A number of times now I've seen members here and on other forums (SharpSpine, you come to mind, for instance) mention having a combination of pretty thick whiskers, but sensitive skin. I always nodded my head at the thick whiskers part, as I do think I have pretty coarse dark, Northern European barbs, but I hadn't considered whether my skin would be "sensitive."
Now I'm wondering if this "yet sensitive" idea would partly explain why I have more trouble with certain razors (the Mongoose, my brief stint with an ATT H2) and run into weepers (and sometimes irritation) rather easily, unless I'm nice and careful. Now, I realize anyone can get weepers or irritation with poor technique, but I do think I've developed pretty good technique in my 15-or-so months of traditional shaving.
I also notice it's not uncommon for me to get minor, slightly pink raised bumps on my face. Not pimples, nothing so prominent, but almost like minor irritation around a hair follicle, perhaps? Is this also a sign of sensitive skin?
The reason I'm wondering about this is that the recognition of my coarse whiskers helped me discover the benefits of especially sharp blades that are especially rigid. That's explained why SE razors and certain DEs like the Wolfman or the ATT slant have worked well for me. But now I'm wondering, if I do have this "sensitive" skin (more prone to injury from a razor, if that's a fair way to describe it?), maybe I shouldn't worry about mastering these more-aggressive razors that others seem to get on well with, and realize that mild-yet-effective designs like the OneBlade, Wolfman, and possibly Feather AS-D2 are just the sort of razors for me.
In fact, I'm thinking of trying an experiment of sticking with the OneBlade, which is very kind to my skin, for at least 14 days exclusively, just to see if it changes my skin (no small bumps, etc.). Could be I've gotten used to small injury as a "new normal."
Thoughts from others on all this?
Now I'm wondering if this "yet sensitive" idea would partly explain why I have more trouble with certain razors (the Mongoose, my brief stint with an ATT H2) and run into weepers (and sometimes irritation) rather easily, unless I'm nice and careful. Now, I realize anyone can get weepers or irritation with poor technique, but I do think I've developed pretty good technique in my 15-or-so months of traditional shaving.
I also notice it's not uncommon for me to get minor, slightly pink raised bumps on my face. Not pimples, nothing so prominent, but almost like minor irritation around a hair follicle, perhaps? Is this also a sign of sensitive skin?
The reason I'm wondering about this is that the recognition of my coarse whiskers helped me discover the benefits of especially sharp blades that are especially rigid. That's explained why SE razors and certain DEs like the Wolfman or the ATT slant have worked well for me. But now I'm wondering, if I do have this "sensitive" skin (more prone to injury from a razor, if that's a fair way to describe it?), maybe I shouldn't worry about mastering these more-aggressive razors that others seem to get on well with, and realize that mild-yet-effective designs like the OneBlade, Wolfman, and possibly Feather AS-D2 are just the sort of razors for me.
In fact, I'm thinking of trying an experiment of sticking with the OneBlade, which is very kind to my skin, for at least 14 days exclusively, just to see if it changes my skin (no small bumps, etc.). Could be I've gotten used to small injury as a "new normal."
Thoughts from others on all this?
David : DE shaving since Nov 2014. Nowadays giving in to the single-edge siren call.