joyblack

Norelco razors are now sold under the name Philips Norelco in the US -- the men's razors were always sold as Philishave in other markets and are now being sold as Philips.

I've tried wet shaving but it irritates my skin no end. I've also tried other electric razors -- some irritate my skin, most are noisier than the Philips Norelco ones and none are smoother.

Most electric razors can't get as close as a blade razor because they all have some foil or head covering the cutting blade. The Philips Norelco men's models claim to get round that by a cutting blade which first of all grips the hair and places it under tension while the guard presses the skin down. The hair is then cut at a level which will be below the skin when the cut hair is released.

To me, the things that make my Philips Norelco rechargeable good are
* it's completely non-irritant and it's the only method of shaving that's been that way for me
* it takes only seconds to shave in the morning as opposed to ages for wet shaving
* I can take it with me and shave anywhere
* it's quieter than any other electric razor I've used or heard
* it's brilliant on stubbly hair growth.

On the negative side, all men's-type razors are pretty useless on anything longer than very short stubble. They're designed to cut the hair as it appears and designed to cut hard, stiff, bristly hair and aren't great on soft hair or on anything longer than about 1/16" maximum.

Your skin always takes time to adjust to any method of shaving, so whatever you change to, give it six weeks before you decide whether or not it suits you.

As regards models people use, that's not going to help you a great deal because Philips Norelco seem to change their model numbers very frequently indeed and do some "specials" that are available only thorugh particular chains of stores. The more expensive ones are better in terms of having heads which articulate better making shaving faster, in having different designs of shaving heads and in terms of battery life. However there's a battery model with only two heads of an older design which you can probably find around $20 or less, though it's not currently listed in their catalog. Rechargeable ones start around $30. Make sure it's a model with rotary heads and make sure it's one of the ones designed for men's use. There's absolutely no use trying to use a "women's" razor on beard growth, becuase they're designed for long, sparse, soft hair.

Hope this helps.

Joy

gigglygina

I've tried depilatories and ended up with a face and neck full of burns. Not to mention it smells like a rotten egg.

I tried waxing. It hurt like the dickens and since my hair is black the new growth was immediately visible.

I tried bleaching. Yeah, blond facial hair with black roots, lovely.

I won second prize at American Laser Centers just to find out it was $300 off of a $2000 package. Whoopie!! Not!

I shower daily and wash my face to soften things up. I use Keri Shave Minimizing Moisture Therapy. I can't find it in stores anymore so I have to go to Amazon.com. Then I use a sharp Gillette Good News Pivot Plus with the moisture strip. It gets close enough for me. When the red bumps get going I use my Norelco 8200 Series with Remington Face Saver, Pre-Shave powder stick. That stuff is amazing. I can get it at Walgreens, but you can also purchase it online at Buzzillions.com.

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Mom to Cameron age 13. Such a hard age! I wish I was back at the terrible two's!

Mom to 2 furbabies. Mrs. Bud (my 10 year old altered female tuxedo kitty)
Meeno ( my 5 year old altered male tuxedo kitty)

SUGA'RICAN

I'm with ya sis'. I have to shave daily! I hate this feeling and i wish it could jsut go away. Just get up in the am and free to do whatever without taking to step in the shower before I do anything...
Hope the best for all.

Dee_

Hi - I am new to the boards.

I use to have to shave every day, but have started laser therapy on my chin, neck and face. I cannot rave more about this treatment, I have only had 4 treatments but noticed a difference after the 1st.

I have only started my met. meds as well - so the treatment worked for me without it. It does hurt a lot but seriously I am so happy I did this and only wish I had started earlier. I still have a few treatments to do but I can go a whole week without shaving now and the hair is getting so light and fine.

I hadn't had any success with even waxing before.

SUGA'RICAN

I'm new here too! Glad to hear about your results. what kind laser? what kind of growth did you have. I didnt shave complety prior to the laser, but it was imperative for me to that in between session, now that I stopped I have those stubbles coming out by the evening. I have to shave daily. I dont currenlty see any bumps or a lot of redness, so far, well I think... lol But, lookig forward to go back to the states and do the laser.
woot woot!

I wish I could post pics...

Sharmayla

Joy - Have you ever wanted laser or electrolysis? Just curious.

Dee_

I still have to shave between sessions, but not nearly as much and it's thinned as well as patchy so parts of the hair is just not growing back. I had a lot of the bumps and redness first two times, but since then the other two I haven't had as much redness and hardly no bumps.

My skin is so much smoother there even between the lasers (when I have to shave) when I use to shave I could still feel it beneath the skin and now I don't. Even though I am not goin to lie, the treatment hurts - but because it's something I really wanted I can stick it out, plus it literally takes 10mins from me walking in, getting my face and lip done and paying for it.

This is what is on the website of the place I go to RE the laser they use.


VARIABLE PULSED LIGHT
THE ENERGIST ULTRA

The Energist Ultra VPL delivers a sequence of rapid pulses of light into the skin to successfully treat a wide variety of skin imperfections.

SUGA'RICAN

Thanks for the update. I had the same results when I did laser with ALC... not bad. But, still needed to shave. As you mentioned, yes they are patches where they hair do not grow... but I have to tame it, so that's why I shave daily. Some parts I dont grow hair, it's all sporadic places, but lots of hairs and dark.

And about the skin imperfections... I did noticed better skin on the areas wehre the laser was used. It did hurt some, but she asked me the setting...ha ha, started at 5 and I told her nope, I can deal with the sting, so they went up to 7 I think....

Cool! Hope you get better and better!

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Dee_

Oh Cool!

Mine use to be very dark and coarse but now it's quite light and fine - don't get me wrong I still have to shave just not as much (upto a week between sometimes). I think it'll just get better with the treatments as I have only had 4.

How many treatments have you had? I was really worried about the settings as from my background I was prone to have the skin discolouration, but none of that has happened!!

SUGA'RICAN

And we meet again! lol

Mine are out with a vengeance, I guess because I started the treatment without any medications... just the laser treatment. I only did 7 months I think.. It got better, but then started shaivng again. I think it got so much better I was waiting ponytails at one time.. awwww, I want that feeling again. It;s no as bad when I shave everday.. but Woww days like yesterday, my sundays? where I just letting grow? Yeah those days I get really sad, But I just do it to take a break.

I got fair skin and dark coarse hairs... I 'm most def giving it another try.

Thanks for the posts. good luck

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MegsInOntario

insulite has helped calm my hair down...it's the saw palmetto in it but you cannot take this while preggers.

scarletwalks

I shave my face everyday too, and if I am really bold I tackle the body hair-which is just horrible. I think I hate the hair on my chest and stomach the worst-not so ladylike. I have just gotten used to shaving my face, although my dr. just suggested magic powder. I am kinda scared but I might use it.

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SUGA'RICAN

Scarlet,

I understand what you are you experiecing as I shave my face eeveryday and have to wax my own chest is not growing the dark and course type due to the waxing- using Parrissa wax strips. The stomach hair I been letting grow to wax and avoid ingrown hairs, I'm trying to do this now, so they can grow softer.

Let us know how the magic powder works, I will try to using else where, but fear to have it on my face.

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joyblack

Nothing wrong with being curious :-).

Of course I've thought about all the various options. I recognize fully that each of these options is likely to be the best for some women and I don't want to denigrate any of them, but for me in my personal situation, the way I look at the options is as follows:


* Bleaching -- Not for me, because when someone would see me against the light I'd look as if you had a glowing moustache and beard. In any case, I've far too heavy a growth for that to make any sense at all.

* Waxing, plucking, threading, epilating all pull the hair out by the roots and since my moustache and beard growth is hormonally-driven there's a distinct possibility that in my case it might actually stimulate a dormant follicle into producing more hair quicker. Those methods of hair removal also distort the root if done repeatedly, leading to hair growing at strange angles. And I would have to let the hair grow to quite a length before I could repeat the exercise. These methods can also damage the skin and discolor it and long-term use of waxing can also cause wrinkles. And added to all that, my moustache and beard growth is so coarse that it's questionable whether those methods would work effectively anyway. Not to mention the fact that I'm chicken when it comes to pain.

* Chemical depilatories strong enough to remove coarse, male-type hair are very likely to burn the skin, cause swelling and cause long-term discoloration of the skin. My skin is very sensitive indeed.

* Laser is effective in a lasting way only when the hormones are under control so that they remain within the range normal for females. If I had had major fertility problems I would have been willing to try something that would help with infertility problems and that would also probably reduce male-type hair growth. However I was able to conceive naturally and didn't want to do anything that might risk affecting that ability, so I've simply let my hormones be as they naturally are. Additionally, I wouldn't want to risk a declining libido or have the sort of personality change my older sister had when she went on hrt. On top of all that, I know several women who have been burned and suffered discoloration by incompetent use of laser and in any case it only works effectively on a dark hair/light skin combination -- my moustache and beard growth are certainly very dark on my upper lip and chin, but some of the rest of my beard growth is quite light in color.

* Electrolysis also requires hormone balance to be in the female range in order to be lasting and again I know women who have suffered scarring and disoloration of the skin.

Which, like it or not, leaves shaving which does not damage the skin and does not cause the hair to grow more or coarser or faster. I have to admit that I really don't find shaving any problem at all and perhaps I even enjoy it.

I certainly enjoy being who I am and I enjoy the hormone balance I have. At 15 I would have anything to be a "normal" female with proper breasts and no moustache. Now, I'm happy to have the hormone balance that's natural to me and I really reckon has given me far more fun than most women have.

Vankha

Hey,
I'm new here...I shave everyday as well, well, maybe every other day, it kind of depends on what it looks like or if I'm just going to the store...I have long hair so sometimes if I have a little stubble I'll just wear my hair down (long hair and don't care!)...I hate it, if I didn't shave though, I'd have a beard and hair on my chin...mustache hairs grow weird, like it's not uniform...
Can't wax it, even though I'd love to, the problem is, I'd have to get a wax AT LEAST once a week, once every three or four days is more like it though and that is way out of my budget to do. So shaving it is. I don't have the money to go to the DR to get meds, so I'll try and find something natural to use.
I know we all hate it, but I'm so glad I'm not alone!