I've done laser for over a year now so am basically hair free, but like the rest of you have struggled beard growth previously so I suppose I'll share how I do it. Has worked very well for me and my skin has always looked very nice and felt very smooth doing it like this!
Always warm up my face with hot water before shaving, most easily by shaving just after getting out of the shower in the morning. I apply a decent amount of shaving foam or gel; more recently I started prefering the gel, seemed to make the shaving process less painful for my skin, and shave agains the grain (so starting down low and moving up) for the closest possible shave using the Gilette Fusion razor.. Have tried a bunch of razors, and I find this is the easiest one to get good results with for me. It's also amazing for body hair, so after the blades go too dull to use on my face I'll do my arms and legs with them and they work wonders! Have several female friends that switched to the Fushion razors to use on legs and such because they like them so much better than the lady specific ones we get around here.
I also have a skin care routine that I do every morning and every night, which I consider very important to maintain my skin.. Do this after shaving tho
. I rub my face with a mild cleansing lotion/milk and rinse in lukewarm water, then put some toner on a cotton pad and swipe that all over my face.. wait for a minute or two, then apply a good moisturizer. I do this every single morning and evening, and it has done wonders for me even long before starting HRT!
Final thing is exfoliating! Removing all the dead skin that builds up on your face very helpful in getting a nice and smooth look with makeup, avoiding clogged pores and just making your face smoother and nicer looking. Exfoliate 1 or 2 timers a week with an exfoliating cream specifically intended for use on the face, and remember to read the instrucitons on the packing
.
I'm sure others have provided far better advice than mine, but this has worked very well for me for several years. Hope you get it sorted out!
