Eerie, same here.
I shave from the grease left in my fry pan. Rabbit grease work best.
If you trim yer pubic hair often, yer wangdoodle will look bigger! (Not that its an issue with my Big Ten Inch… record of the blues! :wink:
(Oh, I recommend Braun.)
I second shaving in the shower. It’s the 2nd to last thing I do (last being to wash my face with acne-specific face soap). The combination of 10 minutes of hot steam/water on the face + my oily skin gets a closer shave and less irritation.
I’ve been doing it so long I don’t need a mirror anymore, but I had a no-fog shower mirrior to start.
I loathe electrics. I never found one that got close enough, I felt like I had sandpaper when I was done (and I have pretty weak facial hair, I normally shave just twice a week).
I have mostly cystic acne (meaning, I don’t get many small zits with the white pus “top”, I get large angry red ones which drive me nuts), so it might not apply.
You should be able to get a referral to a dermatologist (just on the acne alone), and you and your son can discuss it with them. They might have better (or lesser known) suggestions about shaving, or they might try to address it by treating the acne.
I have very sensitive skin, and as a teen I found that electrics turned my skin red with irritation — top-model Remingtons and Norelcos alike. Rashy zits sprung up in their wake, the aftermath of the irritation. I would not recommend an electric.
I use Noxema shaving cream, which has dimethicone in it and lubricates the skin like a motherfucker. This stuff would spare your son many a beheaded zit, I am sure, as would shaving immediately after a long, hot shower. Sounds like he’s already using the Mach 3, which works great for me.
Shaving “with the grain” is a must. Your son’s facial hair may lie funny in some areas. (I have to shave upward on the right side of my throat, and downward on the left side, or I get serious razor burn.) But most men should shave down their cheeks and up toward their chins.
Wangdoodle?
Skin secrets from the girlfriend:
-NEVER wash your face with soap
Soap dries out your skin, your body reacts by producing more oil. Its also an irritant. I can’t think alcohol-based skin products are any better. For you guys that think facial scrubs are ghey(me), wet a washcloth with very hot water and vigorously rub your face with it. This will open the pores and get rid of any excess dirt/oil.
-Get a moisturiser
I used to think that moisturisers will only make my oily skin worse, it doesn’t. Because your skin is moisturised and unirritated, your body will not produce extra oil through the day.
-Never scratch/touch your face
Tough habit to break for you zit-pickers, just remember, every zit you pick spawns four more.
Hope this helps.
I second that. Bad acne absolutely needs to be treated by a dermatologist. There’s so many bullshit cosmetics and silly folk tales about acne, you’ll probably end up saving money by visiting a competent doctor first rather than randomly trying out useless stuff.
I used an electric all through high school and for two years in college. It did a fine job and didn’t really irritate my skin all that bad as long as you shaved regularly - past a couple days, i would have to shave first with the beard trimmer to pare the hair down or just use a normal razor. Even today i’m still not the best shaver around the hollow of my chin, and sometimes i’ll pick up my electric to get behind there. But i mostly use a razor now w/ aftershave or pure isopropyl alchohol.
I always washed my face twice a day with antibi soaps and that kept the acne down excellently - i hardly had any except during the first couple years of puberty which is pretty much unavoidable.
Electrics are nice for teenagers because they (i believe) keep the beard from becoming as thick as quickly as they would with a normal razor. I mean you’ve got the rest of your life to shave, no reason to hurry the bear rug along any faster than you need, it will come one day or another.
I love pure isopropyl; thats the only stuff that will close my pores completely. Wishy washy aloe-vera based gels are too sticky and take too long to evaporate. Otherwise i have a slight redness to my face all day long from the shaving irritation - alchohol knocks it out fast.
But as for acne, its about 50%+ about diet. If you son is eating nothing but Taco Bell and soda for lunch, he’ll have acne. If thats all he eats for lunch AND dinner, he’s going to have some heavy acne. In fact even today i might get a ‘zit-lite’ if i binge on junk food for a couple days. Veggies for dinner and as much water as he’ll stand; lose the grease whenever possible.
I just had like a massive localized breakout in a small spot behind my goatee. Goddamn its annoying.
See, that’s one of those folk tales I was talking about. Total nonsense. The intensity of teenager acne is genetically determined. Diet changes may have some short-term effect but a bad case of acne needs professional treatment.
Edit to add a whole page of debunked myths from the helpful acne.org link: Page!
See, that’s one of those folk tales I was talking about. Total nonsense. The intensity of teenager acne is genetically determined. Diet changes may have some short-term effect but a bad case of acne needs professional treatment.
Edit to add a whole page of debunked myths from the helpful acne.org link: Page![/quote]
Maybe, but when I eat lots of sugar, I get acne. When I don’t, I don’t.
That simply means you don’t suffer from acne at all. Not to any degree that would have to be treated.
Great thread. Shaving direction is key. I shave down everywhere. Shaving up under my chin gets a little closer but always results in irritation. Going with the direction and not sweating that you may have a shadow late in the day are the keys…
Another vote for shaving with the grain. Going against leads to ingrown hairs, which suck worse than most other things that suck when you’re a teenager.
I shave against the grain entirely. Mostly because it buys me an extra day between shaves, and I don’t have problems with ingrown hairs.
I pluck out each individual hair with a pair of tweezers. What, I’m the only one on this forum who likes a close shave?
We don’t have an S&M forum do we? :lol:
Yeah, I am with danimal. I go against the grain to get an extra day and I use a three blade manual. If I am going on a hot date, I shave both ways for that baby soft cheek.
Those little blue plastic razors always cut me up the first time I use them. I have to break them in, apparently. It’s bad mojo to shave with a brand new one of them if I don’t have 20 minutes or so to staunch all the little blood drops. Best way to do it is to shave and then hit a hot shower.