People who can grow beards: any luck with electric shaver?

[danzibr]

I was going to say men: any luck with electric shaver? Then I realized not all men can grow beards (I have some pretty big bald patches), and some women can.

Anyway, the title pretty much says it all. Any advice for auto shavers?

Me, I've used blades and shaved in the shower with no cream or anything since I was 16, I guess. Gives a good shave. Takes some time though.

I thought I could speed things up with an auto shaver. Got like a $20 one at Wal*Mart. Man, that thing was terrible.

I dunno if it's a matter of go big or go home, or if auto shavers just aren't good.

Also, if this matters, my facial hair is pretty thick in the goatee region, but pretty scrappy elsewhere. I couldn't grow a decent beard if I tried.

[AMFV]

The problem is that a 20 dollar shaver is cheap if you want a good shave fast you have to pay good money. Like eighty bucks is about right. Remember you can get things done good and fast or cheap and fast.

[Vinyadan]

I personally don't like them much because I find 1 mm long pieces of hair difficult to clean away, if they aren't wet, and I never had a machine for wet shave, although they do exist. So I had to look for tiny air, and to open the machine to clean it. I later found that even water-tolerant machines which you are supposed to wash are cleaned far better by blowing air on them. Which sends even more hair flying around...
I guess electro is wonderful if you are in a cold place, or have very little time, or need to keep your luggage small and simple. I prefer disposable blades, although some brands hurt my face a lot.

Trimmers are cool, though. I don't know if you can get that with a blade: maybe a blade + comb combo, but it sounds difficult.

[Keltest]

Mine does a decent shave. Its not perfect for keeping yourself clean shaven, but you don't look scruffy and as long as you do it regularly, you don't itch too badly or anything (surprise surprise).

The bigger problem is that I pretty much always need to dismantle it and clean it out either before or after I use it, or it gets so jammed up with the sad remnants of my beard that it doesn't work at all.

[golentan]

I've always used electric razors (or clippers), and I have to say the one I'm using now is just head and shoulders above any of the others I've used. I... genuinely don't remember the name, and I'm away from home at the moment, but it's the new-fangled contraption that looks like a safety razor, rather than looking like an off-brand phaser.

Gets close to the skin, and it can also be used for shaping pretty easily.

[lunaticfringe]

I use ancient electric clippers from the 60s, the name is long gone. It shaves really close. It's not clean but I'm not scruffy and it works better than the electric shavers I've tried. It's really easy to clean with it's little brush and a flat head.

It's not super safe modern technology, you can cut yourself.

[BWR]

My experience is like most other people here: not perfectly clean but pretty good for daily use.

[Aedilred]

You get what you pay for with electric razors, although there is obviously an upper sanity limit. It's a good idea to stick to recognised brands, too.

They will never give as close a shave as a manual shave, but this may not concern you. It does mean that the five-o'clock shadow is generally more pronounced, which might be a problem in some workplaces. On the bright side, it is almost impossible to cut yourself with an electric razor (unless you have previous shaving cuts which have scabbed over and you take the top off) and there is generally less irritation, which might make up for that.

The other downside is that if you don't shave every day, electric razors can struggle with longer growth if they're not brand new, and pull the hairs out rather than cut them off.

I used to use an electric razor daily until it got a bit aged and became rather painful to use, at which point I initially reverted to manual shaves out of expediency and have never gone back.

[Manga Shoggoth]

My experience: Mixed to good. At least, good enough.

I usually grow the beard until it is long enough to annoy me, then wet-shave it as all the electric razors I have had are useless at that point. They are really geared for stubble.

I then run for a period using an electric razor. This gives a good enough shave, but needs to be done daily or every two days at worst. After that the beard is too long to be all that effective (and annoyingly too short to wet-shave without a risk of taking chunks out of my face).

The big problem is with the neck, where the electric razor doesn't seem to be all that effective. A couple of passes with the trimmer attachment usually deals with that.

As to types of razor - I have used two types, rotary and foil. I don't care for rotary, but foil seems to work pretty well.

Despite the comments about cost above, the best razor I have used is actually the cheap Boots battery one (£18 when I brought it), but you do have to be careful at the cheap end of the market (cheap crap and expensive crap are crap alike).

[anjxed]

I envy you guys with beards. I wish I could give advice too lol.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I've always used electric. As other said: it's never super clean, but good enough. Especially since I wear a sub-goatee chin beard, mustache and sideburns (and soulpatch) now, basically just leaving out the parts that don't grow a nice enough beard. It's a bit more upkeep than going for a full beard anyway, but it doesn't give nearly the same amount of hobo flavor while offering the same anti-baby face camouflage, so I'll take it. But I'm disgressing, my point was: if you have some beard you can typically handle even a few days of stubble before it starts looking ungroomed, so for me an electric shave every day is more than fine. Although I do need a device with one of those trimmers (Is that a trimmer, I always mix up the terms. One of those things the hairdresser would use to clean up your neck hairs. EDIT: ah, right, it's a clipper.) on the back for the thicker patches around the edges of where I want beard, standard 3-head shavers don't really do those bits.

[2D8HP]

While before I was a parent I'd use blades to shave (including an old fashioned straight razor that I'd sharpen myself), but now I just don't find enough time to be in the bath for that so I mostly use an electric. It doesn't shave as closely so I have to shave more often, but I can shave most of my face without needing a mirror (I still need one for shaving by my ears/sideburn area).

When I worked construction I actually mostly shaved while driving!

[shawnhcorey]

When I worked construction I actually mostly shaved while driving!

Where I live, that would get you 7 demerit points and a $2000 to $10,000 fine.

I shaved with electric and blade and I find blades more satisfying. You have to buy electric to suit your beard. Are your hairs thin or thick? Are they sparsely or densely together? The thicker, denser the beard, the more robust the electric has to be.

[Ravens_cry]

It was satisfactory, though cleaning it out after was a common ritual, but, yes, doesn't give nearly the close shave of other forms.

[factotum]

I'm usually clean-shaven, but grow stubble very quickly. For the past 30-odd years I've always shaved electric on weekdays and Saturday, and then do a wet shave on Sunday mornings. I don't think I really need to do the Sunday shave, though, because I only started doing it because the hair on my neck didn't get shaved properly by the electric razor, and that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore, probably because I buy decent quality electrics (swear by Philips, myself).

[Rynjin]

I have a cheap one I use as a pre-shave shaver. Trim everything down and then go over it with a manual razor to clean up, or leave it relatively short and clean up the edges afterward. I don't mind a shadow or a bit of scruff, since my facial hair grows really slow (it all goes to the top instead) and I like having the illusion of things other people take for granted like "chins" and "jawlines" which I hear are nice.

[Potato_Priest]

I can't grow a beard of any caliber higher than "neck" but I'll chip in nonetheless.

I also bought an electric razor, thinking it would speed up shaving, but boy was I wrong. (I also purchased at the bottom end of the price list.)

I had to go over my face several times to even approach a decent shave, and it was still way worse than the shave put out by the worst manual razor.

After that debacle I went out and got a decent regular razor (a 3 bladed Gilette, I don't know what model) and it is much faster and gives a better shave. I'm rather happy with it.

[JeenLeen]

With great reluctance, I got an $80 or so shaver. I think it's called the Peanut, and was some brand a professional beautrician/hairdresser relative recommend. It works pretty well for trimming and shaping the beard. I have trouble making sure I'm putting the right-sized guard on it, and generally wind up shaving without the guard and just trying not to carve a 'bald' spot into the beard. From my experience when I have miscalculated and made a slight bald spot, I reckon it would work well for shaving a beard off. (At least, trim the beard down, then start removing it at the face-level.)

The one downside to it is that it has to be plugged in. I'd much prefer one with a battery, since that give me more mobility while shaving to get the angles right.
Previously, I had a cheap (20-30 $???) shaver, but it would often snag my hair, was harder to clean, and just bothersome in several ways. This one is pretty good, besides the no-battery aspect.

EDIT: I still use a razor to get a really clean shave on my neck and where on my face I don't want hairs growing. The shaver by itself does a good enough job for most of the time, but I use a non-electric razor if, say, I have a big meeting coming up & wanna look proper.

[Spojaz]

I have not fully removed my beard in quite a few years, but I shave my head a few times a week. My cheap electric shaver works so well on scalp and back of the neck hair, it's like a dream. It's like night and day compared to shaving my face. No pulling or catching, just a quick, clean, shave every time.

[Knaight]

I've used a few different electric shavers. Some have been useless garbage that only pull and don't cut, some have worked just fine, to the point of replacing conventional shaving. Generally the designs that look similar to a shaver you might see at a barber shop are fine, and the ones that don't have any obvious blades are terrible.

[Fri]

I've been tempted to get electric shaver for a while, because my office's dress code doesn't actually need me to shave, and I'm too lazy to shave daily just for the heck of it, so I just shave every week or so whenever, but once you get to a week, quick, tidy shaving with razor actually becomes relatively harder. Can someone tell me if electric shaver works better for my purpose, or actually normal safety razor is still better?

[factotum]

If you grow hair so slowly that you can go for a week without shaving without building up too much stubble then I'd say an electric probably won't help much--you'll grow so little in one day that there'll be barely anything for the electric razor to take off. Even the best electric razor won't get you quite as smooth and close as a blade, when all's said and done.

If you're actually suggesting that you shave once a week with an electric, that might well work--you might need to up it to twice a week, though.

[Solaris]

I wish I could remember the brand names of them. I used to buy these cheap little ten-dollar electric razors that ran off of AA batteries and lasted forever. I still have a couple floating around in one of these boxes. If you shave every day, they're good enough for passing inspection in the Army. The important part was they had perforated foil guard over the buzzy rounded trimmer, letting you press it onto the skin and actually cut the hair good and proper. They even had a built-in clipper attachment that you could use if you skipped shaving for a three-day weekend and your beard came back.
I mean, I had to shave at noon if we were going to be inspected in the afternoon, but I'd have to do that with a wet shave, too. I don't just have facial hair, I have a beard. My five o'clock shadow shows up at about 1300. Now that I'm a free man, I take a pair of clippers to it every week or so much as a gardener takes a hedge trimmer to a hedge, and with much the same results.


I've been tempted to get electric shaver for a while, because my office's dress code doesn't actually need me to shave, and I'm too lazy to shave daily just for the heck of it, so I just shave every week or so whenever, but once you get to a week, quick, tidy shaving with razor actually becomes relatively harder. Can someone tell me if electric shaver works better for my purpose, or actually normal safety razor is still better?

How quickly does your facial hair grow? It's been my experience that after about 1/8" to 1/4", you don't want to use an electric razor to trim it. It'll work, sure, but that's because it'll be pulling the hair out at least as much as it's cutting it. Take clippers over it first to bring it down to shaving length.
If, however, you're thinking about using clippers to keep stubble down to a civilized length, then that works out quite well.

[Fri]

If you're actually suggesting that you shave once a week with an electric, that might well work--you might need to up it to twice a week, though.

Yes, sorry for being unclear. I'm talking about shaving once every week or so with an electric shaver because I'm too lazy to shave every day when I'm not required to, but after a week my beard got long enough that safety razor can't easily shave it. I'm wondering if electric shaver could actually make the task easier.

[snowblizz]

Oooh. Any luck, well, I've never used a blade on my face. I'm scared to death of trying. Dunno why. Maybe saw the wrong movies as a kid with my friends. There's just no way for me to mentally connect "safety" with "razor blade". I was always of the impression the electric shaver is nicer on your skin, but nowadays I'm not so sure. To get a really close shave with the newest shaver I have to go over quite slowly and "deep".

Best one I ever had was a Phillips with 2 circular cutters and a trimmer/clipper part on the back the flipped out. Never nicked myself (and yes you can if you really try, I've done it, but it's never going to be near as bad as blade afaict) no matter how hard I pressed it into the skin. Chargeable so could run on battery and was small. Sadly the trimmer/clipper part stopped working and I had to abandon it. Served me for 15 years at least. Then I had a Braun with non circular blades. Not as nice. It gave out much faster or might not have had the clipper/triummer thing not sure. I know I replaced it in a couple years with a new Phillips. 3 circular cutters, sweet! Well turns out not quite.
It depends on how big an area you regularly shave. About 5 years ago I decided I'd see how long a beard I can grow (don't ask where it ends atm, board rules probably won't let me say, but airport security looks at me funny...). For 15 years+ before that I had a goatee. Which essentially means I only shave the upperlip (for some reason can't abide the idea of a moustache, teenage trauma that I think) and do some maintenance above the beardline. Here that 3rd circular cutter starts to get in the way. The 2 cutters version would be more easily restricted to the lip only. My current one supposed to have them independently moving so can follow contours of face easier. It also survives water and you are actually supposed to rinse it off with water for cleaning. I agree with those who say it's prolly easier not to, those wet hairs like to stick to it.

What works for someone specifically will depend a lot. Mine grows in quite thick and I'd like to say rather fast. I now only do bit of trimming down of the stubble once a week unless there's somewhere "public" I need to be. Usually I run the clipper/trimmer part to cut it all down to a 1-3 day stubble (it gets pretty long in a week). But you can actually use the circular cutters to slowly trim down long hairs, just don't try it with anything measured in centimeters, it will just catch, snag and pull. Sometimes I don't bother with the circular part at all though. This is where having the closeshaver and trimmer/clipper option is so golden.

The one thing I can say with absolute certianty is make sure the electric shaver comes with the option to trim/clipp. Don't ever think you don't need it. One day the hairs in your ear will start growing long or something and you'll want that anyway.

I can't say I've ever gotten a completely clean shave with my electric shaver. Obviously as mention up top I have somewhat limited experience of blade shaving to compare to. But it seems no matter how much time with the electric shaver you can always feel some stubble if you press hard enough. Not that it shows, but some spot will be a bit sandpapery. No matter much lift-cut-release of hairs the manufacturer claims in the commercials.

Another thing to remember is that you are supposed to switch out the blades on an electric shaver too. I never really got around to it, so not sure what the timescale for that is. But if it pulls more than cuts you probably should be getting replacement cutters.

[shawnhcorey]

I've been tempted to get electric shaver for a while, because my office's dress code doesn't actually need me to shave, and I'm too lazy to shave daily just for the heck of it, so I just shave every week or so whenever, but once you get to a week, quick, tidy shaving with razor actually becomes relatively harder. Can someone tell me if electric shaver works better for my purpose, or actually normal safety razor is still better?

No, electric razors do not work well if the hairs are long. For that matter, blades don't work well either. You may find it faster to shorten the beard with scissors first, then shave.

Or just say to heck with it and grow a beard. :smallsmile:

[ngilop]

I can only speak for myself.

I dislike electric razors. When shaving with one ( a 90 dollar norelco at the time, they are closer to 160 nowadays) and I found I had to shave with it twice a day. Because shaving once a day led to me waking up the next day with what would be a 3 day old beard via a razor.

So I gave up. I just stick to my mach 3 and some heated shaving cream.

I guess if you are in a pinch and need to be clean shaven and you just shaved the day before an electric razor is wonderful.

Do not attempt an electric razor if you have anything resembling a 5 o'clock shadow because it HURTS...alot.

[factotum]

Another thing to remember is that you are supposed to switch out the blades on an electric shaver too. I never really got around to it, so not sure what the timescale for that is. But if it pulls more than cuts you probably should be getting replacement cutters.

It's not something I've ever done, and my old Philips shaver was knocking on the door of 20 years old when it finally gave up the ghost. You do need to regularly clean out the shaver heads, though, because little bits of hair tend to build up inside the cutters and the gunk will eventually push the cutting blades away from the head, meaning the shave gets worse over time.

[Knaight]

No, electric razors do not work well if the hairs are long. For that matter, blades don't work well either. You may find it faster to shorten the beard with scissors first, then shave.

A proper buzzer can generally deal with fairly long hair (by facial hair) standards pretty easily as well. I wouldn't bring them out as the first thing for a three foot long beard*, but three inches? No problem.

*Not that I can grow a three foot long beard.

[Tvtyrant]

I have stereotypical stupid facial hair. It grows extremely thick on my cheeks and neck, a tiny wisp on my upper lip and two disparate spots on my chin. As such I have to shave my neck constantly while I can ignore my chin and lips for weeks at a time.

I use a razor in the shower, because otherwise I end up having uneven grizzle and look like a nerd stereotype. I also have freckles and fair skin, so if I let hair grow anywhere the skin turns lily white while the skin exposed to the sun is dotted. Electric shavers can't get close enough to get sunlight on my skin, so I end up looking like a frog...

[Giggling Ghast]

I "shave" by pulling my beard hairs out with my bare hands. Hurts like hell, but it's nowhere near as bad as when I do some manscaping.

[Tvtyrant]

I "shave" by pulling my beard hairs out with my bare hands. Hurts like hell, but it's nowhere near as bad as when I do some manscaping.

I use a razor for that...

[137beth]

I tried a bunch of different electric razors over the years. Most of the ones I tried barely took off hair, and broke fairly quickly even though I was cleaning them using the provided instructions.

A couple years ago I bought a really expensive ($250) electric razor that had a lot of good reviews on Amazon. It worked for about a year before it stopped charging, and the company that made it wasn't selling replacement chargers. After that, I walked down the street and bought a $5 manual razor that takes off more hair than the $250 electric razor did before it broke.

Nowadays I shave in the shower. I've occasionally considered laser hair removal.

[factotum]

Wow, what the heck is your stubble made of? Adamantium? Even the cheapest electric I've ever owned didn't break after a year!

[shawnhcorey]

A couple years ago I bought a really expensive ($250) electric razor that had a lot of good reviews on Amazon. It worked for about a year before it stopped charging, and the company that made it wasn't selling replacement chargers. After that, I walked down the street and bought a $5 manual razor that takes off more hair than the $250 electric razor did before it broke.

It's not the recharger that needs replacing; it's the battery. Usually a battery lasts 2-3 years. It seems strange since the life of a rechargeable battery depends on the number of times it is recharged, not on how often it is used. You can usually find replacement batteries online.

[factotum]

It seems strange since the life of a rechargeable battery depends on the number of
times it is recharged, not on how often it is used. You can usually find replacement batteries online.

It also depends on the charge state of the battery. If you leave it plugged into the charger at all times, so the battery is always at 100% charge, that's actually not good for it either--they tend to like being around 70% charge. This is why mobile phone batteries tend to last longer than laptop ones--the actual battery is identical, but the usage of it is very different.

[paddyfool]

Being in a relationship with a girl with sensitive skin I've had to switch to actually having a beard (the choice being that or shaving multiple times a day). Which has proven really convenient for me - once you're through the itchy stage it's warm, comfortable, and only needs trimming about once a week to keep it neat.

[shawnhcorey]

It also depends on the charge state of the battery. If you leave it plugged into the charger at all times, so the battery is always at 100% charge, that's actually not good for it either--they tend to like being around 70% charge. This is why mobile phone batteries tend to last longer than laptop ones--the actual battery is identical, but the usage of it is very different.

Depends on the battery. NiCd, NiMH, and lithium batteries all have different characteristics. NiCd are being used less and less. NiMH are common in razors because they are a lot cheaper than lithium. Comparing razors to phones or laptops doesn't make much sense since razors typically have NiMH and phones and laptops have lithium.

[Keltest]

Being in a relationship with a girl with sensitive skin I've had to switch to actually having a beard (the choice being that or shaving multiple times a day). Which has proven really convenient for me - once you're through the itchy stage it's warm, comfortable, and only needs trimming about once a week to keep it neat.

The only down side ive discovered is that it needs to be washed pretty thoroughly or its going to spew out some random bit of dandruff or food or something that got caught in it and I didn't notice.

This may be less of a problem for people who don't have extremely curly beards.