Worst shave ever. EVER!

nosedog

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2011
Location
Petersham, Sydney
I've been trying out my straight razor since Saturday. Good start, but gave myself a nice cut (yesterday) and a bit of burn (day before). Then my slim arrived today. What was I to do? Just got back from Cold Chisel (yay!) and needed a shower and shave.

The sensible thng would have been to use tried and tested gentle tools: R89, any decent blade, Speick stick, one pass WTG. But no, I used the slim, a bloody Derby, MWF, and four passes WTG, WTG, XTG, XTG/ATG. A slightly uneasy feeling emerged after the third pass, but I kept going.

The alum burn after the fourth pass was incredible. I didn't believe such burn would be possible. Witch hazel was OK, then the Speick ASB, normally so soothing and nourishing, was painful to apply as well. Two thirds of my shaving area is reddish, and there may even be signs of a rash. (Oddly, the neck area under the chin is the exception, probably because I don't dare go ATG there.) I seriously now have to apply discipline and not shave again until the weekend.

So what is the culprit?
* Was it shaving too much with a recent experience of (mild) razor burn?
* Was it the razor?
* Was it the blade?
* Was it the soap?

I don't think the razor is to blame. The slim was dialled to 5 for the first pass and 3 for the rest. Besides, it's just a bloody razor. There's a remote possibility it's unhygenic, being second-hand, but I think the seller does a bit of selling so he probably disinfected it. (I know, I should do it myself, but I'm too damn lazy.)

The blade? Derby's not too flash, but I think of it as too smooth (not sharp enough), which isn't the kind of thing that punishes you like this. Could be a one-off bad blade, but nothing felt wrong with it for the first 2-3 passes. It shaved effectively.

Soap? I'm afraid there could be an issue here. I've only used my MWF a handful of times, and I love it, but I've heard some people react badly to the lanolin. I've experienced a mild itch once before when using it, and tonight I felt a considerable itch. I'd hate to find out it's not suited to me; I'd much rather my technique be to blame. I just don't know enough about this supposed bad reaction some people have. Is it constant or variable? Because if it applies to me, it's very variable: no problem most times, mild problem once and major problem once.

I didn't shave with undue pressure. Maybe a tiny bit, enough to cause some alum sting that goes away in ten seconds.

Soap aside (hopefully), I guess that leaves the first option, I've shaved four days in a row (nothing unusual about that). Two days ago I experienced significant irritation or mild razor burn that went away overnight. This was caused by inexperience in using and stropping a straight razor. The face felt good enough for a shave last night (mixture straight/DE), when no real irritation was felt. I probably would have gotten away with a simple shave tonight, but pushed it too far. But even if this is the cause, the punishment far exceeds the crime. This is at least 2-3 times worse than any razor burn I've experienced before, including after using blunt cartridges becuase I was going to a wedding and had run out of fresh ones and so had to make do with the ones I was about to throw away.

Any ideas?
 
4 passes on a face that was already healing from straight the day before? That's my best guess.

Could be developing a lanolin sensitivity. Some products that only mildly disagreed with me got worse on consecutive days.

And the slim has a small margin of error for blade angle, I find. You could have been scraping instead of cutting, and being a new razor, not known the difference.
 
I saw the slim you picked up Nosedog. Nice :) Can't say I agree with not taking any preventative measures with the razor. Hepatitis is no joke even if the risk is very low.

How much did you drink at the Cold Chisel concert? :p

I'd say you overcooked it big time with 4 passes on top of daily learning with the straight. MWF can also trick you into taking strokes over unlathered area's as it feels so slick still, did you do much of this? A burning/itching sensation is not a good thing. I would lay off the 'fat for a week or so and reintroduce it as the variable after your face is healed up and see what happens.
 
Can't really comment on which of the variables was responsible for the disaster except that varying too many I think is distracting and taking a razor to your face when you're concentrating on what is different about the new combo is a potetial minefield of cuts.

What I can say without hesitation is that shaving a week before a Cold Chisel concert is just wrong. Going to a Cold Chisel concert involves a preparation devoid of any bathroom activities and daily bottles of whiskey. Hard to cut yourself shaving when you can't even find the bathroom.
 
What I can say without hesitation is that shaving a week before a Cold Chisel concert is just wrong. Going to a Cold Chisel concert involves a preparation devoid of any bathroom activities and daily bottles of whiskey. Hard to cut yourself shaving when you can't even find the bathroom.

True; I forgot about that...

The face is feeling better today: antiseptic cream last night helped. Still not shaving for a few days though :)

Question: what should one do when one receives a second hand razor in order to make it hygenic?
 
Question: what should one do when one receives a second hand razor in order to make it hygenic?

I got some Barbicide from eBay and dip all my razors post clean and before polishing. Don't think you can get it in Australia but 70% alchohol works too I think
 
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