Greetings,
I've posted here a few times, asking for advice on shaving, and have received quite a bit of good advice. Unfortunately, nothing I do seems to do much good, and I am pretty much at my wit's end. So I return for one last shot -- the last chance for shaving.
I have what may be the worst combination of issues for shaving, short of having my skin on inside-out. I have very sensitive skin, many allergies and chemical sensitivities, and a heavy, wiry beard. So it takes some effort to get rid of my beard, which then irritates the heck out of my face, and I'm allergic to most of the products designed to combat that.
Most recently, based on advice received here, I was cold-shaving, using distilled water (because of the local hard water). I used Mama Bear's unscented shave soap, shaved with a Merkur Classic 1904 DE razor using a Super Iridium blade, and followed up with Thayers cucumber witch hazel, and sometimes Ogallala Bay Rum aftershave. This gave me the least unpleasant shave I can remember -- but that only means that the irritation usually faded around 9:00 or 10:00 at night, instead of lasting most of the next day.
This problem has definitely been getting worse over the years. In my early 20s, I shaved with whatever was handy, and while my face would get irritated it tended to fade after an hour or two. But now it's so bad that I've been taking another stab at growing a beard. In the process, I've rediscovered that the only thing I like less than the irritation from shaving is the constant annoyance of having a beard. :001_rolle
So, given these issues, does anyone have any advice for me? I'm willing to try just about anything: different razor, different blades, whatever. Different shave soaps and aftershaves and so forth I will try, but I have to reject anything with major allergens (especially fragrances like sandalwood).
If there's nothing left to try, I guess I'll be stuck with a beard trimmer on the shortest setting. I don't care for the stubble look, but it's better than the "What the heck happened to your face?" look.
I've posted here a few times, asking for advice on shaving, and have received quite a bit of good advice. Unfortunately, nothing I do seems to do much good, and I am pretty much at my wit's end. So I return for one last shot -- the last chance for shaving.
I have what may be the worst combination of issues for shaving, short of having my skin on inside-out. I have very sensitive skin, many allergies and chemical sensitivities, and a heavy, wiry beard. So it takes some effort to get rid of my beard, which then irritates the heck out of my face, and I'm allergic to most of the products designed to combat that.
Most recently, based on advice received here, I was cold-shaving, using distilled water (because of the local hard water). I used Mama Bear's unscented shave soap, shaved with a Merkur Classic 1904 DE razor using a Super Iridium blade, and followed up with Thayers cucumber witch hazel, and sometimes Ogallala Bay Rum aftershave. This gave me the least unpleasant shave I can remember -- but that only means that the irritation usually faded around 9:00 or 10:00 at night, instead of lasting most of the next day.
This problem has definitely been getting worse over the years. In my early 20s, I shaved with whatever was handy, and while my face would get irritated it tended to fade after an hour or two. But now it's so bad that I've been taking another stab at growing a beard. In the process, I've rediscovered that the only thing I like less than the irritation from shaving is the constant annoyance of having a beard. :001_rolle
So, given these issues, does anyone have any advice for me? I'm willing to try just about anything: different razor, different blades, whatever. Different shave soaps and aftershaves and so forth I will try, but I have to reject anything with major allergens (especially fragrances like sandalwood).
If there's nothing left to try, I guess I'll be stuck with a beard trimmer on the shortest setting. I don't care for the stubble look, but it's better than the "What the heck happened to your face?" look.
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