Yes even the brush. Also, you could use luke warm or tepid water. The idea is to stay away from HOT water. Hot water brings blood to the surface of the skin causing irritation. Cold water causes blood to retract away from the skin, reducing the chances of irritation.
Thanks for all the replies so far, has all been really helpful. Had a cold water shave this morning and it actually felt really good, very little irritation if any. Still some redness on my neck but that's just from my last shave. Got a little too confident on the chin and went a bit aggressive so a few cuts around but all in all a really good shave. Purchased a 70 piece sampler on eBay so awaiting that now and will probably invest on in a preserve, probably proraso considering I've got the soap and aftershave and they seem to work well so may as well continue with products I know work with my skin. When I was studying my neck before the shave I noticed that in the spot that I get the most irritation the hair goes all over the place but most goes in an upward direction which is different to the rest of the neck so I shaved that particular part different to the rest and it feels really good for the moment, thanks for all the help guys. All suggestions are welcome
I did wonder if it it might be a neck problem. Try seeing which way the hair grows in that area, it might grow sideways instead of stright down. My advice wold be just shave gently in that direction for a while. Going With the grain on your neck could mean going in a completly different direction than going with the grain on your face. Pne other thing. Wash and lather your neck just as much as you would your face, and remeber to wash all the soap off your neck after your shave. I had the same problem when i started so hopefully this should help you too.
