Heavy beard?

[humber burns]

I'm trying to assess whether or not I have a heavy beard. I think that I do but I don't fully understand the term. So, does the term "heavy beard" refer to the pack of your beard (ie. having a high number of hairs per square inch) or does it refer to the thickness of the actual hairs themselves?

I believe that I am in the latter camp as my individual hairs are quite thick. I have also be lead to believe that I have a heavy beard, as I currently use Merkur DE blades an can only get 3-4 really good shaves out of them (5 if I push it.)

I have also heard guys on the forums seeming to imply that guys with heavy beards don't really have sensitive skin. Is this also true or have I misunderstood? Once again I have mildly sensitive skin particularly under the chin and cannot shave ATG. Hope someone can help me figure this out.

Thanks guys,
Kev

 

[SavantStrike]

Heavy beard refers to the density of hair and thus the resistance of the hair. I would say that a smaller quantity of thicker hairs could provide just as much overall density as a lot of thinner hairs.

Heavy beard does not mean tough skin though. There are some of us with heavy beards and sensitive skin (although way too many people on here think they fall into that camp ).

 

[FiXXXer]

Have you tried any other blades? You're probably the first person I've seen say they were getting ANY good shaves out of a Merkur blade, let alone 3-4. I would strongly recommend that you try a blade sample pack and see if you can get better results with something other than a Merkur blade. Heavy beards and sensitive skin are quite common, but you may indeed be able to go against the grain with a different blade.

 

[humber burns]

Thanks I'll give the sample pack a shot.

 

[Sluggo]

I have a heavy beard and sensitive skin, so feathers were my choice...but YMMV

 

[jangozo]

Another heavy bearded dude here. Feather it up. I haven't started shaving ATG with them yet but I'm seriously thinking about it. I want to see what improvement i'll get.