Skin dark from shaving?

[lostandconfused]

Ever since I started shaving, my upper lip has darkened... now it seems like I always have a mustache, no matter how close I shave (the actual skin is darker :/) It's been a couple of years now,  so no, makeup is out of the question. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Perhaps I need to go out and actually buy shaving cream? All I do is shave with a Gillette Mach3 with some soap.

[Nicky]

please don't shave with soap 
You will get a much better result with shaving foam, and your skin will not dry out like it does with soap.

As for the darkening it probably is not the skin but the density of the dark hair roots beneith the surface. Skin is slightly translucent so the darkness you are seeing is likely to be the hair below the surface. You just have more hair now than you did when you first started to need to shave so it has become more obvious. Unfortunately you can't do much about it except permanant hair removal or cover it with makeup (there is the option to buy a hair growth retarding cream but I think they are pricy). 

[lostandconfused]

Well, face cleansing soap. Also, I'm pretty sure it's not just the roots, I mean, I see no one else at school with the same thing. It's dark to the point it's looks almost like a bruise.

[V M]

I rarely ever shave anymore. I've been plucking most of my facial hair for the past few years and only shave about once a week or so. When I do shave, I use a foaming gel that contains a hair growth inhibitor. As a result the hair has become thinner. I also use a moisturizer with sun block 

[Janet_Girl]

Also try shaving with hair conditioner.  It softens the hair shafts for an easier shave.  I have shave since Moby Dick was a guppy and I can state that the darkening is not from shaving.  It comes from the hair shafts, yes.  But shaving does not cause a darkening of the skin.  Look deeper, it is from under the skin, most likely the hairs themselves.  You might just be in a growth cycle for some of those nasty little buggers.

Have you tried laser or electrolysis?  They kill the hair at the root.

Janet

[Cindy]

I did hear that covering dark skin areas with red lipstick before your foundation helps to hide it. I've never needed to try it but read it on a makeup site somewhere.

And Virginia, plucking! OW

Isn't there a rhyme about the pheasant plucker? I think I'll re-write it

LoL
Cindy James

[V M]

And Virginia, plucking! OW

LoL
Cindy James

Yeah, the plucking does hurt a bit. But it seems to help with my angst 

[placeholdername]

I started plucking a bit a couple days ago, but then I figured I might be trying to start laser soon so I only did a little bit on the sides.

[Chrissty]

I always thought the problem with shaving was two-fold when first starting...

....firstly, the razor cuts straight across the hair, so resulting in a dark flat tip at the surface of the skin, which is why many of us spend so much time with our special techiques of extra-close shaving to get the tip below the surface of the skin to make it easier to cover with make-up 

....secondly, I always thought cutting hair helped to strengthen growth, which in turn makes the cut hair look thicker and darker..

Chrissty

[placeholdername]

The second part is a myth -- but I definitely do struggle with the close shave.  Even when I shave as close as possible it's still super obvious, especially on the chin and under the nose.

[Ellieka]

I have discovered a product called Shave Secret. You can buy it Wal-Mart for about $3.00. I was skeptical at first but now I swear by it. Its an oil that you only need to apply once per shave and it gave me the closest shave I have ever had. I also use the Gillette Power Fusion 5 blade razor.

Here is a shot of my face more then 24 hours after shaving with no makeup.

And this one was taken after about 8 hours.