Takin' 'Er Easy...

You might have noticed, if you are very perceptive, that I haven't updated my "Daily Shave" for a couple of days. The reason is, this was a hard shave week for me. I didn't want to tell you , well, I didn't want anyone to worry. No, no, I'm ok, please, don't cry...It's just, well...I have some bad news.

Since I started shaving with a brush, soap and a DE razor, I have found that my skin is WAY more sensitive than I ever thought it was. I don't know if this is a thing that was always true and I was never in a position to notice it, or if it's caused by all the random things I've been doing to my face for the past couple of months, but there have been some...issues.

First, there were the infamous Japanese Shaving creams...Enough said.
Then, things went ok until I tried the Feather. Bad news, but not too bad.
Smooth sailing for a while, improving technique, getting better supplies, and then BANG! Institut Karite happened.

IK is billed as a soap for sensitive skin, gentle and loaded with moisturizing shea butter. When I read about this, I drooled..."MMMmmmmmm" I said, "Buuuu-tteeeeer..... SO I acquired some (4 pucks actually...) and tried it. It burned me. And when I sayburned, not like "Oh, my, that's slithly irritating..." but more like "Dear god, I can't touch my face for two days...".

And that, I think, is where it started. Because I couldn't let it rest. I had to keep scraping that sharpened steel across my face. In the process, I learned that C&E Sienna is also a No No (Dammit! I LOVE the scent!). And now, this last week, I think I did another bad thing.

This last week I tried a Gillette Super Platinum from India, in the black pack. It was sharp. And I just kept scraping. And my skin kept getting rawer. What's worse, I kept putting Musgo Real on it...Musgo real is another one of those products I was drooling after, an old fashioned European cream, loaded with lanolin and a lovely green scent (It is also a fantastic latherer, and gave a great shave...if you aren't sensitive to it, I highly recommend it). But it is also lightly mentholated, and at the end of my third pass it left my skin raw and painful. Not enough to make me give up right away, but eventually I realized there was no way I could continue using it. Just oo much irritation.

I used it for four shaves, with the Blackpack, and...well, let's just say that last Friday my face said "Stop it." I got 5 nicks and serious burn from my Swede, which hasn't happened to me for ages. So yesterday and today I did not shave. Even though I got some new Cella Crema from my mom for Christmas. Even though I have unopened soaps waiting for me. I gotta let it go. For now.

But I'll be back.