I have moved to wet shaving with a DE blade but I have some suggestions that I found helpful before when I was still cartridge shaving. Exfoliate your face before shaving. I know it took me awhile to do it but it will definitely help with irritation. It really made a difference for me.
That would be a bad idea. Dont exfoliate before you shave, because it will remove skin and cause irritation.
......................................um. Since I started using a scrub in the shower before my shave, the ingrowns have been non-existant. I believe this is a very important step in MY pre-shave routine. As with most of this stuff, I say give it a try.....if it works for YOU, great. If not, ditch it.
That was my big problem, the ingrowns. Also, removing dead skin cells should not cause more irritation and is very healthy for your skin.
Generally, I've always found that using a scrub prior to shaving was a little overkill. Dermotologists only recommend using a scrub 1-2 times per week. Shaving is an exfoliator as well. With everything, YMMV.
Who is saying to exfoliate the sikin? Proctor and Gamble? If its P&G thats enough for me to avoid the process like the plague.
This is definitely YMMV. My skin is too sensitive to exfoliate (scrub) just before shaving. Depending on the shave, I might not be able to exfoliate after shaving without causing excessive irritation. I normally shower and shave in the morning. I recently started showering and shaving at bedtime on Sunday nights to speed things up on Monday. I take advantage of skipping the shave and use a scrub.
Yes I guess like most things to each there own...i guess the thing i would say is if you are having issues with ingrowns, give the exfoliate a try.....
Definitely, to each his own. However, aren't you already exfoliating when you shave? Nothing like a very sharp piece of metal dragged across your face to remove some skin cells. I avoid washing my face (the parts I am going to shave) when I shower before a shave. I put soap and exfoliate those places 3-4 times during the shave.
Isn't that a little counter intuitive? CW would say a shower is the best place to wash your face before a shave to maximize hydrating your beard.
Don't allow us inmates at the funny farm to exfoliate much. I guess that the keepers are afraid that we will exfoliate more than just a layer of skin.
Maybe he means he doesn't use soap. I lather up with a little shave cream on my face when I shampoo and condition my hair to displace any hair product that might get on my face. I generally don't use soap on my face. If I do, it's always after the shave. The warm water and steam of the shower is also good for moisturizing the beard before shaving.
Why would you use soap and wash your face after a shave? I feel like after a shave is the cleanest your face is all day with all that shave cream scrubbing and all. I use face wash in the shower prior to shaving. Once a week or so on a non shaving day ill exfoliate. Does wonders in the winter to help fight off dry skin.
Going to have to type fast we inmates are taking over the funny farm again. Some people around here argue that you don't put soap on your face when you shower so using soap on your face is not a contradiction and further cleans the face off of oils making for a great shave. One of us in my cell block uses creams rather than soaps becuase soaps have a tendency to dry out his face too much. So creams are better for dry faces like his.
I agree completely and the was the jest of what I was TRYING to say! When I soap, its with a facial scrub and on non-shave days, like you, about once a week (if that). Every once and a while, when I have a rough shave, I'll wash with my wife's Cetaphyl cleanser. I don't know if it is, in fact , a soap. Its supposed to be good at reducing redness. It seems to help, but I can't claim any hard evidence of that. Its just my impression. A "rough" shave doesn't alway leave the same amount of redness so it's hard to know for sure that the Cetaphyl is what's making the difference. Cheers!
Interesting. Never thought of that. Ever try a good ASB after a rough shave? usually that should take care of most stuff. Theres a green tea blemish stick from the body shop that works and/or you could try some aloe.
