Shaving your face

[mitchymo]

I don't believe in shaving there's a reason we have hair on parts of our body and if it was goood enough for Jesus then it's good enough for me.

What IS the reason?

 

[Onslow]

What IS the reason?

Facial hair and leg and arm and chest hair make men look sexy~~~~not that most men need help doing that.

 

[mitchymo]

Facial hair and leg and arm and chest hair make men look sexy~~~~not that most men need help doing that.

Hmmm, well being that i have a fair share of hair i shall concur!

 

[vince]

Has anyone been shaved with a straight razor by a barber? That's supposed to feel quite nice.

Yes it does. I go once a week to the barber down the street. It's so close and smooth and good for your skin. Also a nice social thing to do... Have a chat and a tea and tell some lies with the neighbors, catch up on the gossip...

But the scuffy look is good on me. So once a week is enough.

When I can't get to the barber and need to be shaved, I do it in the shower.

 

[D_Portelay Porquesword]

I started shaving earlier that most my age. I have to use shaving cream for sensitive skin, usually with lanolin in it, or I wind up with a face on fire.

Shaving in the shower is the best idea ever. I have done this for years.

Cheap razors tear my skin up! So I spend a little extra and get good ones.

I moisturize afterward. Always. I use Say Yes to Carrots body lotion and it works like a charm. No irritation what so ever.

 

[nudeyorker]

I've been shaving every day since I was 14. I have found as I have gotten older if I coat my face lightly with oil before I put the shaving cream on it helps get a closer shave without abrasions.
Active pHelityl Oil - Cleansers Erno Laszlo Official Online Store
In a pinch coconut oil works well too.

 

[shyguy1985]

I hate this task more than anything, ANYTHING!

To keep the clean shaven look I'd probably have to shave every couple of hours. Its grows stupidly quick.

Luckily the jobs I've been in havent been too fussed on facial hair - so I usually let it grown, use a bread trimmer and only have a wet shave if I need to look smart for something.

Or sometimes I just dont bother and let grow. Last year (reason behind it) I left it for about 4 months. I was Jesus.

 

[RalDudeHangin]

Same here . . . hate it. Light skin, dark whiskers make shaving sometimes twice a day necessary. Since college, I used an electric razor. Much easier on my skin than a blade but unless I use "pre-electric" lotion, my skin - neck in particular - would bleed lightly. I highly recommend the pre-electric lotions. I like Afta brand the best as it was a bit thicker, not greasy and seemed to work the best for me.

I have a job that's very casual now. About 2 months ago I decided to only shave once a week or so. It's been AWESOME! At first I continued to use the electric - use the trimmer to shorten the hairs and then shave. Without the pre-electric, it was rough. Washing the whiskers with shampoo helped a lot (would quickly do it daily in the shower when I washed my hair.)

I finally started using a razor for the first time in years. I found the Gillette double-blade "sensitive" 10 pack works the best. The higher $$ didn't make a difference. I get shaving cream/gel that says for sensitive skin and has aloe.

Everything has been peachy.

 

[B_starinvestor]

I recently started shaving my head. Now THAT is a pain in the ass, Flash. I dunno, wanted a change and my mom says i was born ass first, so my head is shaped good enough to pull it off.

But it is truly a major pain in the ass.

is there a bigger pain in the ass then this?

i swear, once i turned about 14-15 and began to need to shave, i cannot think of a bigger waste of ones time on earth/pain in the ass/total nuisance.

in late high school, i did not have to do so more than perhaps once-twice a week.

by college, it had to be twice a week definitely.
after college, every other day i could get away with.
now, i cannot even get away with 1.5 days, but my skin is so sensitive, that even with all the best skin care/shaving care products, i refuse to do it more than every other day...

what a fucking pain in the ass...it is so annoying...i hate beards and stuff like that so that is not an option.

i wish they could do laser hair removal on the face, or electrolysis, and even if they do, i would be wary of it...

but seriously, is there a bigger pain in the ass/waste of time in terms of personal grooming?

 

[vince]

I recently started shaving my head. Now THAT is a pain in the ass, Flash. I dunno, wanted a change and my mom says i was born ass first, so my head is shaped good enough to pull it off.

But it is truly a major pain in the ass.

Well if you are going to act like a prick, may as well look the part eh?



sorry.. could not resist

 

[B_starinvestor]

Well if you are going to act like a prick, may as well look the part eh?



sorry.. could not resist

yes; that went into the decision...:biggrin1:

 

[D_Tilly_De_Toilet]

I do it in the shower.

I like doing it in the shower too :tongue:

 

[Earthbound]

Facial shaving is quite tedious and unreasonably expensive for the supplies, even using a "simple" Atra Plus. I tried one of those 5-blade overkillers (free sample), no way those are worth the cost. I can never get a "baby's ass smooth" shave, can't go against the grain. The 2+ days unshaven/scruffy doesn't become me very well and I'd have to shave daily to avoid it, but I refuse to do that. I get by with every 3 days, or on occasion 4 days if I don't have a requirement to be 'presentable' for a public appearance. Mowing a well-overgrown lawn after waiting too long is also tedious.

 

[Mickactual]

I'm so glad this thread was started. I thought it was just me. I despise shaving (yet oddly, I shave both my face and head). I have pale skin, very dark & heavy beard, and super sensitive skin, which is a dreadful combination. I've whittled it down to about an hour's chore (both face & head). ...But the time wasted, the cost, the discomfort, the bleeding...UGH!!!
Even tho they tell You not to I always shave against the grain. I have to. If I shave with the grain, it looks like I haven't shaved at all. Same goes for an electric razor...looks no shave at all. Like the OP, if try to shave two days in a row, my face looks like a package of ground beef. The most my skin can take is every other day. Problem is that my beard is so heavy that I look like I have 5 o'clock shadow as soon as I'm rinsing off the shaving cream! It irks me to no end cos I never have a "clean" look. Like others who've posted here, I'm not a lover of beards, so that's not an option (besides, nothing says "lazy" to me like a full untrimmed beard on a guy). Stubble looks good on lighter haired and/or sparser bearded guys. I wish it looked good on me. It doesn't.
...And I started early. Most of my friends had yet to shave when we were graduating high school, but I was at before my 15th birthday. Lucky me...

 

[D_Jimmy Jammer]

Flashy, I think lasers do work these days. They've progressed a lot in even the last 10 years. Grey hair (usually, older guys) has been a problem as there's no or too little pigment to zap but I've read that 'melanin encapsulated liposomes' (Lipoxome) used six or so times a day for a couple of weeks, prior, seems to take care of this prob, at least in trials. I know it's expensive but if there's no other option than the dreaded 'face scrape', go see a good skin specialist in the field (not one of the many money-grabbing 'laser clinics') and check out the state of play. Yep, shaving, for quite a few of us, is the pits..especially the heavy-beard-sensitive-skin combo. Aargh.

 

[B_dxjnorto]

Good information Nyne, thanks. One of the reasons I began shaving every day is because my beard has started coming in grey. The hair on my head is still almost all brown, so I feel that showing stubble ages me. Would love to get it lasered and be done with it. I'm not a big fan of body hair, especially age related sprigs--although the right sort of treasure trail can be hot.

I use a Norelco. Doesn't chew my face up too much. I've heard that because shaving exfoliates, it may be good for skin tone. Donno. Probably varies individually. Skin can really vary from individual to individual. Goes without saying, but there I've said it.

 

[Meniscus]

When I used to meet people online, I'd ask a few "getting to know you" questions prior to meeting them in person. One of my questions was "What's one thing you have to do every day that you really hate doing?" The universal answer was "shaving."

Facial shaving is quite tedious and unreasonably expensive for the supplies, even using a "simple" Atra Plus. I tried one of those 5-blade overkillers (free sample), no way those are worth the cost...

Oh, you are absolutely right. Frankly, I'm pissed off at how expensive razors have become. Before they came out with 3-blade, 4-blade, and 5-blade razors, you could get a set of 5 replacement blades for about $6-$7 (less if on sale). At the time, I thought that price was a rip-off. (I'm guessing that the razor cartridges only cost a few cents each, at most.) Now it costs at least twice that for a 3-blade razor, and 3-4 times as much for a 5-blade razor. If you replace your blade every week (some people need to do it more often) that quickly adds up to a small fortune in razor blades.

I think we should have a massive, nationwide shaving "strike" for a day, or even a week, in protest of the cost of razors and other shaving supplies.

 

[prepstudinsc]

I have to shave every day--due in combination to a very heavy, coarse beard and the fact that having black hair makes stubble very noticeable. I use Aveda skin products and one of the very overpriced 5 blade Gillete Fusion razors. Gillette says that you should replace the blade every week, but I usually have to do it twice a week.

I have sensitive skin but have found the Aveda products to help in keeping things not too irritated. I used Kiehl's skin care products for a while, but ended up starting to break out, so I switched brands.

 

[TroMag]

Flashy, you've definitely struck a nerve. I *hate* shaving. While I have to shave daily for work, I avoid shaving on weekends to give my skin a chance to recover.

 

[AquaEyes11010]

My face had always been sensitive to shaving, until I came up with my current regimen. In the shower I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub (the one for blemishes with 2% salicylic acid and walnut shell powder) on my face and pay extra attention to scrubbing areas to be shaved. I make the funniest faces to keep my face and neck taut as I'm doing this. The scrubbing helps to free the base of the hair from the skin by exfoliation. I rinse with the hottest water I can stand on my face, and then immediately (still in the shower) apply Gillette Sensitive Skin Shave gel on my face, and shave with the grain using a Mach 3 razor, again making those silly faces to keep my skin taut. I use very little pressure with the blade.

If I need the "smooth" look to last longer, I will go a second time over my face, this time against the grain, again making those faces and again with very little pressure. I never go against the grain the first time. I learned from a documentary on shaving (yeah, for real) that the first swipe of a razor actually tears the hair at the opposite side, and going against the grain on the first round is more likely to result in ingrown hairs and/or irritation than doing it as the second round.

I rinse off with warm water in the shower, and splash cold water on my face when I get out. If I did the double-shave to stay smooth, I follow with a moisturizer. Lately, I've become a fan of "Every Man Jack" aftershave moisturizer. If I just do the once-over, I don't need the moisturizer unless it's really cold and dry out there. This has been what I've been doing for about fifteen years now (I'm 33). I almost never get the irritation, bumps, etc that I used to (only when I rush or skip the moisturizer after a smooth double-shave).

One time about two years ago I wanted to find out what the "barbershop shave" was like and skipped shaving for one day and went to my regular barber on the second day. I got the hot towel on the face, followed by the lathering with the badger-hair brush, and then the careful work of the straight razor. I don't know if it was the barber or me, but I've never felt so much scraping as that experience. He had to stop frequently because I bled so easily. Finally, when it was done, he said my face was too soft for the barber-shave, but he did the best he could.

When I felt my tingling irritated face, it wasn't nearly as close as I got it myself at home. I think using the face scrub and moisturizer for so long never allowed my face to "toughen up" enough to handle that. But I'll keep my baby face, thank you very much.