So what secrets do you have for a really close shave? Currently I use a gel, Mach III razor, and unscented after shave. I still end up with beard shadow right after shaving. Going to get some dermablend and undergo treatment for hair removal (haven't decided what method yet) but until then, how do you get a really close shave?
Hair conditioner! :)
Yes- conditioner. Also shave in each direction (you get a closer cut shaving against the grain of the hair growth but at the expense of a bit more skin irritation). The amount of pressure affects it some too - I haven't been able to get it right every time. Too little pressure you don't get a close cut - too much and I think the blades deform and you don't get close.
Good luck
Lori
So with the conditioner do you apply it before the shaving gel or instead of?
I can try to shave closer but I am concerned about irritation and redness and I try to shave in both directions but again, have trouble with irritation.
Jane
Shaving against the grain is the only way for me, but that results in blood, irritation, and razor burn. About the best I can do is shave normally with a razor and then use my electric shaver afterwards to get a bit closer. I still have a permanent 5 O'clock shadow no matter how close I get, hence my avatar.
I liked the mach3 razor when I used to shave. Definitely shaving both ways with and against the grain is the way to get a very close shave, but I always got a lot more irritation that way. I also found that the more sensitive shave creams helped.
I still have some stragglers left after electro, they grow pretty slowly these days, but are persistent.
I shave using a Gillette fusion razor and just water. no gel, cream or anything.
Tried the conditioner this morning and it really helped -- thanks!
As for the Mach III I'm a big fan. Got a free one in the mail years ago (maybe 10???) and I've been hooked ever since. What a marketing ploy that was!
Jane
I can't personally go against the grain either, it results in too much irritation. Once thing that does help for me if shaving a second time at a 90 degree angle to the grain (instead of 180 for 'against the grain'). It doesn't do much, but it gets rid of a bit of the shadow.
I'm also going to try conditioner now ^^
Quote from: Rainbow Brite on April 15, 2014, 04:29:54 AM
I shave using a Gillette fusion razor and just water. no gel, cream or anything.
I used to do that before I started moisturizing. Got a kit with facial cleanser, "beard lube" and moisturizer and started using it as per directions. The other day I noticed I had missed a spot and touched it up after I had washed the lube off. Big mistake. Felt like I was shredding my face. Moisturizing and exfoliating has my skin feeling just like my wife's and I'm not even on HRT!
OK, most of my face had not been shaved in over 40 years up to the last few weeks. So here I am in a new learning curve at age 60 (soon to add one more number). I am sort of still in beard withdrawal...
I have both the Mach III and the Fusion - and neither really get the face smooth. I have tried make up once and that was a rather strange trip. It would seem I need to find a way to get a closer shave.
The hair conditioner will get a try.
Is the electric shaver really a decent bet? My Dad had one of those in the nursing home, and I got to clean it out for him when I visitied. The stuff jamming the cutter heads was not little pieces of hair but rather lots of little flakes of dead skin. That sort of put me off, to be truthful.
So, I also am looking for good ideas.
Erin
Quote from: Dee Marshall on April 15, 2014, 07:58:03 AM
I used to do that before I started moisturizing. Got a kit with facial cleanser, "beard lube" and moisturizer and started using it as per directions. The other day I noticed I had missed a spot and touched it up after I had washed the lube off. Big mistake. Felt like I was shredding my face. Moisturizing and exfoliating has my skin feeling just like my wife's and I'm not even on HRT!
I know this is a bit presumptive, but can you offer the brand name for this kit?
Erin
Jane,
I have used the Mach III and the Fusion. I find I get a better shave with the Fusion. It seems to just get closer. Still have some trouble with the chin, but have started laser and it's definitely making a difference. Haven't tried conditioner on my face, usually use facial soap to get a lather, but have used it on my legs and it definitely works.
Quote from: ErinWDK on April 15, 2014, 08:02:47 AM
I know this is a bit presumptive, but can you offer the brand name for this kit?
Erin
Glad to. I was waiting for someone to ask before I shilled. The brand is "Jack Black" and they sell it at Sephora. I like the results, although I still get visible shadow even when my face is baby smooth. Right now I'm lulling my beard into a false sense of security, hee, hee! Letting it grow in enough to tear it out by the roots (wax it) on my throat. That area never seems to feel smooth no matter what I do. I would much prefer electrolysis, but I don't know when or if that's going to become practical. Question to the room. I know that waxing is supposed to be a no-no if you're ever going to do electrolysis. Is there a safe number of times you can do it? Is there a time period since you last waxed when electrolysis becomes safe again?
Feeling a lot of disphoria every time I look in the mirror right now, not to mention feeling old seeing all the grey in the beard.
Quote from: Rachmelia on April 15, 2014, 08:18:40 AM
Jane,
I have used the Mach III and the Fusion. I find I get a better shave with the Fusion. It seems to just get closer. Still have some trouble with the chin, but have started laser and it's definitely making a difference. Haven't tried conditioner on my face, usually use facial soap to get a lather, but have used it on my legs and it definitely works.
I've tried conditioner on my legs for shaving as well, and I've found that it does really work a lot better than shaving cream! :) But I haven't tried conditioner on my face yet, but I would be willing to try anything for a closer shave. I also use a four blade razor and I always go against the grain when shaving.
My dear ladies of Susan's, I'm gonna speak from back before when I was shaving my legs and such.
I actually found that using a cheaper razor can work better than an expensive razor. Being half blind without my glasses, I had to do it on the side of the tub too, which helped when getting a closer shave for longer it seemed.
Now for the face, my grandpa always said that he prefers a lady's razor to a man's. This is probably because they can be gentler on the skin.
A big thing that helps getting a close shave, Do Not Dry Shave. If you have to do touch ups, still wet the spot. Then less likely to get cuts.
All right, I'm sick of my girl mode. Back to dude move.
Reaver
I always scrub my face with a wash rag soaked in hot water before I shave. But it's also a lot easier since I had the orchi and the regrowth slowed way down.
Here is my routine, I'm fair skinned with dark/black hair so:
0. Hot shower
1. Regular shaving cream
2. Shave with the grain, Gillette 4 or 5 blade facial (men's) razor, rinse with cold water.
3. Moisturise, I like to use Aloe Vera gel, the green stuff, it's cheap and effective and has a cooling effect.
4. Shave a second time, this time at a 90 degree angle to the grain, rinse with cold water.
5. Moisturise using a proper moisturiser or apply makeup primer to your face.
Here is my full makeup routine:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,162340.msg1393446.html#msg1393446
let me ask you please why you are not going on laser/ electrolysis face treatment?\
thx
Can't speak for others, just for myself.
It really helps to know how to get a close shave even while doing laser, since it takes a really long time and lots of treatments before one sees results. The place where I am doing laser doesn't let me treat my face more often than once a month, and at first they wanted it to be once every two months.
I've done 3 laser treatments and my shadow is still fierce. Especially above the lip area. :(
Quote from: Ruth Ruthless on May 03, 2014, 10:09:46 PM
Can't speak for others, just for myself.
It really helps to know how to get a close shave even while doing laser, since it takes a really long time and lots of treatments before one sees results. The place where I am doing laser doesn't let me treat my face more often than once a month, and at first they wanted it to be once every two months.
I've done 3 laser treatments and my shadow is still fierce. Especially above the lip area. :(
Ditto. I'm looking for tips on what to do in the meantime :).
I always shave in the shower. When I still used to have a lot of facial hair I had a fog resistant mirror (and if that fogs up you can use saliva to keep the fog off for sure). I find that shaving in the shower generally yielded zero razor burn. Now with only a few hairs that need to be shaved I don't need the mirror, just a few quick swipes every week or so and it's done.
Try your best not to shave until it's been 3 or 4 days after a laser treatment and you will avoid many of those whitehead things that tend to pop up just after the "pizza face" stage.
When in doubt about laser treatment healing time, refer to this graph:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F7D8hVWr.jpg&hash=6cf4670ed070c53e48c475ecb436d3f942a7d79a)
I saw some shedding after the first treatment. I haven't seen any noticeable shedding after the second treatment and I am now 5 days after my third treatment, which is only half a treatment because they pulled a stunt* on me. The hairs that do shed are definitely not all the hairs or even 80 percent of the hairs that were present during the treatment like they claim. Feels to me like a lot less.
--
Shaving in the shower is not an option for me except on days when I remove my wig. I glue it on to get the most natural look I can get and confidence and it's very handy while making out or sleeping with my girlfriend since I have experience with wigs that are not glued moving around in these situations. I keep it on for about 5 days at a time. So on days when I take it off I shower including my face and on days when it is on I shower only my body, and my beard doesn't wait 5 days to grow.
I wish things were like in that graph. Seems to me more like I had a beard before, I still have a beard, only each time it is maybe 10 percent thinner.
* THE STUNT
The bastards forgot to tell me about a release form releasing them from any responsability if anything goes wrong and now remember to tell me to sign it, and now I suddenly see that the contract I have doesn't include the neck area... (obviously as a trans woman who is doing laser on her face I wouldn't think to ask about the neck as well, right?)
So after they gave me two treatments including neck they realized I didn't sign the release form and suddenly they don't give me treatments for the neck unless I sign the release form. You know what the release form says? In return for renouncing any possability to make any legal claims against them I get neck treatments as a "gift" for free! As if I didn't make an agreement and pay for them already in advance... and I have no documents proving that I signed up for the neck as well. And the staff there says they can't do anything, the manager needs to come to an agreement with me... and it was the manager who told me two weeks before my third treatment on the phone that I need to sign a release form... and I said what is the release form for? And he said you will see when you come to the treatment.
So he deliberately avoided letting me know, because he knew I would have a problem and he deliberately put me in the situation where I'd have to sign it to get my treatment.
And when he called me back then I thought he was calling back in response to my nags to speak to the manager about being treated with transphobia by one of the staff that literally laughed at me and ridiculed me, but no... he didn't know about that or claimed not to know... He was calling because he said there were problems with my records and I need to sign that release form... In other words, they probably give it to everyone and they made a mistake with me and now they are pulling a stunt over me to cover their ass.
And now he is not available for a week already since the treatment and I am nagging them each day to let me talk to him.
I told them if he doesn't come back to me in the next few days, I'm going to sign up somewhere else for the neck (and to myself - shove your release form up your ass).
Learn from my mistake - inform yourselves exactly what areas are covered by your contract and make sure it is all written down in a legally binding way before you give any money or leave the clinic!
Oh and I tried shaving my upper lip and chin today with razor blade and conditioner against the grain. I did get a much closer shave than I do with my shaving machine, but I also got some sores and since laser works on light it's probably not a good idea to come to a session with sores on my face. Hope I can somehow learn the right technique to avoid them eventually.
If you can't shave in the shower, take a warm wet washcloth with a dab of gentle cleanser on it and hold it gently on your face for 2 minutes. The longer the better. This will soften up the hairs and skin, reducing the trauma from shaving. Also you can kind of use your fingernails to gently exfoliate the lather into your facial hair once you are done soaking.
The washcloth will help greatly. On mornings when I need to shave and I don't shower, I use it without fail. Also don't forget to wash all of the soap/shavecream off of your face or it will dry things out and leave you with redness/flakes/sores.
Hope this helps!
I'm not sure what you mean by gentle cleanser, lather and what type of washcloth... Lather is the gentle cleanser in a soaped up state? What is the gentle cleanser made of and how do I find one for me? Do you mean a towel? A paper towel? A disposable wet napkin?
Like wet a washcloth with warm water, and add a few drops of a facial soap, kind of get it to suds a little bit on the washcloth.
Lather is when shaving cream foams up. This also softens the hair and minimizes impact on your skin
One little word of advice. When you really start trying to get a really close shave, be prepared for hellacious irritation for about two to three weeks. You can skip a day but be careful shaving when your face is already irritated and don't even try to get a close shave while you have irritation. Eventually the skin will get used to it and then the irritation will go away. Then make it an everyday ordeal.