VDH Irritation

I received a Van Der Hagen kit from my wife for Christmas. Used it 2 times and both have given me irritation. I'm just using it with my old Gillette cartridge and Gillette AS as before until my DE arrives on Friday.

I've searched on this and haven't found much. Maybe my keywords are wrong. Has anyone seen this come up here frequently out has had any experience in this?

First time I used it my skin dried out on each side of my nose was red. Today it's peeling off. When i shaved this morning i thought maybe i didn't wash off all the way so I made a point to rinse well. Only immediate thing that was different was my AS never burned so good before.

Got to work and a coworker asked me if I got punched. Cheek was red under my eye. Started itching. Then the other later followed my forehead. It was like I was installing or moving that pink insulation all day.

Was thinking maybe tomorrow cut out the soap and use my old gel but lather it on my face with the boar brush. Sorry for the long post.

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Great idea, she could probably use it, didn't think off that. Weird thing is my shave area wasn't affected.

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Every scented shaving soap that I have tried thus far has given me some degree of irritation. I've had similar symptoms to you minus the itching and swelling under the eyes. I think that the platinum coating on some blades is also an irritant for me, and it definitely is for others. I'm seconding the suggestion to try an unscented soap/cream or just try your old gel again like you said. The important thing is to change only one variable at a time. Switch back to your gel for a few days and if it works out, you'll know for sure that it was the soap.

I'm stubborn and I don't want to give up scented soaps and aftershaves, so I'm still looking for stuff that works before I consider switching to unscented. Many soaps, creams, and aftershaves are available in sample sizes so consider checking them out before ordering the full size version.

 

Thanks, have you ever used anything like A&D to clear it up? Or is there anything like that common around here that people use?

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If it does turn out to be the soap I'm thinking about ordering some products like gingers garden. Keep looking at them and hearing about there stuff being natural with essential oils.

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I had the Same exact experience with VanDerHagen soap. I can't remember which one it was , but it was pure white and smelled like the older powered laundry detergent--- CHEER.. It was horrible. Maybe I tried the wrong one, I am sensitive to a ingredient in it ,or the soap was defective. .It messed my face up so much , I had to use Silver Sulfadiazine. Actually, if you have a friendly doctor. Ask for a prescription for this ointment. It immediately soothes and almost cures razor burn. It is a Must for this wet shaver. And it helped whatever that VDH did to me.

 

I haven't found anything that alleviates the reaction that I get from these fragrances. A lot of people swear by the Nivea aftershave balm for alleviating even the worst razor burn, but I haven't used it and I doubt that it would relieve an allergic reaction anyway. Cold water and regularly moisturizing throughout the day are the only things that provide any sort of temporary relief. Considering how bad your allergic reaction sounds, I'd have almost considered taking Benadryl/antihistamines.

Speaking of Ginger's Garden, I think that her aftershave splash is very soothing. It's heavy on the aloe vera juice, so it's not for people with oily skin. As much as I love it, get this: the fragrance that I ordered seems to irritate my skin a bit, although it's pretty mild. I'm hoping to try some other scents eventually or possibly see if I can get an unscented version. Again, I don't think aloe vera will do anything for an allergic reaction but I enjoy the splash a lot.

 

I purchased, and enjoy a soap made by Gingers Garden. Great Stuff! It's a tallow based soap. With that said understand that "being natural" doesn't make something safe. Same with essential oils.
Not to beat a dead horse too much - your stomach produces hydrochloric acid. As long as it stays there, all's well. But that all natural digestive fluid will dissolve many types of metal. So having a label that says "All Natural" is just so many words printed on a piece of paper to your skin.
Essential oils are kind of the same. They are concentrated, distilled chemicals from "all natural" sources. Uh Huh, that phrase again. You can't get away from chemicals short of moving about 62 miles straight up. So your plan might include figuring out which chemicals are affecting your skin. That VDH soap is used comfortably by many people, but not you. Read the label - glycerine maybe. So find a soap that's tallow based (Hint; Ginger's Garden make some great ones) or one of the thousands of other soaps available. Use your previous products, learn to shave with the new razor, and only change one thing at a time to be certain the new stuff doesn't go sideways on your face.
It's called The Scientific Method; change only one variable to evaluate if it helps or hurts your desired outcome. Those who reported similar issues may have valuable advice, but you have to make the judgement. Good luck!

 

I swear by aloe vera and vitamin E for skin reactions. Aloe gel cools the burn and vitamin E helps heal and rejuvenate. I had a bad skin reaction to menthol in a few shave soaps and it burned my skin to the point of eventually scabbing and peeling. I used aloe gel everyday (multiple times) to calm down my face. I found some aloe gel that had vitamin E and started using the in the same way. Then I ordered some Proraso Balm with Aloe and Vitamin E. That seemed to clear things up in about a week. I use the Proraso Balm pretty much everyday now. But, I have used Nivea for Sensitive Skin (white cap). I would swear by either of those, too. The scents are subtle and are easily covered by splashes (optional) and they both really help moisturize your skin. Put them in a sample bottle and you can take them with you for reapplication anytime.

 

I heard that Dapper Dragon scale polish is heavy on the aloe gel too. I like their soaps so I will give the balm a try some day. Aloe vera doesn't eradicate reactions to fragrances but it helps soothe the burning for me. The blue Proraso balm sounds great.

 

If your forehead has had a reaction, then it's got to be systemic (assuming you didn't wash your entire face with the soap). I would consider a Benadryl and abstaining from that particular soap. Of course, check with your doctor.

 

Great post.
Yep, poison ivy is all natural, but wouldn't want to rub that all over my face.

 

Was this the VDH Deluxe or Luxury SS? There is a difference in the formulations so knowing which one can help you find out what might be causing the problem.

 

VDH I think is usually drying for most guys here, though it sounds like it's more severe for you. With shave soaps, if you push your budget to something over $10 there are plenty of excellent options to find. Cella is one that comes to mind. It's probably the biggest increase of quality per dollar amount that you'll see in shaving. The next tier, up to anything over $25 is better but it's not worth it in my view.

 

There are two different VDH kits. One that comes with a boar brush and the deluxe soap. The deluxe soap is pink colored and has a very light powdery scent. The other comes with a badger brush and the luxury shave soap. Since you said you have the badger brush in your opening post that leads me to believe you got the deluxe soap. It would be difficult for me to believe that the deluxe soap is irritating you because it is very mild. It may be possible that you are having a reaction to the boar hair or possibly some chemical used to treat the knot. Did you wash the brush out with warm soapy water before using it ? I know when I got mine it was kinda greasy and smelled a bit of animal funk and formaldehyde. It may be worth picking up a good synthetic brush, they are inexpensive and much much softer then the VDH boar. Just a couple ideas

 

Could be the soap or the blades, which I wouldn't use. Though the reaction on your forehead sounds like a reaction to the soap.

 

Thanks all for the replies. This is the one i got. Has to be the soap. I used my old cartridge since I'm not getting my DE until tomorrow. Last night i rubbed the brush all over the inside my arm with no ill effects. Think tomorrow I'm going to just use my old Edge cream and have my first DE shave. Will just stay away from both the brush and soap until my face heals. Also picked up some clubman AS today since I've never tried that. Trying not to throw in too many variables right now but it's hard not to since I have this new found obsession.



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@Primotenore, it did cross my mind that I should take some benadryl so you might be right about it being systemic. I've never been allergic to anything before.

Shaving the same way with the same products for 20 years maybe just made my face go into shock or something.

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