Sly Bald Guys' Blog

Whether I'm shaving my face or my head I hate when I cut myself shaving and I figure that you probably do also. Here are some tips to help you avoid that dreaded slice into your skin.

1. Use a fresh razor

An old blade will make it harder to shave your hair and will instead rip the hair out. This can cause you to use excess pressure on the blade, thus leading you to cut your skin as well as your hair. Depending on the coarseness of your hair, a razor will on average last between 5 and 7 days. Some guys can go longer with a razor if they have really soft hair, but as a rule, I change my blade every Monday.

2. Moisten the hair

It's best to shave in the shower as it will moisten up the hairs and allow for an easier shave. But if you don't like that idea you can put a hot towel on the stubble to moisten it up.

3. Exfoliate

Exfoliating your face/head will help soften the hair even more, making it easier to shave. Some of the exfoliaters I recommend are HeadShed or St. Ives Apricot Scrub. There are also more expensive brands that you can get as well.

4. Get the right shaving cream, gel, or oil

There have been great advances in shaving creams, gels, and oils to allow for a much slicker shaving surface than the old school shave cream in an aerosol can. The slicker the shaving surface, the less friction the blade will have as it glides across your face or head. The less friction, the less likely that your going to use too much pressure and dig the blade into your skin.

If you're cutting yourself a lot, you may want to consider using both a shaving oil and a cream or gel on top of the oil. This will provide more protection for your skin.

For recommendations on which shaving cream, gel or oil to use, check out the Product Review section.

5. Use long strokes

Using long strokes can help you keep even pressure on the blade versus using short strokes.

6. Let the blade to the work

The main cause of cutting your self is applying too much pressure on the blade. Let the blade do the work. It's better to err on too little pressure than too much as you can always go back for another pass.

7. Concentrate

Try not to day dream when you are shaving. I usually find that I cut myself if I'm day dreaming and not concentrating on what I'm doing.

If you do cut yourself, check out the post on How To Stop The Bleeding.

Enjoy your next shave!

Whether your shaving your head, face, or other parts of your body, it can be a real pain when you cut yourself. Not only does it hurt, but then you have to figure out how to stop the bleeding. The usual reaction is to grab a tissue and compress the cut with the tissue or tear off a bit to stick on the cut until the bleeding stops. This can work, but who wants to run around with a tissue hanging off their face or head?

Instead, you can use a Styptic Pencil. A styptic or hemostatic pencil is a short stick of medication, usually anhydrous aluminum sulfate (a type of alum) or titanium dioxide, which is used for stanching blood by causing blood vessels to contract at the site of the wound. It looks like a solid white stick of lip stick.

Styptic Pencils are easy to use as you just need to wet it and then apply it to the cut. It will sting a bit, but the bleeding should stop in a matter of seconds.

Styptic Pencils are very inexpensive and can usually be purchased for around $1.50 at the drug store.

If you don't have a Styptic pencil nearby, you can always try putting some cayenne pepper on the wound as people have claimed that this will help stop the bleeding as well.

I was recently at Whole Foods checking out the products that they have for shaving. While there, I ran across some Kiss My Face Shave Cream in a 1 oz travel size and figured, for $1.29 I should give it a shot. I've also seen other reviews of Kiss My Face on other shaving sites.

My review:

Kiss My Face Moisture Shave Cream is a non-foaming lotion similar to some of the more highly regarded shave creams that I've reviewed. Upon lathering it up, it was a little thicker than the other non-foaming creams that I've used which caused me to think that it would provide more protection than the other creams.

With my first pass, I found that the cream was not as slick as some of the more popular shaving creams. I think this was due to the thickness of the cream. As I made more passes, I found that more water was being added to the mix and causing the cream to become more slick than the first pass.

Overall the shave was above average as I got a close shave with minimal irritation. I would give it an overall rating of 3.75 out of 5. If you're in a bind and need some shaving cream, then I'd pick this over any of the typical products you find in an aerosol can.

Pros:

Non-foaming
Inexpensive
Available in chains such as Whole Foods
All natural
Fragrant free - at least the Fragrant Free product is. You can get it in Peach, Lime, Mint, Lavender, and Vanilla if you desire.

Cons:

Not as slick as other non-foaming creams.
The shave close, but not really close.

I recently received a Preserve Razor Triple in the mail asking me to review it. The razor is made by a company called Recycline, that specializes in recyclable products. In reading the packaging I was very curious about this razor because of the fact that it can be recycled when you're done with it. On top of being able to be recycled this razor handle is environmentally friendly because it's made from recycled Stonyfield Fram yogurt cups.

I opened up the package and found the razor to be very light! This made me even more curious as to how it would perform as most razor handles have a bit of weight to them. The model that was sent to me came with two triple blades which appear to be Personna Tri-Flexx blades. The good news about this is that it's compatible with the Sensor Excel blades that I already use! They also offer a double blade model and replacement blades for both.

In shaving with it, it handled great despite having little weight to it. Actually, I think it's lack of weight helped it in some of the more awkward areas.

Overall this is a great product, especially because it's so environmentally friendly. The handle is completely recyclable in communities in with #5 plastics recycling or with Recycline's postage-paid mailer you can just mail it back to them to recycle.

Check your local Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or health food store for this product. Or you can get them at http://www.recycline.com.

We're getting all kinds of great entries for the Clear HeadBlade Giveaway! Below is just one sample of these entires. If you're interested in a free HeadBlade Sport that is Clear, head over to the Clear HeadBlade Giveaway section of the forum to learn how you can get yours!