WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social.
Community Rules
Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
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Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
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Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
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Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
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Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
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Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
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Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
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Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
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Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
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Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Rule 4 - Advertising
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Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
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Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
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Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
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All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
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Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion
- The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.
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Sure. What perks do you get from your Alum use?
EDIT - link to post downstream with links and such
Alum does a thing called Vasoconstriction (google or ask your doctor what it is) that a splash or balm doesn't. It repairs/closes the small cuts (even invisible ones) we get from shaving. Alcohol or which hazel aren't as good a vasoconstrictor as alum is.
Do you need it? Depends. It is all about how much you want to treat your face - even aftershave isn't mandatory. You can skip the tylenol if you have a little fever - does it mean tylenol doesn't do anything? No.
But you guys really should look up this a bit before saying alum doesn't do anything, we are at the point of spreading misinformation here.
I'd be interested in seeing some kind of scientific paper on this. Do you have a link?
the links I can give you are the ones can be found on google (alum + vasoconstriction). Better to talk to some folks on the sub like u/rdthedo and such who are actual doctors, and my original source.
I googled and I couldn't find anything that relevant. I just don't think it's fair to say people are spreading misinformation when what you said isn't backed by scientific data either. It's not good enough for me to hear, "Oh, a doctor told me this so it must be true". I've never heard of alum blocks being used in a medical setting and Google isn't turning up any results either. To me this is the same as the videos going around at the beginning of COVID where a doctor put out YouTube videos telling people how to disinfect all their groceries and he was called out by a actual food microbiologist for spreading misinformation.
I'm in the camp of alum doesn't do much for me (and yes, I have Osma), but I'm happy to be proven otherwise. So far everything I've seen has been anecdotal. It might have some effect at stopping minor bleeding, but in my experience it doesn't work as well as styptic. To me, alum is just one of those things that you try and you use if you like the way it feels, don't use it if you don't like it or if it irritates your skin. Definitely don't use it just because someone tells you it's great.
The reason I didn't give you the links is because I don't want to be your first hand source of medical information. I can't answer your follow up questions, I can't clarify your confusions with the level of confidence I would like to, because I am not a doctor, not someone educated (beyond google) in topics involved here.
But my source of 'alum preference' is far from 'a doctor told me so'. More like a doctor explained my experience - why after a shave (and aftershave) if I go out, for a brisk walk, or run, or hike - the sweat affects me differently based on my alum usage or lack of. If I don't use alum, the sweat stings. Why alcohol doesn't have similar effect. what is alum doing here, that alcohol isn't doing. That question was answered by a doctor who happens to be a wetshaver himself. But he pointed me to enough documents that convinced the software/electrical engineer in me enough. But I still don't want to be someone else's first source of medical use of alum. That being said, here are some sources that mention the efficacy of alum as a vasoconstrictor or hemostatic agents.
https://www.scielo.br/j/ibju/a/33TK8r9RwFJLNv5GKpBGfHD/?lang=en
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4163818/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265692280_A_review_on_common_chemical_hemostatic_agents_in_restorative_dentistry
https://magazine.zhermack.com/en/studio-en/astringent-haemostatic-vasoconstrictor-agents-impression-taking/
Cool. The part about sweat stinging is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.