How many of you "can't/shouldn't" shave everyday?

[Howie]

I love to have my face baby bottom smooth. I do take pride in it. So, in order for ME to maintain said smoothness, I'd have to shave everyday. However, my face can't handle getting scraped everyday, and it will suffer from increased nicks, redness and burning. I find that the longer I delay shaving, the better and much more enjoyable the experience and the outcome - however, as time goes on, I look more and more bum-like.

I will agree and admit that I am too aggressive with the razor.

Any of you guys have similar experiences?

 

[kingfisher]

Not me. I shave every day and I love it.

If you keep tweaking your lather and your technique, perhaps trying different razors and different blades, you may find that eventually you'll be able to shave everyday, too.

 

[u2u]

Prior to taking up straight razors and quality shave products I could not shave every day. Now I can with no issues. Twice a day if need be. Good tools, technique, and products were my answer.

 

[Ron Scott]

The concept of resting the face seems logical enough. Give it a rest and you won't get razor burn, right?




But in reality that's just rhetorical and doesn't jibe with what doctors and researchers find to be true.




Resting the face actually makes things worse...






From DERMATOLOGY TIMES


Q What is razor burn


A Razor burn is the common vernacular for cutting of the skin around the follicular ostia. If you examine skin afflicted by razor burn, you will note that a superficial to mid-dermal wound is present. This injury creates the pain and inflammation associated with razor burn. The skin around the hair shaft is preferentially cut because it sits above the surrounding skin.




It may be worthwhile to discuss what can be recommended to decrease razor burn, since patients commonly casually ask this question of their dermatologists.




The best way to minimize razor burn is to decrease shaving pressure. Shaving pressure is the force with which the blade is pushed into the skin. Patients push the razor into the skin to achieve a closer shave, but this also cuts the skin around the hair shaft.




A close shave can be obtained without increased shaving pressure by moistening the beard to soften the hair; using a shaving gel to decrease blade/skin friction; using a sharp blade; selecting a razor handle with the proper blade angle; shaving frequently to minimize hair length and create calloused skin; and leaving the shaving cream on for three to four minutes prior to shaving.




Many times, people with razor burn prefer to shave infrequently to minimize the skin symptoms. The better approach is to shave every day and develop a skin callous on the face that minimizes skin sensitivity and keeps hair short. These steps can minimize razor burn in a patient who prefers not to grow a beard.




Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D., is a Dermatology Times editorial adviser and consulting professor of dermatology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.








Bottom line: Shave daily and focus on your technique. If you insist on suboptimal technique then resting your face is probably all you can do to avoid the carnage...

 

[lt114]

Every other day works best for me.

 

[Neognosis]

A dermatologist recommends developing face callous?

Didn't someone post a study on here a while back that showed that if you let your skin get wet and hot (as with a hot towel) that it actually makes the skin more vulnerable to injury?


Didn't someone else post a study that showed that wet hair is no more or less pliable than dry hair?


I don't know what to believe.

 

[Howie]

Guys: Thanks for the thoughtful and interesting replies. I do want to keep a smooth and well kept appearance. No "pain", no gain, right? LOL

 

[bryan1980]

I unfortunately cannot shave every day. I always have enough stubble about halfway through the day after I shave, but not quite enough in the morning. The good news is that I get closer shaves now than I did during my cart days, so I don't look too bad on my non-shave days.

 

[nymtber]

I shave every other day, but sometimes will shave every day for a weekend. I find I get MUCH closer shaves if I skip a day. I shaved today around noon, and here 12 hours later, my face is reasonably smooth yet. Cartridge razors I would be lucky to have a smooth face for much past 6 hours.

A sharp, SMOOTH blade (Personna Lab Blue) and an aggressive razor (Slim set to 9) sure as heck help me a LOT.

I usually only get razor burn if I use a too mild razor and a bum blade (derby, Feather on its second shave, etc)

 

[Teppanyaki]

For me, the prep/razor/pressure makes a big difference in irritation. Some razors would leave my face feeling raw and irritated, whereas others wouldn't.

I found that my face really likes Gillette News with a nice slick lather, and shaving WTG/WTG to XTG works very well without irritation or razor burn so I can do a touchup pass in the evening and shave normally the next morning as well. I tried ATG very briefly, and the tugging/pulling was irritating enough that I don't think I could do that on a daily basis.

Good luck!

 

[Darkbulb]

I shave once every three days. I don't have a very aggressive hair growth and I honestly don't mind a little bit of stubble for 1-2 days.

 

[Ron Scott]

A dermatologist recommends developing face callous?

Didn't someone post a study on here a while back that showed that if you let your skin get wet and hot (as with a hot towel) that it actually makes the skin more vulnerable to injury?


Didn't someone else post a study that showed that wet hair is no more or less pliable than dry hair?


I don't know what to believe.

All of these conclusions are plausible and not inconsistent with each other, although I wouldn't confuse "pliability"with the force necessary to cut beard hair. Hydration is critical.

Re: the daily shaving recommendation, it does appear on this forum that its the guys who shave less frequently that complain about irritation the most...

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I generally shave once every two days simply because I get a better shave that way. Although I have fairly wiry whiskers I have fair hair so the growth I get doesn't really show. As with other things, YMMV...

 

[Shutterbug57]

I shave every day. Most days are BBS, but that BBS only lasts til lunch or a little before. It used to be I HAD to shave every day. Now, I GET to shave every day.

 

[TacticalPanda]

I shave every two days. I don't have enough stubble to bother with the day after a shave and I get better shaves the longer I wait.

 

[russhatch]

Well, I maybe be walking my shaving path a little different. I shave most everyday, but I shave in the evening. For me at least, this works best - after a nice shower, I relaxing shave (because I am not rushed for work), nice after shave splash and a snuggle with SWMBO. I believe this gives my face a little recovery time as well before taking it out in the public

 

[Lakebound]

I can and usually do shave daily. 3 passes on the face and once with the grain on the neck. But, at times I do like to skip a day.

If your technique is sound, you should be able to go daily.

Frank

 

[Neognosis]

I unfortunately cannot shave every day. I always have enough stubble about halfway through the day after I shave, but not quite enough in the morning. The good news is that I get closer shaves now than I did during my cart days, so I don't look too bad on my non-shave days.

I'm the same way, shave every other day, and skipping friday and saturday night. Not on account of irritation, but because I just don't grow facial hair that fast.

Studies have shown that women find men with a small amount of stubble to be attractive, a sign of masculinity and dominance. The same studies showed that other men tended to respect other men who had some stubble, and felt dominant over men with no stubble at all. This is interesting to me, but I like these studies because they make sense to me. Facial hair is a sign of sexual maturity and testosterone, and alpha-maleness. A bald face is a sign of prepubescence and submission.

Cartridge razors I would be lucky to have a smooth face for much past 6 hours.

I think it is so interesting that the argument against cartridges varies depending on the argument. They either cause irritation because they cut too close and cut below the top layer of the skin, or they don't cut close enough and result in a poor, stubbly shave. Which is it? I suspect anti-cartridge prejudice drives whatever argument is at hand.

Re: the daily shaving recommendation, it does appear on this forum that its the guys who shave less frequently that complain about irritation the most...

They probably shave less frequently because of irritation, not the other way around. of COURSE those with more sensitive skin are going to shave less frequently. I don't buy into the idea that the irritation is CAUSED by infrequent shaving.

I also find it highly suspect that a dermatologist would recommend traumatizing the skin frequently enough to develop callous, rather than endorsing growing a beard, which is, after all, what nature designed the male facial skin for. This sounds, to me, as ridiculous as the idea that a dermatologist would recommend that you go tanning all year round so that you don't get sunburned the first week of summer. (rather than telling you to stay out of the sun or use sunblock.)

 

[Alpinebully]

Interesting discussion guys. Being new to DE razors, ive started seeing a pattern after just one week.

My first shave is good, followed by an average shave, good, average, good, average, good. I was starting to think following a close shave the regrowth is less so the next shave wouldnt be so good resulting in a less close shave = more regrowth for the next shave which would then be another good close shave......

I really dont want to 'skip a day' so i figure better prep work and even trying some different post shave products might help... But honestly i hope as i develop a decent shaving technique with the DE razor the irritation every second day goes away.

Travis.

 

[ArmyMedicDad]

Well, it's not that I can't or shouldn't shave every day, but I only shave once every 3 to 4 days. Why? I'm retired, so I don't have to be somewhere at 8:00am every day. And what better way to test my current set of samples than for them to have to cut through a 3-day old beard. That way, I really put them to the test - and the best blades quickly separate themselves from the average or bad blades.

But could I shave every day if I had to (or even if I just wanted to)? Should be no problem at all. Once I narrow my samples down to the must-haves, I might try to shave once a day for a week so I can refine my comparisons.