Karolos

I’m trying to find the definite answers to this problem of razor burn. You get razor burns when you slice your hair to a level below the skin surface (OUCH!)

In some cases, razor burns can get so severe, to cause razor bumps. When you have razor bumps the area around shaved hairs gets raised red welts or infected pustules.

Most of the times razor burn is caused by bad technique, sloppy movements, (cold water) and inadequate preparation.

I will need your help for this problem so please post your comments, OK?

PREPARATION & PREVENTION

For starters, if your skin is irritated from the previous shave then wait one more day at least to let your skin heal!

In order to prevent razor burn we must use the right tools. This means a safety razor with a sharp single DE blade (preferably Personas, Gillette Platinum “Swedish” or Derby). If you are experienced you can also use a straight razor. Forget about the cartridge razors.

Get rid of your shaving foam spray and buy a nice shaving cream and a shaving brush.

Learn to use warm water for your brush and you skin.

The best time to shave is after the shower.

Clean your skin with a gentle soap and then apply the shaving cream with your brush.

Make sure you prepare your skin well and your facial hair is fully moist.

Now, start shaving following the grain. Make small slow strokes. Do not press and do not drag your skin. Rinse the blade with hot water after each stroke.

 Aftershave

Use cold water to clean your face and close the pores. Use a mild aftershave without alcohol in order to prevent any irritation and burns.

I prefer a quality after have balsam, but I have a small secret. When I purchase the balsam, I add 3 drops of tea tree oil and 3 drops of lavender inside the balm and then I shake it well, before I start using it. The 2 oils help to calm the skin, heal it and stop infections. They are great if you have acne, too!

Aloe Vera is a nice solution too. Aloe vera has analgesic qualities that reduce swelling, soothe skin irritation and form a barrier that will protect your skin from infection. It also promotes healing. You can find aloe vera products, like gels, very easily but make sure they don’t have any alcohol.

Your comments please!!!

A couple of months passed since the day I started wet shaving. At first I was quite enthusiastic about this all new wet shaving world.

I also got the syndrome of wanting to buy everything related to wet shaving BUT NOW I feel OK again

Let me share my 2cents my friend.

Wet shaving is better for your skin than any other method. It is not the fastest way and it is not the most practical way BUT your skin will thank you for it, so give it a chance…

My Personal Recommendations

Shaver

Merkur Progress  or Merkur Vision if you have more money to spend. Stay away from slant bars and old used shavers from eBay (unless you a lot of time to spend )

 Blades

Gillette  “Swedes” or Derby Specials (Derbys are almost as good as the Gillete’s and are much cheaper, especially if you buy big quantities)

Shaving Cream

Taylor’s Avocado (this thing blows my mind!). If you have oily skin you can also try a lighter cream like Taylor’s Lavender

Brush

Silver tip  Badger Hair brushes are surrounded by a lot of hype IMHO. Get an inexpensive pure badger hair brush from Vulfix.

After-Shave

Almost anything can do if it doesn’t have alcohol and you shave right

Use a lot of hot water and happy wet shaving!!! (don’t boil your brush :-D)

Visit Mantic59’s Youtube channel for more

I got a surprise today! A comment on my previous post from Leisureguy, whom I consider a wet shaving guru.

I got the permission to post it here:

“Sounds like you’re on the right track. For washing my beard at the outset, I found that Musgo Real Glyce Lime Oil soap made a noticeable difference in the shave. This is not a shaving soap—it’s strictly for the pre-shave wash.

The blade angle on the Progress is somewhat different than other razors, but in general you want the blade to be *almost* parallel to the skin its shaving, so that the cutting edge is meeting the whiskers straight on, rather than scraping over them like a hoe.

I’ve found that after the with-the-grain pass, it’s important for me to do an across-the-grain pass, particularly on my upper lip and chin. This reduces the stubble enough so that the against the grain pass is comfortable. (I rinse after each pass and then re-lather before the next one.)

Nice blog.”

It seems that the 2 previous posts related to wet shaving and de razor blades got some attention

That’s very nice if you consider that this blog is less than one month old and I haven’t done anything to promote it.

So now that you are reading this I want to say this first: Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are more than welcome my friend!

My Current Wet Shaving Method

It doesn’t matter which blades and razors you have. It all start here!

Preparing

You must first make sure you face is wet and clean. I use a mild face soap and warm water to clean your face. It also helps to moisten my skin and beard.

I then fill a mug with hot water from my boiler (I use a big mug with 0,5lt-16oz capacity).  I soak my silvertip brush in it and then I remove the excess water by shaking it a bit. Now comes sth original. I use this moist hot brush on my face without any shaving cream!!!

I rub it gently on my beard with circular motions. This helps in making my beard even softer (and I really have very strong-tough to shave beard hair). I then dip this brush in my shaving cream (Taylor’s shavng cream - very good price for top quality). I dip it so to that it gets  exactly the amount of shaving cream I need.

Another trick is this: I use the lid of my shaving cream as a second “mini shave mug”. I use circular motions with my brush on this lid to build up the foam. I dip the shave brush in the hot water again a bit to catch more water and then I continue building up the foam. You’ll know when it’s right when it is most enough, consistent and has no bubbles.

I use this rich shaving foam on my beard using again circular motions. The bear minimum for spreading the foam is 15 seconds. If I go on for more than one minute my skin gets irritated by the brush (it’s quite funny :-)  )

Shaving

I adjust my Merkur Progress to the 3 setting (I currently use Swedish Gillette blades). I dip it in the hot water (which also has some shaving cream inside! )  and then I start shaving from the easier parts (not my neck that is… ). Always try not to use any pressure and keep the razor so that the blade is almost perpendicular to your face. This minimizes skin irritation. If not enough beard hair gets removed I use multiple passes.

After all the easy parts I continue with the more difficult ones like my neck and my mustache. There are some areas which are extra sensitive where I use extra caution and extra low speed…

IMPORTANT

After every shaving stroke (correct word?)  I dip the razor in the hot water again. This makes my shaving extremely comfortable!

Finishing

After all this shaving I clean my face with cold water and immediately use an after shave balsam (in which I have added 10 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of lavender). I rinse the shaving brush and my razor with hot water from the shaving mug and then some warm water, and then I put them on their stand to air dry.

Your comments please!

I hope I helped you with my shaving method. It took me a while to perfect… Please send me your comments by clicking on the comments link of this post. Do you have any tips you would like to share?

I just finished shaving using a Merkur Progess safety razor and the “Sweedish” Gillette blades.

This was the best shave I had till now! The Gillette blades are sharp but very comfortable and forgiving if you make mistakes.

I got no nick whatsoever. Multiple passages on the same area were greatly reduced. I must now go to find a cheap source because these blades cost substantially more than the Feathers and BICs.

I will also have to try the Derby Extra blades.

continued…