Electric v Blade for sensitive skin While on HRT

[LizK]

I am about to hit 5 months on HRT and what I have noticed is that my beard while certainly not heavy is very tough. The dark stuff is all but gone leaving this tough sparse grey hair.

I have always traditionally blade shaved but have noticed over the last few weeks that I have been slicing my face up very easily. In places I would not normally be cut...skin softening is my guess Which is fabulous but not so good for shaving. I am having this removed by electrolysis steadily so it won't be there forever. I have noticed an increase in razor bumps etc recently so again maybe the sensitive skin thing.

My understanding is that switching to a good quality electric razor(I have one) will improve things for my skin and it may even get a chance to heal.

What is your experience of this?

Liz

[Anne Blake]

Hello Liz,

I can really relate to what you are saying. And it hurts! I am going in for another full clearing session next Monday, should have the whole process completed in another six or so sessions. Until then I still need to shave. My solution is to use two different electric razors. The first is a Norelco rotary that gets rid of the coarse stuff but does not get the total job done. I follow that up with a cheap Remington foil type battery powered travel razor. My wife got it for me years ago and I am about to duct tape it back together. And it gets the job done so that just a little foundation base covers me for hours. Plus it is a lot easier on my face than a blade. I really hope that it lives long enough to finish the beard removal.

Anne

[LizK]

Hello Liz,

I can really relate to what you are saying. And it hurts! I am going in for another full clearing session next Monday, should have the whole process completed in another six or so sessions. Until then I still need to shave. My solution is to use two different electric razors. The first is a Norelco rotary that gets rid of the coarse stuff but does not get the total job done. I follow that up with a cheap Remington foil type battery powered travel razor. My wife got it for me years ago and I am about to duct tape it back together. And it gets the job done so that just a little foundation base covers me for hours. Plus it is a lot easier on my face than a blade. I really hope that it lives long enough to finish the beard removal.

Anne

This is completely new territory for me and I am currently waiting on my electrologist to get over her temporary illness. I don't have heaps of the coarse stuff but enough that by day two I can really feel it and I have to get rid of it. I know an electric is not as effective as a blade but then I don't have a full beard to contend with either...maybe that will be a fair enough trade off. I am really going to be pushing things along with this electrologist until we get to a point that one session will be one full clearance. We are still a good few sessions away from that. I will try and get an estimate but from what I have had done I might be a 1/3 the way there to a full clearance per session. The hair is just not tightly packed  together.

I have a good quality electric wet and dry shaver so I am going to give this a try and see if I can't lose the bumps, lumps scratches and cuts by cutting out the hard wet shave and replacing it with an electric one with plenty of Bio Oil. I am in a better place than I was and am able to deal with some things better than I was and one of those things is shaving in a mirror. I can do that now and don't become overwhelmed each time...some days though...OMG...we all know what those days are like.

Good Luck and I hope your magical shaver hangs in there

Liz

[Vervain]

I have really tough hair, and I personally found an electric razor did not do the job. It's possible since I bought cheaper (under $50) models that I didn't get something good enough, but I didn't want to make a big investment and have it not work, based on experience with the lower priced models.

However, I will recommend the Schick Quattro blade razor, because it has cross wires on the blades that make it a lot more difficult to nick the skin. Considering I used to rip myself to shreds with other razors (which is when I tried electric), this has been a godssend. It also slices through the tough hair like nothing. So, it might be worth giving a try before making a much larger investment in a higher-end electric.

[Mia]

I used a rotary blade Norelco for maintenance during bad days, for quick knock down in the mornings and also to take care of forearm hairs after a lot of waxing and hrt reduced growth there. As far as my favorite razor, though, I bought a traditional single blade safety razor and a box of 100 good blades. I used a boar bristle brush and good soap with glycerin, then made sure I changed blades as soon as I felt a bit of drag when I shaved. That kept me pretty shadow free.