I visited these boards back in November when I was weighing the option of getting an inhome electrolysis device and you ladies talked me out of it. I'm grateful, because in retrospect I really dont think I have a steady enough hand to do my own electrolysis, even if the at home kits are up to snuff.
But until I can afford laser or electro, that leaves me living daily with shaving.
Here's the problem.
When I first came out and went full time a few years ago my hair growth was extremely light for a mid-twenties male. I could go a day, two, or three before I really 'needed' to shave anything on my face and not look unkempt. When I went full time, I just started shaving daily, and I have to admit that I didnt have a lot of practice at first and some of the results I used to achieve a smooth face involved a LOT of blood those first year or so.
Flash forward a couple years. I've become something of a hermit because of my face. Although I look pretty and passable and have grown out my own hair down to below my shoulder blades and blah blah ... my face gives me away whenver I go out because I have razor bumps.
A typical shaving day starts like this. At the start of a week. I exfoliate first, I press a hot wet towel to my face for 5 minutes, I use a theraputic shave gel and spend a few minute massaging it into my skin. I use a Venus Embrace razor cartridge (best no-irritation blade I can find on the market) NEW every day (yes, really) and carefully shave my face against the grain of my hairgrowth. Only once is usually needed for my cheeks, neck, and jaw, but a single pass over my chin leaves a lot of short stubble that i can feel if I run the pad of my fingertip along the chin against the direction of hair growth (as if I was shaving again). I feel smooth (mostly) if I run my finger down my chin in the direction of hair growth, but not if I run it the other way. I feel bristly and stubbly. So I do another pass (or two) until the hair is gone. I rinse my face, apply a moisturizing skin creme (with cocoa butter, aloe, or even Hydrocortisone Anti-Itch Creme) and then a razor bump fighting solution like the ones provided by Bikini Zone, Bump Stopper, and currently Nuetrogena (for Men
).
I let that soak into my face for 20-50 minutes before I apply liquid foundation and powder (mineral).
When I get home after a while of relaxing I use the same exfoliating scrub and remove all the makeup from my face, then apply a moisturizing creme and an anti-razor bump solution and go to bed.
Results:
If this is the first day of the working week and I have had a couple days off (and not shaved at all on those days) I usually get through the day (10ish hours at work, an hour or two at home before I strip my face off) without any terribly visible bumps on my face. My makeup looks okay, but there is a shadow under my face that wont go away.
The second day in a row of a work week the perfectly feminine face facade begins to crack. By mid-day, within a couple hours, I have some razor bumps on my face, unde rthe makeup, and the shadow is more pronounced. Redness and irritation show up sometimes through the makeup. If you look at me, you might or might not see that I have razor bumps on my face, but you'll definately see a masculine-pattern line of irritated skin under the makeup around the lips and chin.
By the third day it's all on display. I still wear my makeup and try to feel good about how I look from the nose up, my eyes and eyebrows, but there's definately razor bumps within a couple hours or shaving going on, and visible redness and skin irritation around my cheeks. Sometimes I get small pimple like growths where hair is ingrown that will eventually be somewhat pussy and gross.
If I have to go through a fourth day of work in a row, well, you can imagine it getting worse, I dont feel like spelling it out.
4 is pretty much the maximum. On day four (if not on day three) there's a lot of blood, unsightly scabbing and the skin under the makeup is red RAW, painful all day long. If I try to go any more than four days it just gets worse, to the point where I have patchy flakey skin that will take a week or so to shed.
I've had to cut my job back from a 5 day schedule to a 4 day. I make them avoid scheduling me more than 4,5 days at a time. On my days off, I can't GO Anywhere because I need to wait one, two, three, or even four days if I can get away with it so that my face will heal so that I can be passably smooth for one or two days again.)
What am I doing wrong? I didnt have all this trouble when I first came out -- I used to be able go out dancing every other night, see a movie whenever I wanted, go shopping... now I feel like I have to hide in my home because if anyone sees me my face will give me away just because of the razor bumps.
Any help, please.
