Why I Shave my Face

Alright, we can turn off the alarms, silence the bullhorns and call of the dogs...but yes, I identify as female and shave my whole face...with a razor. I can already hear the calls of mothers warning that now the hair will grow back thicker and before long I will resemble our simian ancestors but I am here to tell you that approximately a year and a half later, the only thing I have to show for it is soft, glowy skin.

Obligatory disclaimer: Just like everything else in the realm of self-care and health, this is personal and will depend on each person. Some people will see similar results and some people will not want to repeat this. I recommend this to my mom and she hated it because she was convinced her hair grew back thicker. But it is a myth that your hair will grow back thicker if you shave it. Now, with that out of the way, let's get started!

Benefits of Dermaplaning

Dermaplaning is a great way to physically exfoliate the skin. As opposed to abrasive scrubs or harsh cleaning tools, dermaplaning can be controlled and adjusted as needed. If you have ever seen a guy that looks better than a woman around the same age but doesn't have a skin care routine, you can credit regular face shaving, it's essentially a mild microdermabrasion. Exfoliating the top layer can also help with mild hyperpigmentation by expediting skin regeneration. On top of that, removing the layer of dead skin allows topical skincare products to sink in deeper, making them more effective. This is important to keep in mind because you do not ever want to derma plane over active acne. You can risk damaging your skin further and spreading the acne bacteria. Lastly, if you wear makeup, it can allow your makeup to have a much smoother, cleaner base. Primer and foundation will look that much better when they aren't texturized by peach fuzz.

What do you use?

I started off using Tinkle eyebrow razors, found easily on Amazon. These are very beginner-friendly as they have a safety-guard and cuts and nicks tend to be minimal. Like, you would really have to dig into your skin to cut it. It is great for getting peach fuzz and the top layer of dead skin off. However, after several months, I noticed that I wasn't seeing the same results with this results. I am guessing it's because the before-and-after just wasn't as dramatic. My all-over peach fuzz was consistently gone, I rarely had dead skin on my face so the Tinkle razor wasn't getting much of anything with each dermplaning session. If I were to go to a professional, they would use a medical-grade scalpel but I wasn't crazy enough to try that. I needed something in between...but what?

That's when I found the Tinksky razor (not sure why these brands sound like fairies in Neverland!) and noted that the reviews commented on how much sharper this was. Unlike Tinkle, the end wasn't rounded off and there was no mention of the safety edge. A few people commented that they had cut themselves so I figured this would deliver a much closer shave. And it does! Fantastic at getting not only the hairs that are growing back, I am also able to loosen dead skin to the point that my the new exposed skin is tight and ready for hydration.

When I am shaving for hair removal purpose (usually once a month if I have not been touching up spots as I notice them), I like to use the Too Cool for School Egg Mousse soap. It lathers like shaving cream and well, I had it handy. It softens the hair and skin so the razor glides closer while keeping my skin supple enough to not get caught or cut. This is especially crucial for areas like the orbital socket and cheekbones where I don't have as much room to navigate the blade. I have also seen others use aloe vera or oil so that may be my next step once I finish the soap.

However, I notice that I get a lot less dead skin when I use the wet method so occasionally I like to dry shave. This does mean I have to move carefully and slowly so I typically only use this on areas like my upper lip or forehead. Before progressing to the dry method, make sure you are very comfortable with navigating the blade and how much pressure you need to apply. The dry method is much less forgiving and requires a steady hand.

So why do people say your hair will grow back thicker??

So, first of all, not all hair is created the same. Just look at the hair on your arm versus the hair on your leg and that on your head. As you can see the density and thickness of hair varies on where it is growing. The hair density/thickness is not something that occurs at the surface, which is where you are shaving the hair, it occurs at the follicular level. 

However, as you can see from the diagram above or if you have ever held an eyelash in your hand, hair growth tapers off at the end. So it is thicker at the base which is what we see when we see it growing back in. If you were to let the hair grow out, you would see that it tapers off and is the same thickness as it was before. Besides, if all it took was shaving hair to make it thicker, baldness would be non-existent.

TLDR (Too long, didn't read)

Basically, yes...you can shave your face. Go slow and gauge your own comfort level to see if this is right for you but you can proceed with the confidence that your hair will not grow back thicker!