Hi, I wanted a bit of advice as I’m not sure how to do it properly.
When I shave, I either go both ways which causes me to cut myself a lot more, or I go from top to bottom but when doing this, my skin feels lot coarser. Is there a technique I should be using?
I use a safety razor because the blades are much cheaper. Cartridge razors are fine too, but double edged blades are like 10-20¢ each if you get them in bulk.
The other advice I’ve seen here is good. Prep the skin with heat and moisture, pull the skin taught, and use minimal pressure. Avoid using dull blades.
The main thing is be aware of the grain. Hair has a grain, it grows along the surface in a direction with some variation. Generally beard hair grows down and away from the center, but yours may be different. Take some time to observe what grain pattern your hair follows.
The first pass should be with the grain. Shave the entire area with the grain, then go back for one or multiple passes in different directions. I usually do a three pass shave on my face, pass 1 with the grain, pass 2 across the grain, pass 3 against the grain. Shaving against the grain on the first pass is virtually guaranteed to result in cuts.
I’m writing this from the perspective of someone with fair skin, european ancestry, and largely straight beard hair. Hair is highly variable, make sure any hair related advice comes from those with similar hair to yours.
I do a one pass shave every day against the grain with a safety razor, and I almost never cut myself. Granted, shaving with or across the grain doesn’t really do anything to my hair, so I feel like I’m an outlier. I’d guess maybe my hair is just very fine? Not really sure, it happens with my body hair too, so it’s a nightmare shaving my body because hair only comes off when I shave against the grain (and my hair grows in horribly inconsistent directions)
Interesting. I have difficulty getting the razor to cut the hair when going against the grain on the initial pass, which results in excess pressure which increases the chance of cuts.
The properties of the hair does change things. The multi-pass shave was advice for men when shaving their beard, which I have continued to use. I wonder if the HRT has softened my hairs to the point that a single pass is viable. I will test this.
Regardless, I think a 2 or 3 pass shave starting with the grain is a good thing for OP to try, as it probably is less likely to cause cuts, which she has had issues with.
Fair. I’m unaware of the effect that HRT may have had on my facial hair, but it was never very dense anyway. I was not able to grow a beard before my transition, it just wouldn’t have filled out. I do expect that HRT has some effect, though. I only started shaving with a safety razor about 5 months into HRT, so I can’t comment on any before/after there may have been from the HRT itself. I can’t say I’ve noticed less hair anywhere, though it would have occurred over such a long period of time that I doubt I’d be able to discern a meaningful difference at any given time. If you have denser facial hair than I do, that could definitely be why you may have to take multiple passes, and it may also just be that I have much less facial hair than the average.