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Shaving legs, how to avoid itchiness

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Old 03-23-24, 07:46 AM
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MTBingNinja
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Shaving legs, how to avoid itchiness

Anyone else partake? Started shaving my legs about eight months ago, about once per week. Full body grooming for that matter. I get itchy really bad usually only on my legs, especially in the middle of the night. Started to shave more frequent, every other day to three days but still get itchy. Try to moisterize after but no big difference. Any secrets?
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Old 03-23-24, 08:03 AM
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Head shaver only. I do well by rubbing in hemp oil or coconut oil an half hour before the shave. And shave with the same as the lubricant/shave cream.

...you can also use an aloe based shave cream, or a slick hair conditioner. These will moisturize at the same time. Jojoba oil is also good as it is near to what our own sebum is in structure.
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Old 03-23-24, 08:08 AM
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I would suspect the soap that you are using to bathe or for the laundry.
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Old 03-23-24, 08:15 AM
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Shaving doesn't cause itchiness. If it did you'd be itching everywhere, all the time. and everyone everywhere would who shaves at all in the entire world would also itch.
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Old 03-23-24, 08:36 AM
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Is this about shaving your legs to be faster? OMG
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Old 03-23-24, 08:41 AM
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Coulb an allergy. Try Gold Bond Powder. It may help.
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Old 03-23-24, 08:58 AM
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Try your favorite skin/hand cream or whatever is the favorite skin cream of your significant other.

Stubble might catch on any clothing you wear and might wobble around funny to irritate the hair follicles. If that's the case, eventually it'll go away.
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Old 03-23-24, 09:10 AM
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.
...maybe this would work better as a topic in FOO? As an alternate suggestion, someone (not me) could go join all the leg shaving threads in Road into one giant superthread, like the one for helmets in A+S. Future historians will be thankful for the resource.
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Old 03-23-24, 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by RH Clark
Is this about shaving your legs to be faster? OMG
There are other reasons for shaving.
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Old 03-23-24, 11:19 AM
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Originally Posted by MTBingNinja
Anyone else partake? Started shaving my legs about eight months ago, about once per week. Full body grooming for that matter. I get itchy really bad usually only on my legs, especially in the middle of the night. Started to shave more frequent, every other day to three days but still get itchy. Try to moisterize after but no big difference. Any secrets?
Try some witch hazel after shaving, and before going to bed.
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Old 03-23-24, 12:08 PM
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Originally Posted by RH Clark
Is this about shaving your legs to be faster? OMG
Why does it matter to you what he chooses to do? Please explain how his actions impact you.

Ever heard the phrase, “Live and let live”?
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Old 03-23-24, 01:11 PM
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In many (most?) cases, itchiness is caused by the hair's curliness. If the o.p. has wavy or curly hair there is a good chance that there will always be itchiness after shaving unless done every day. Either don't shave at all or shave often enough that the hair ends do not curl over and prick the skin surface. Emollients won't help. They may make things worse because they tenderize and sensitize the skin. FWIW.
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Old 03-23-24, 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by rsbob
Why does it matter to you what he chooses to do? Please explain how his actions impact you.

Ever heard the phrase, “Live and let live”?
I just think it's funny. I don't care if ya'll shave each other.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:05 PM
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Back in the day when I shaved my gams, it was a constant battle with ingrown hairs, cuts, irritation and the wonderful feeling when you have stubble and cross your legs. Instead, I started using hair clippers and cut the hair pretty short, but not to the point of stubble and life was good again.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:11 PM
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Originally Posted by RH Clark
I just think it's funny. I don't care if ya'll shave each other.
Who said anything about shaving others? Perhaps you unwittingly gave us a glimpse into your subconscious? NTTAWWT.

And what do you find funny?

Last edited by indyfabz; 03-23-24 at 06:17 PM.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:19 PM
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Originally Posted by streetsurfer
Head shaver only. I do well by rubbing in hemp oil or coconut oil an half hour before the shave. And shave with the same as the lubricant/shave cream.

...you can also use an aloe based shave cream, or a slick hair conditioner. These will moisturize at the same time. Jojoba oil is also good as it is near to what our own sebum is in structure.
ok you had me at head shaver……. I’ve simply been a Barbasol guy, but tell me what the hemp/coconut oil does? And secondly am I to gather you still uses a shaving cream after the oil soaks in?

for probably 10 years I just used soap of any kind instead of shaving cream, but I do feel the cream has a slight advantage.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:25 PM
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I grew to be 66 years old, and there is hardly any left to shave.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:30 PM
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Also, I’m thinking it’s not the shaving that’s causing the itching​​​​​, it’s when it grows back, while I’ve never shaved my legs, I can attest this does happen to me on other areas, which aren’t my head. lol and my wife complained about a similar situation in particular regions years ago.

I think I stated that as tastefully as I could.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Bogey Speedwell;[url=tel:23193238
23193238]ok you had me at head shaver……. I’ve simply been a Barbasol guy, but tell me what the hemp/coconut oil does? And secondly am I to gather you still uses a shaving cream after the oil soaks in?

for probably 10 years I just used soap of any kind instead of shaving cream, but I do feel the cream has a slight advantage.
Most soaps have fragrance, which I can't tolerate. I get instant migraines from the solvents in fragrance. Then it also dries my skin to shave with soaps.
no shaving creme. sometimes a hair conditioner. I apply the oil with wet
hands and splash water on as needed to spread it well.
These or other oils work as an occlusive to protect the skin, and it provides good glide so not much pressure is required on the straight razor, or the razor of your choice.

It also soothes and conditions the skin.
Getting a clean shave requires the hair to be wetted/soaked for about two to three minutes for attaining it's softest state, making hair cutting easier. Proctor and Gamble has a study on that. After the two or three minutes of hydration it won't get any softer. Well hydrated hair is more easily cut. A scything motion cuts hair more easily as well. A variation on that (scything)is I think, called the Gillette slide. Shaving before good hair hydration may be part and partial to the later itching and possible razor burn by needing to apply excess pressure. Increased glide can lower the pressure required.

Last edited by streetsurfer; 03-23-24 at 06:54 PM.
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Old 03-23-24, 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by rsbob
Why does it matter to you what he chooses to do? Please explain how his actions impact you.

Ever heard the phrase, “Live and let live”?
Live and let live is fine, but take it to another thread! Isn't there a Health and Nutrition thread or even Foo? Maybe the mods can start a new thread titled Personal Hygiene?
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Old 03-23-24, 09:04 PM
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Gold Bond lotion...the stuff is awesome
Itchy skin could be from the soap you are using. It may be causing dry skin resulting in the itch. I get it every now and then and applying Gold Bond takes care of it.
I only have to shave my legs every two or three weeks. I've done it for so many decades I feel weird if I don't.
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Old 03-23-24, 11:25 PM
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I use the same shave soap (and everything else on my legs) as I use on my face only totally separate kits. My face doesn't like scented soaps so I buy ClassicShaving.com's unscented soap and apply it with a brush. Nice shave, no issues at all and at $5 every 14 months (for my face), doesn't break the bank. Gillette Track II razor and blades.

For my sensitive skin, using an aerosol can for my shave cream is a step down. Yes, I am sure there is a shave cream out there that would work, but unscented quality shave soap is so easy that why go on that expensive search and have to put up with expensive mistakes I'll have to toss nearly full or suffer through. Sadly, going to stores to buy shave soap is totally hit and miss. Many don't even carry it and few have more than one brand. If you find one you like, come back and buy them out. I rarely see that brand again a year later. By contrast, ClassicShave seems to be rock solid.

Edit: Why do I shave? Really simple. I started shaving beginning my second year of racing, First week did a minor crash. (Cleats, toestraps puled tight = slide and road rash. Tumbling doesn't happen.) That crash was almost identical to a crash I did earlier. So I got to see the same crash with and without shaving. Sold! I lost less skin, it cleaned up far more pleasantly, bandaged better and healed faster. And every time I pulled the bandage off to wash and change, another win! For me, it's like seatbelts. Would I rather be post crash shaved or unshaved? (And shaved, you just might get to hear the sweet words "thank you for shaving so I don't have to" from the ER nurse. Trust me, that shave with the road dirt and sand under your skin isn't fun. Her efforts to retrieve those hairs in your wound aren't much fun either.)

Last edited by 79pmooney; 03-23-24 at 11:39 PM.
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Old 03-24-24, 01:15 PM
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I shave because I hate the hairs getting tangled up in and poking through the Lycra/tights/etc. I use non-scented, sensitive skin liquid soap, the same as i use for everything else.

Got some road rash a few weeks ago, and it was nice to not have to deal with the hair in the wounds, as stated above.
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Old 03-24-24, 01:55 PM
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Originally Posted by rsbob
Instead, I started using hair clippers and cut the hair pretty short, but not to the point of stubble and life was good again.
How many watts were saved and how many did you leave on the legs by not chopping it all off?
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Old 03-24-24, 03:17 PM
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Some wax their chains, why not their legs? Probably different waxes.
Laser follicle ablation?
EpiLady, I'm informed that, with repeated use, the hair disappears.
Laundry soap trace is a common culprit, I believe.
Let us know how it works out, with pictures.
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