Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Shaving and Sensitive Skin

Hello Geo,

I'm amazed at how much time i have spent watching you shave over the past few weeks - its a bit creepy - but thank you for the detailed instructions you provide. I have recently picked up wet shaving and have a Edwin Jagger DE8 and am still trying different blades the last experiment was with astra stainless. I find 2 passes almost too much for my skin to take (or my technique still needs improvement). I have a great shave for a full day - and by the end of day 2 i start to break out a bit as my hair grows our from under my skin on my neck and directly below my bottom lip. So i need to wait for 4 days between shaves for my face to recover. I am very light handed and think of wearing down my beard and only using the weight of the razor so I think it might be my face still adapting. Its only been 2 months or roughly 15 shaves.

Can you recommend a good handle and razor blade combination that might be good for someone starting out with sensitive skin? I am not concerned with price at all considering I plan on sticking to wet shaving (so ill still be saving in the long run even if i was to splurge on a feather stainless).

And I have a fairly dense growth of medium/heavy coarse hair from just under my nose down to about 2/3 of my neck.

I have been looking at ikon razors - have you tried any of these? Have any plans to do a review on them?

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration - and one final question...
about how many shaves did it take for you to get comfortable with your shaving technique? Its damn amazing.

Cheers, Shane.



Hi Shane, (one of my favorite Men's names, and movies by the way)

It takes about 30 shaves for your face to become fully acclimated to any new shaving method.
Try using this Proraso product both before and after your shave to help ease irritation, especially on the neck area....

A less aggressive razor than your EJ would be this one:
Parker 22R
Pretty cool in Gun Metal with Twist To Open Doors....

I've contacted the owner of IKON Razors, several times regarding stocking his products at ShaveNation.com and he keeps saying he's low on stock, yet, I see his products in other stores.... I guess for some reason he doesn't want me selling his products.... Or he just can't keep up with the demand.....

:) Thanks for the shaving technique compliment..... I've been shaving since I was about 14.... I don't know how many shaves that is, but I know it's a Damn lot of shaves!!! I read a book by Malcolm Gladwell where he says it takes 10 years to fully master anything and do it superbly..... I guess I've got my 10 years in..... and then some.

You asked some great questions here....I think I'll post this to my Blog Page...
Hope the answers help you improve upon your shaves!
Take care,
Geo.