I'm saying it fixed mine and just sharing the experience! Good luck!
 
I've also got a coarse beard and find that Nacets work best for me. I use them twice and toss them. TIBS and Zingariman have been my best performers.
 
ProRaso prep in all its versions was never a succes for me but preshave soap from paa and stirling seem to work fine.
 
I don't think I saw it anywhere in the recommendations. Contrary to the precious post, I would suggest that you try only cold water shaving. It's a bit uncomfortable the first time, but you get used to it and it's actually quite pleasant. That's what got rid of a majority of my irritation. I'm not saying it WILL fix your problem, I'm saying it fixed mine and just sharing the experience! Good luck!
Yup cold water shaves are my preferred method, warm water just feels weird to me.
 
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