So a bit better this morning... Towards the end of my shower, I put some hair conditioner on my neckline before drying off to give it some time to "deep condition", since it was the only thing handy to try. I've been pretty light handed all along, letting the blade do the work. However I did try leaving the lower neck until last - and did a 2 pass wtg & atg on my neck only. Result at the end of the day, since I think it takes about 8 hours to tell if there were positive of negative results... Most of the irritation is gone and beginning to fade!
HolyRollah - still cooler than Stockton, Sacto or Fresno. I spend most days in San Luis Obispo; the happiest place on earth according to Oprah... What part of Nor Cal are you located?
Day 2 update... Did same setup as yesterday (now 3 day old Merkur blade), but rinsed face with cold water a second time after alum block rub air dried. Also, in finding technique - I tried the j-hook on the neck during WTG. This seemed to do a better reduction and less irritation. I can say skin wise, it looks and feels better than before all your help - and it's only halfway through the day! Thank you all for the assistance. Now to find a better solution than hair conditioner for pre-shave... Any suggestions?
I made my own pre-shave oil. Olive oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, a few others. I'll get you what all I used and how much later. If your interested.
There is a Tutorial on this. Click the link below, for loads of ideas. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/how-to-make-your-own-pre-shave-oil.31132/
Wow, it would seem PSO would get pretty pricey pretty quick unless one makes a lot, granted olive oil can be used for other things . Not sure even where to get the other kinds of oils. I did discover though a new soap shop opened up in town (35 miles away). Their site says they make custom oils - maybe that's a good place to start.
I'd think the local super market have all the oils that you need. It was only Castor oil I had to order online.
It seems that for many of us that the lower down the neck we go, the more sensitive the skin. Like DLreno, I leave the lower neck for last. I press my non-razor hand flat on my upper chest and pull down slightly, then tilt my head back just a bit to get the area taught. (as taught as it can get at my age...) I shave the area with something of a chevron pattern. First a short NW to SE stroke, then a SW to NE stroke over roughly the same area. I start below the right ear and work to the left, move slowly, and I'm mindful of the pressure. Because the majority of my hair in this area grows from right to left, these strokes are a combination of WTG/XTG. I avoid going directly ATG in this area. Let us know how it's going!
Castor oil should be available at the drugstore. Grapeseed oil might be available at the supermarket, as it can also be used for cooking.
I got my oils front the supermarket and the natural food store. And then some kitchen stores have them. Also I got some real nice pre-shave oil from crabtree and evelyn if you have one of those near by. I heard a few people talk about using the shave oil at walmart as their pre-shave oil. The one at walmart is supposed to take the place of cream but people are just using it with their cream. I'm not sure what's in it. Hope that helps you some.
My PSO is 1/3 Castor oil, 2/3 sunflower oil. Sometimes less is more. Less exfoliation prior to shaving to avoid aggravating the skin, less hot water (warm is enough for me), fewer prep product which might all contain different ingredients and you're only reacting to one of them. All I do is warm shower + homemade PSO, then face lather. If you ever still have irritation issues, try searching Cold Water Shaving. It works like you read about! Cheers!
I've looked around here. Olive and Castor oils are pretty easy to come by. Glycerin which seems to be a nice add from the wiki is a bit more difficult - can't really source it locally. The other oils also are challenging - there's a natural foods store that might have it - otherwise it's "To the Interwebs!"
Change "most" to "one". Found one of two bottles in existence locally - tried 5 different drug stores. Coincidently they were also the only place that had a single puck of VDH and a single VDH kit and store brand DE blades. 'Twas a RiteAid (formerly a Thriftys). So with some kitchen chemistry, I've made a small vile of 60/40 EVOO/Glycerin with a sprig of rosemary for aromatics. Now we'll see what tomorrow's experience will bring.
