If you frequently cut yourself while shaving your face or scalp, there are a number of ways you can deal with it. Some guys just daub some shaving cream on it, let it clot or otherwise cover it up somehow to stop the bleeding.
But there’s another option to quickly deal with small cuts and nicks that are leaking blood.
A styptic pencil is rubbed on small cuts and nicks on your skin after shaving to quickly clot them. The ingredients in a styptic pencil often include aluminum sulfate which is a coagulant that helps to stop the blood flow rather than waiting for it to clot.
What is a styptic pencil?
A styptic pencil or styptic stick is a tool that shavers can use to quickly deal with small nicks and cuts. Using the product on affected areas helps to quickly seal the cut to stop bleeding and prevent bacteria from entering the skin.
If you’ve ever used an old school after shave product, you probably have a product with a high level of alcohol. When you splash the after shave on your skin, you tend to feel a stinging sensation for a few seconds. That’s the alcohol. It’s added to kill bacteria and keep cuts and nicks clean.
With a styptic pencil, the active ingredient helps to seal the cuts and nicks and thus prevent bacteria from entering the body. So while after shave is splashed entirely on the skin, a styptic pencil is more for spot use.
How is a styptic pencil used?
A styptic pencil like the Clubman Pinaud brand shown below is easy to use. Following shaving when you notice a cut or nick, you wet the tip of the pencil with water, gently daub it on the affected areas and then rinse and dry the pencil before storing it again.
The active ingredient in the styptic pencil is often aluminum sulfate and perhaps titanium dioxide as well for color. Aluminum sulfate is a salt and is commonly used as a coagulating agent which is why it’s a common ingredient in styptic pencils.
If you have no cuts or nicks after shaving, you might not need to use your styptic pencil on that day.
Styptic pencil vs shaving alum
While a styptic pencil is good for dealing with cuts and nicks, shaving alum is another popular shaving tool that can aid your skin. Alum is a natural astringent that can soothe the skin and may also help to clot and stop minor cuts and nicks from bleeding.
You’ll often read about shaving alum offering other benefits such as toning the skin, killing bacteria and reducing redness while also working as a styptic.
A styptic pencil is generally used as a spot tool just on the specific areas in question that are cut if any. But you rub the moistened shaving alum all over your freshly shaved skin to receive the benefits each and every time you shave regardless of whether you shave or not.
Summary
A styptic pencil is good for dealing with small cuts and nicks after shaving. Larger cuts may not respond well to a styptic pencil but can be helpful to clot cuts and help sterilize nicks so that bacteria doesn’t enter the skin.
If you are looking for an alternative to a styptic pencil that covers a wider area, consider an alum stick. Made from potassium alum, you wet it and then rub it all over the skin that you just shaved to help seal and freshen the skin post shaving. It does have some cut clotting abilities, too.
