strikealot--
This is a very interesting topic for me, because I have been researching it for the last forty years.
I have red hair and my beard is like copper wire. Unfortunately, I also have the typical redhead complexion, which is very fair, and my skin is very sensitive. This is a very bad combination.
Ever since I've been shaving, I've had difficulty finding any kind of combination of razors and shaving creams that will result in a shave that doesn't leave my face looking like it has been windburned--an effect that lasts for several hours.
I've tried all of the electric razors. I get less skin irritation with those, but I don't get as smooth a shave as I like with them. Some of them even grab the beard hairs instead of shaving them. To digress for a moment, here's an explanation for that. Generally speaking, red hair is thicker in terms of the actual diameter of individual hairs than other hair colors. Blond hair is generally the thinnest. Because of this, a full head of red hair contains fewer individual hairs than a full head of blond hair, and by a significant margin. Because of the larger hair size, it takes fewer red hairs to fill a head than it takes of blond hairs to fill a head. Before anyone jumps on me for this, it is obviously the case that there are wispy haired redheads and thick-haired blonds, but that is not the norm.
The reason for mentioning all that is to make the case that my beard hair is thick and stiff and catches in some (not all) electric razors. Now here's why I like a closer shave than I get from electric razors.
If I shave everyday, the irritation is severe. Because my hair is light-colored and because I have a job that does not call for a perfectly clean-shaven look, I never have to shave more often than every other day. I can do that without looking too disheveled. The longer I can wait between shaves, the less irritation I get. If I can wait three days, I do, but I've developed a bit of the old crusty drifter look by that time. That look is not necessarily so bad to have in the parts of the city that I move around in most of the time--I look like I fit in.
Because of the above, I definitely need a shave by the time I do shave, and on account of that and my personal taste; when I finally shave, I like to get a seriously close shave so that I can look a little better for awhile. Electric razors--none of them--give me the smoothness I want out of a shave.
Another problem I get if I try daily shaves is a skin problem that I can't remember the name of, but it is found most frequently among black men. The curly nature of their hair (mine is curly too) can cause it curl quickly back around after a shave and poke back into the skin causing a hive or pimple-like bump on the skin. I remember hearing a number of years ago that this problem was actually medically recognized by the U.S. Armed Services and a special dispensation was created for soldiers--mostly black--who had this condition to have a bit of a beard instead of the clean shaven look usually demanded by the armed services. I do not know if this dispensation still exists, if in fact, it ever did. I just remember hearing something about it.
I have also experimented around trying to find some kind of after-shave cream that eases the skin irritation. They nearly all have alcohol in them, which rules them out immediately. Any kind of alcohol adds to the irritation. Even most aloe preparations contain alcohol. If you have an aloe plant and can pluck shoots from it and squeeze out the juice, that works okay, but that's too much trouble and I don't bother with it. I found an expensive, fragrance-free, alcohol-free after shave balm made by Clinique and tried that for awhile, but it only increased the irritation as well. My ultimate conclusion after all of my after-shave balm experimentation is this: I just rinse my face with water and leave it alone. Using no kind of after-shave balm is far superior to using any kind.
As far as razor and shaving cream, here are the winners--for me at least. I use a Gilette Turbo Mach 3. I get 5, maybe 6 shaves out of one before it's shot. For me, this is about two weeks worth. For shaving cream, I use Crabtree & Evelyn (
http://store.crabtree-evelyn.com/shavingcream.html) shaving soap cakes. These are the kind that come in a bowl and you apply it to your face with a soft brush. I just finished another round of experimentation with other shaving creams to see what the latest stuff might do, and I've come right back to the Crabtree & Evelyn stuff. I just get less irritation from it. It has the added advantage of one cake of it lasting for hundreds of shaves. After making the initial investment, you just don't have to buy any more for a LONG time. Crabtree & Evelyn products can be ordered from their website, but they do have the occasional retail outlet in some places. Here in metro Detroit, they have one in Ann Arbor that is the only one that I know about. Since Ann Arbor is about 60 miles from me, I tend to order from the website.
Well, to anyone still awake after all of that, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Shiv
P.S. Yeah, yeah, believe it or not there's more. To avoid all of the hassles detailed above, I've tried a beard. My beard comes in very thick, and because I have what my mother liked to call "a strong chin"--think Jay Leno--when I have a beard my chin looks HUGE. I didn't like the look, so I put up with the shaving problems.
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Listening to the monotonous staccato of rain on my desk topEdited on 6/4/2004 9:20 AM
