Weird One. Stopped Smoking - Awful Shaves.

YorkNeil

YorkNeil

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I stopped smoking around 4 weeks ago. Amongst all the benefits is this weird non-benefit of awful shaves. Nothing has changed in my pre, mid or post shave. The first place I looked is at my own technique and nothing appears unusual or different. My face is sensitive during the shave and sore after - it feels as if I am shaving with a blunt blade. I've tried changing the blade daily instead of every 3rd shave, tried blades from different boxes but with no change. It's almost as if the hairs have become coarser.

Here's the setup:

Pre - Bath/Shower, GFT Skin Food, Hot Flannel

Shave - Merkur Slant, Perma-Sharp, Proraso Sensitive Soap

Post - Cold Rinse, Nivea ASB

Any advice or insight appreciated.
 
Greetings

It could be you are suffering from withdrawal tremors, this would indicate to me that now would be a bad time to purchase a Feather Artists Club to see if that would improve your shaves; might I suggest it would not!

The only sensible advice I can give you is not to start smoking again, this way if the shaving does not get any better at least you will live long enough to grow a decent beard!

I stopped smoking in 1995 when I had a heart attack, the wiser man stops before he has one, that straight away puts you a rung up the ladder from me, congratulations!

Good luck with the shaving.

Regards
Dick
 
Smoking also affects your skin. So it could be that the changes it's going through are making it more sensitive. Perhaps reduce shave frequency or just shave with the grain only.

I'm just guessing though.

And congrats on the quitting!
 
Well done on stopping the smoking! I stopped 2 and a half years ago.

Smoking constricts blood vessels, I wonder if it constricts anything else as well and now that you have stopped the constriction has gone and as a result you are getting bad shaves?

Hopefully it will go away with time.
 
I went through hell when I stopped, maybe 12years ago. Depression, panic attacks, loss of confidence, all kinds of stuff. It can have a huge effect on your body.

It might be best to go back to basics and see what works for you know. Gentle, short strokes with the grain to start. I am sure it'll all come back together.

Well done BTW. And get ready for the mind games, when you are confident you have cracked it and your mind starts saying "you don't need to smoke now, so if you have one because you want to it's OK. You can control it" It really is a powerful habit that might keep trying to bite you longer than you expect.
 
Agreed, it has a huge affect on your body and is no easy thing to master. I can remember being at an AA meeting years ago when a chap got up to speak. He said that he'd been off the drink for 14 years but still had to watch his guard then he said that if anything, stopping smoking was even harder and although he'd been away from the fags for 5 years, just a tiny waft of fag smoke affected him. That really surprised me. Also, back then there was no ban on smoking inside public place so a large percentage including myself were actively puffing as he was speaking.

I stopped for 4 years then started again in the midst of an awful bout of depression. Huge congrats to you sir as I can honestly say I have a good idea of how hard it is to stop and stay stopped. As to your shaves well, all I can say is keep at it and maybe use it as an excuse for some Software Acquisition Disorder. You deserve to spend some of the extra money on yourself now that the really expensive habit has been kicked.

All the very best.
 
Well believe it or not.....
CosmeticsDesign reports that Italian researchers have discovered a sugar-peptide found in wild tobacco plants could have anti-aging properties for skin. This complex has antioxidant properties as well as the ability to promote collagen synthesis.
May be it was good for your face?
 
^^^ applied to the skin rather than combusted then?

For arguments sake lets say your skin has become more sensitive (improved blood flow?) and beard has become stronger in some way, as has been suggested I think you have to start over.

Just a hunch though, try using warm water rinse instead of cold, with skin being healthier and more elastic you might not need to force it.
 
Many thanks for all the replies and good wishes. Quitting is a real mindf*** as suggested.

Yep going to take the concensus here and go back to basics.
 
YorkNeil said:
Many thanks for all the replies and good wishes. Quitting is a real mindf*** as suggested.

Yep going to take the concensus here and go back to basics.
Click to expand...

Hi Neil ,
Just to say I have been there , I was a sixty (3 pack) a day man 14 years ago .
I stopped and to be honest i could not afford to smoke now , there are better thing's to spend your hard earned cash on .
One of the biggest incentive's I still have to this day is the smell on a smoker , when they pass by the smell is revolting and every time I felt a relapse coming on I would say to myself "to think I used to smell like that,disgusting".
And just to encourage myself I would splash myself in quality EDT.
Keep up the good work , it's not easy .
Derrick
 
The Geordie Shaver said:
YorkNeil said:
Many thanks for all the replies and good wishes. Quitting is a real mindf*** as suggested.

Yep going to take the concensus here and go back to basics.
Click to expand...

Hi Neil ,
Just to say I have been there , I was a sixty (3 pack) a day man 14 years ago .
I stopped and to be honest i could not afford to smoke now , there are better thing's to spend your hard earned cash on .
One of the biggest incentive's I still have to this day is the smell on a smoker , when they pass by the smell is revolting and every time I felt a relapse coming on I would say to myself "to think I used to smell like that,disgusting".
And just to encourage myself I would splash myself in quality EDT.
Keep up the good work , it's not easy .
Derrick
Click to expand...

Good to hear from you Derrick and thanks for the encouragement.
 
Now instead of smelling like an ashtray, you can smell like a tart's handbag! Only joking and a great point - spend the cash on quality shaving stuff and posh scents then say to yourself, "Loreal, because I'm worth it!". Stick in mate! :D
 
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