Shavers.com - The Shaver Blog

Yeah, yeah, so it’s been awhile since my last post. Sue me.

Okay, so I have taken the plunge and now took the reverse approach to fighting male pattern baldness by doing a complete 180 and shaving every last hair instead of trying to rescue the last few stragglers clinging to the sides of my head. If you have a full head of hair, have no plan to shave your head, or still refuse to accept that it’s your shiny head in the mirror, then you can stop reading here.

If you’re still reading then let me tell you this; if you want to take the plunge and use a buffer instead of a comb, then make one last trip to the barber. Tell him (or her) to take it all off down to the skin and have at it. All your worries are now over. And what do you do from that point on? Why, you use an electric shaver, of course!

Now, to clarify, the reason I told you to make that last trip to the barber is because an electric shaver will NOT take your long hair down to the skin effectively. You would most likely destroy the shaver. Another option would be to use your own hair clipper (buzzer), but unless you have one already it does not make much sense to spend $40-$100 for a one shot deal. So let the barber do it and then maintain your cranial smoothness with an electric shaver.

Which one? Thats the question now, isnt it? Topping the list in our test is, once again, the Braun Pulsonic series 7-70 or Panasonic Lamdash models, and the runner-up was the Remington MS680 model. The reason these shavers seemed to do better in tests than other models is solely based upon the fact that they have nice wide heads to cover a lot of surface area at once. This is not to day that they will shave your face better than others (see previous posts for all that info) as these tests for only for bald head shaving.

Now there are many that would say that shaving ones head with a blade is preferable to an electric shaver in that the shave will last longer. To be perfectly honest with you, I did not find that to be the case after testing both ways. When I was done shaving with the electric, I found my head to be just as smooth to the touch as when I shaved with the blade, and I also did not have any risk of cutting my head with the electric razor. Overall, shaving the cranium as well as the face with my Braun Pulsonic was a decent experience. It took no longer than shaving with a blade (and, to be fair, was no shorter on time either) and seems to be an every other day affair for myself, so while there is no longer any hairstyling involved, don’t think that your daily expenditure of time on your head is going to change all that much.

Oh, and lesson learned? Yeah, wear sunblock all over your head.

Gentlemen, I bet you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here today. It’s because of the overwhelming
flood of questions regarding shaving that have been pouring across our phone lines and into the collective
ears of Shavers.com representatives. Frankly, they need a rest from giving the same answers all day long.
Let’s then, take a brief look at shaving, shall we?

Ladies-you have purposely been left out of this discussion for the simple reason that your needs are a
whole different ballgame altogether. We’ll try to cover your most common questions in another entry.

So men, how are we shaving these days? Getting missed spots? Breaking out? Painful or really sensitive
areas? Overall poor shave? Yup, that’s what I figured. I get the feeling that for the majority of you
though, the solution is simple (especially if you are using a “newer” shaver, purchased within the last
4-5 years)…you’re pressing too hard on your face.

“What?!” you exclaim. “Don’t you know that I’ve been using an electric shaver for (insert years since
puberty here) years?!”

C’mon guys! This is not your father’s shaver here! The great majority of electric shavers manufactured
today are specifically designed to work much differently than the dark age shavers of yesteryear. Pressing
too hard with the shaver head against your skin will flatten the hairs into an undesirable position that
will be a detriment to your shaving process. A smooth, slow movement with only minimal pressure is what
is needed here. Let the shaver do the work, let the shaver do the work, let the shaver do the work…

If that does not solve your problem completely then I’m at least willing to bet that it helps a great deal.
Let’s also follow these shaving tips:

• Shave your sensitive areas first. A cool shaver head will irritate less.
• Tough or stubborn neck hairs should be trimmed down prior to shaving.
• Areas of the face/neck that have problems with severe razor bumps or ingrown hairs-DON’T SHAVE THESE
  AREAS WITHOUT FIRST ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM. Use a treatment or a specially designed shaver like the
  Remington ES-1000.
• Rub your face liberally with a frog prior to shaving.

Okay, just kidding with that last one, but a pre-shave lotion or powder stick is highly recommended in
making improvements to any shave. A few adjustments to your routine and following a few simple rules can
turn a bad shave into a much improved one, and a good shave into a great shave.

Thank you for taking Shaving 101… See me after class.

Come on now, admit it. Most of us, yes, me included, somehow manage to “forget” to shave on the weekends. It “slips our minds”,
we “get distracted” or “have a senior moment”. Sometimes we even “want to grow it out” or “had to escape a burning building”. Whatever.

Just be careful about the griping that will be later, come Monday morning, associated with the pulling sensation of individual beard
hairs being yanked from their roots instead of cleanly shaved off like they do Tuesdays through Thursdays.
Let’s also not forget the cumulative effect of these actions, when the time comes to replace your foil and cutter in nine months versus
twelve to eighteen months-don’t say I didn’t warn you. The longer the hair, the more the pounding the shave head takes.

Not that I am trying to dictate facial policy here, my fine gentlemen. Heaven forbid-I equally partake from amongst the weekend excuses
that give us free reign to be facially forgetful. I just want to say that I said it, okay.
There. Now go shave. You look terrible.