Shaving (face)

[Gavin Chipper]

Those of you that shave, what shaving method do you use and what advantages/disadvantages do you find with each method? Discuss.

[Ryan Taylor]

Don't shave your pubic hair it causes itching, use scissors instead to trim the area.

[Ben Wilson]

Electric razor, fewer cuts, generally more thorough with less effort. Disadvantages come from cleaning the bugger and those occasions when the battery plays up.

[Jon O'Neill]

Just a Mach 3 and some shaving gel. I don't really cut myself very often. I would like to get one of those hot-towel naked-razor shaves at a barber at some point though.

[Ben Hunter]

Electric razor, less effort. Can't see any disadvantages with this.

[Ben Wilson]

Electric razor, less effort. Can't see any disadvantages with this.

Don't you have a full beard?

[Ian Volante]

Wilkinson Sword in shower with good old-fashioned soap. I've found that soap gives a better shave than any specialist shaving product, and is a hell of a lot cheaper.

[David O'Donnell]

Crappy, cheap disposables which tear my fucking face off.

[Charlie Reams]

Electric razor, less effort. Can't see any disadvantages with this.

I'd like to get an electric razor for convenience, but I find wet-shaving really, really satisfying. I like the fact that it hasn't really evolved much in around 3000 years.

[Jon O'Neill]

Electric razor, less effort. Can't see any disadvantages with this.

I'd like to get an electric razor for convenience, but I find wet-shaving really, really satisfying. I like the fact that it hasn't really evolved much in around 3000 years.

So wet-shaving means a bare blade?

[Jon Corby]

I used to enjoy wet-shaving, but I hate being totally clean-shaven now. I use hair clippers set on the lowest grade setting to ensure I always have some stubble. I think I started this because I thought I looked too young clean-shaven and I'd still get asked for ID in my late twenties, but that probably isn't the case anymore. I'd probably grow a beard if I could, but it would still be shit and patchy.

[Matt Morrison]

I am never ever clean-shaven, a beard is a great tool in stopping yourself looking too fat around the face, which is why I've only ever had a fully-exposed chin perhaps twice in the last 10 years or more.

My electric tool is a 'beard trimmer', which I can use to give myself a quick shave without any of the head attachments on, for a fine stubble look that is super quick and easy. I use it to shave my head as well. Because I am a proper man, even when I am wet shaving I will often have to use the beard trimmer to trim my face down to stubble so that it's more suitable for wet-shaving over. And of course I can use the attachments to keep the chinstrap and sideburns to a reasonable length too, usually 3mm.

Like Jon mentioned, clean-shaven (although as I say, this term means "all clean-shaven APART from chin and sideburns in some fashion" with me) definitely equates to a younger-looking face, and where I used to love being quite beardy to look a bit older (haven't been ID'd since I was 15), in these days of old baldness I now try and wet-shave and tidy up at least once a week to try and maintain some fast-disappearing youthfulness, and a semblance of 'skinniness' too, since a furry face is definitely a much rounder-looking face.

I don't like disposables, I have a Mach 3 which never vibrates because I never change the batteries. It may or may not have a clogged up rotten battery inside it that has fucked everything up. Razor blades are bulk bought on eBay, and always left on the razor for way too fucking long. I've never really had a go with a proper electric razor (always been a beard trimmer guy because I require more accuracy and control) but I'd always imagined them to be nowhere near as close a shave as you'd get wet shaving.

I'll see if I can find some pics of 'cool' beards I've had.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Gilette Fusion.

Yes I shave now. albeit once a month!

[Andy Wilson]

a beard is a great tool in stopping yourself looking too fat around the face

a furry face is definitely a much rounder-looking face.

[Matt Morrison]

a beard is a great tool in stopping yourself looking too fat around the face

a furry face is definitely a much rounder-looking face.

Sorry, slight discrepancy of wording.

Facial hair on chin = more definition to jawline, less obvious flow of fat = good.
Facial hair on cheeks = less definition to cheeks, more obvious roundness = bad.

[Andy Wilson]

Thanks for clearing that up! I haven't shaved regularly for about 5 or 6 years and never wet shave anymore. I don't have the most full beard (always a little patchy on the cheeks) but i don't give a monkeys, shaving is just annoying. When I do shave, I just use my head shaver. Because I usually have a beard, the short stubble that the shaver leaves seems passable for clean shaven. I also tend to go through extended periods of wearing sideburns. If this thread and Ryan's comment had have been posted 3 weeks ago, this would have been a far less itchy month. I should have known, but I thought it was high time for a clean up and though kind of skimming the bushiness would work. But I guess I went too low.

[JimBentley]

I also use hair clippers without a guard usually (tbh I thought there was only me and George Michael that did that until reading this) once a week or so, but I do have cheapo blade razors in case I want a clean shave (this doesn't happen very often). I used to have electric razors but I've never found one that wasn't totally fucking useless so gave up on them.

[Andy Wilson]

When I went to visit mates abroad recently, we were on a long car journey and one of em whipped out the electric battery powered razor, which i thought was dead handy for the circumstances as it kept the trimmings inside n that.

[Gavin Chipper]

So my own thoughts - I started off using an electirc shaver and did for ages and it was fine really, if a little annoying underneath, just above the Adam's apple. And I should have stayed doing that.

One thing I'd always noticed is how fucked up a lot of men's faces look, presumably from shaving. My face was always nice and smooth. I remember a friend saying I should wet shave because you get a closer shave. And I thought to myself "And look at your gnarled face."

So I was getting a bit fed up with my electric shaver - I think it was just a bit old and worn out and needed replacing - and I decided to give wet shaving a go. Big mistake. First of all, no-one teaches you how to do this sort of thing, so I was sort of guessing at the best method. But what I found was that by shaving with the grain, it was a bit pointless - didn't do a very good job, and I might as well have just stuck with the electric shaver. But obviously I went against the grain as well. It's true - you get a closer shave. But it also made my face sore. That itself wasn't much of a problem because, you know, soreness heals.

I only wet shaved a handful of times but my face has never been the same since. The hairs don't grow out properly any more. Basically after a shave now, the hairs don't grow straight back out the skin like they should. My face goes a bit lumpy first and also feels a bit itchy and annoying (which it never used to). And after I've shaved it doesn't look as cleam as before. I think this is actually the case with most people, but they don't realise that this is not how your face is meant to be. And then they carry on wet shaving because wet shaving means that electric shaving isn't as good as it would be if you'd never wet shaved. Even then I think my face is better than most, given that I've only ever wet shaved a handful of times.

My advice is - if you've never wet shaved don't start now. Don't even fucking try it.