A Shaving Odyssey - My time with an electric razor

I have been wet shaving for some time now, and I have tried just about everything...slants, gillettes, straights, soaps, creams, oil...just about it all. I get great shaves, in fact, wonderful shaves. However, in the interest of trying everything, I wanted to try my hand at an electric razor.

I got a Braun 7526 from another B&Ber, and I have promised myself that I will try it for one month...everyday. I also thought I would chronicle my shaves in this thread.

So a little background about me. I have a thick, coarse beard. I am prone to ingrown hairs, and have sensitive skin.

I plan on trying different electric razor products and techniques (?)...so here it goes:

Day 1 (11/14)

Cleaned the Braun in the solution last night. Follwed the instructions for the Braun which says I should shave before showering. This is odd to me, but I decided I would try it. I applied some Williams Lectric Shave, let it dry and got to work.

I did not time my shave, but I would guess it was about 5 minutes. Went against the grain as instructed by the manual. The result was a pretty good shave. Not BBS by any means, but really smooth around the chin and lips.

So there it is...one day down and 29 more to go.

Sluggo said:

So there it is...one day down and 29 more to go.

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I look forward to reading about your journey.

Day 1 (2nd Shave)

SWMBO and I were going out last night so I needed to tidy up the shave I did earlier. I applied the Lectic Shave and went to work. I could hear the wiskers being munched so I knew I had some stubble. I took my time, about 7 or 8 minutes and got a pretty good shave.

One odd thing, I did have some redness below the beard line. Feels like razor burn, but looks like an abrasion...odd.

I woke up this morning and I am surprisingly still fairly smooth.

Day 2 11/15

Today I tried shaving after the shower. This is not suggested per Braun, but it is suggested other places. I honestly could not tell a difference between the shaves. I did notice I had a few hairs that I missed, and no matter how hard I tried I could not get the razor to cut them. I am not sure why this is, but over all the shave was not bad at all. Took about 6 minutes and finished with a little Witch Hazel and some Arlington splash.

That is likely the best part of this experiment (the fact I guet to still use my aftershaves).

2 down, 28 to go.

Sluggo said:

Day 2 11/15
...2 down, 28 to go.

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Sluggo, you're a better man than I. I'm glad that somebody's taking one for the team on this, if only to make us all feel better about our wetshaving disorders!

Day 3:
A great shave!!! BBS just about everywhere...I am just a little worried that it maybe too close, in which case, I will get ingrowns. We will see.

Day 4

It is an early day at the hospital, so I was a little groggy with the shave. Same prep as before: shower, wash face, apply Lectic Shave, shave. Shave took about 10 minutes and I noticed I had a few wiskers that just layed flat. I had to go back at hit them with the pocket trimmer. Aside from that the shave was pretty good (not as good as yesterday, but good).

I have some new pre-shave product on the way from Jim at California North. I can't wait for it to get here so I can try something other than Williams Lectric Shave.

Day 5

After much ribbing, I went back to work today with the electric. This time I shaved prior to showering, per Braun's suggestion, and the shave was good at about 5 minutes. In the shower I washed my face and noticed some stubble, so afterwards I mowed those patches and was good to go.

Finished with a little of Krissy's Golden Balm...and another great shave...although my new title sucks.

If the Lectric Shave works for you, that's great. I found , when I was using an electric, that the Remington Pre-Shave powder stick worked better for me.

It got to the point for me that I had to use a disposable about every week to get the hairs on my neck, as none of the electrics I tried (Norelco rotary and Remington foil and rotary) would get them. I figured that since I was wet shaving anyway, I'd just do it all the time - and this "wet shaving" was disposables and bar soap in the shower.

Good luck in you journey, wherever you wind up.

Well, this brings back memories of my electric days long, long ago.

I liked to shave before the shower so that I could reduce that ashen look that plagued me after the shave. Remington powder stick used to help to absorb all the moisture. I think electrc shaving is more effective with minimal moisture, just opposite of, well, wet shaving.

This reminds me that I should check on my electric razor... It hasn't been used in about 18 months. I had changed the blades about 1 month before my last use. So as long as the battery isn't shot, I might be able to sell the damn thing.

Interesting read though. The thing that's sticking out for me is you running into hairs that just seem to lay flat. When I was electric shaving, I noticed this too -- quite a bit actually. There wasn't much to be done for them. I would first try going over a little lighter, hoping that the 'lift and cut' would be able to grab it. When that didn't work, I tried digging in a little, which also didn't work. I tried using the trimmer to get it to stand up... eventually I just took my M3 to bare skin to cut them down.

As I recall, I was never really dissatisfied with my shaves. I wasn't wetshaving at the time (canned goo, no prep, M3s), so the results were actually better than what I was getting with my cartridge. The irritation was annoying, but not something that lasted very long.

Looking forward to seeing you complete this goal.

gurana said:

...

Interesting read though. The thing that's sticking out for me is you running into hairs that just seem to lay flat. When I was electric shaving, I noticed this too -- quite a bit actually. There wasn't much to be done for them. I would first try going over a little lighter, hoping that the 'lift and cut' would be able to grab it. When that didn't work, I tried digging in a little, which also didn't work. I tried using the trimmer to get it to stand up... eventually I just took my M3 to bare skin to cut them down.

As I recall, I was never really dissatisfied with my shaves. I wasn't wetshaving at the time (canned goo, no prep, M3s), so the results were actually better than what I was getting with my cartridge. The irritation was annoying, but not something that lasted very long.

Looking forward to seeing you complete this goal.

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+1 to most of the above. I had the uncuttable, flat-lying hairs on my neck too. I only ended up with tons of irritation and razor burn. Close shaves, for the most part, but my face was on fire every day.

-Andy

Sluggo said:

although my new title sucks.

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Day 6

Nothing new to report other than today for the first time all those pesky wiskers that lay flat got mowed.

I am finding that the shaves are better if I shave before showering. A product from California North for electric razors is on the way and should be here for Saturday's shave.

I never had much success with electrics, but I'm interested in your journey. It seems to be panning out just fine for you.

Day 7

Good shave today, not much new to report. Still little irritation and no sign of ingrowns. Tomorrow will be a shave with a new product, so maybe something new to report.

Day 8

I tried a new product today from Jim at California North called Electric Glide. It is a pre-shave liquid that acts sort of like Lectric Shave. The smell is MUCH better than Lectric Shave since it has a nice orange scent. The product worked great, given I got a BBS shave in about 10 minutes. I finished up my morining by trying California North's shampoo and conditioner (also great items)

So, I am one week into my journey, and thoughts so far:
1) I have no irritation and no noticable increase in ingrown hairs. Some have appeared, but I think they were just lurking there to start with.
2) I get a BBS consistently. This is different to me from wetshaving since I could normally only have a two pass shave (WTG, XTG).
3) It takes me about the same amount of time as wetshaving.
4) It is funny how the good habits I have learned with wetshaving have helped me with an electric (skin stretching, face mapping, pressure to name a few). I think in the past when I tried an electric I would just mash the thing against my face with no regard for my skin.

And yes, I am still looking to purchase my avatar.

Day 9

Kind of rushed it today so no pre-shave product. Got a pretty good shave but not as nice as I have been getting in the past. No real razor burn or problems with ingrowns still.

Day 10

Got another good shave today. Took about 10 minutes with the Electric Glide and got almost all the wiskers that lay flat. Showered, splashed on some Cucumber Witch Hazel (love it) and then a little California North aftershave.

Still getting good results!

Day 11

Today's shave was pretty much the same. Good shave, nothing really new. I am noticing two things:
1) This is pretty boring, but effective. Also, a lost of the current ingrown hairs are starting to come up.
2) I find myself wanting to lather, but the quality of the shaves I resist the urge.