Quote:
Originally Posted by nvictor  I'm afraid of the blade, but I don't want to have an aged face when I will be only 25 or 30.
What should I do in my case? |
Grow a beard?
The shaving products I use
________________________________
Seriously though, I use a blade (specifically, a
Schick Quattro), and I still get the "bumps" you mention on my neck. I've no idea what those bumps are, but I know it's from some sort of irritation from the blade. I can shave the rest of my face fine, but my neck has too many contours, so whenever I shave, it tends to graze my skin (not excessively, but enough that it's unpleasant).
I find if I'm really careful and don't apply much pressure, I can shave my neck and not get the irritation, but I usually end up with a spotty, hack-job shave that isn't very close. The irritation usually heals in about a day or so (provided I use some sort of moisturising lotion), so I'm not too concerned.
For shaving foam, I use:
NIVEA - Soothing Shaving Gel
I like the gel better then the foam, but they're very similar.
For an after-shave lotion I use:
NIVEA - Extra Soothing Balm
I use the lotion to help out my skin, not to make myself smell pretty. I've tried the
cooling balm lotion from Nivia, but it burns more then it refreshes, and also has the nasty-sounding "Alcohol Denat" (whatever that is) in it, so it's sitting on my shelf, unused. I give unused stuff like that to people who are going to use such products anyway, but I let them know such products probably aren't good for them so that they can make a conscious choice to carry on using them or not. I figure it's better then wasting it.
I haven't used too many brands, but Nivia seems to have fewer nasty-sounding ingredients, and I also find their products work well, so I continue to use them for now.
Better shaving options
________________________________
I was looking into better shaving options, and the
Philips moisturizing shaving system caught my eye. A plus is that it uses Nivia shaving products, so it could work pretty well. Use the link for more info on it. I'm yet to buy it, though (I need to use my cash for other things right now), but once I do have some spare cash, I'll look into it a bit more, and if the reviews hold up, I'll purchase one and see if I like it.
From the reviews I've seen of shavers in general, like computer mouses, it's really about getting one that works best for you and your preferences. There is no "best" solution that works for everyone. When reading reviews bare in mind that most people bias their reviews with their personal preferences and don't mention a lot of detail.
Is what I used tested on animals? Is it even healthy?
________________________________
I don't know. I'm yet to consciously look into the grooming products I use, but I've slowly started to move in that direction.
Eg. I used to use an antiperspirant, but I stopped that because I read it contained aluminum or some other nasty stuff you don't want on your skin. Also, I read about how antiperspirants work (they literally block your sweat glands), and I decided blocking glands that are there to cool your body and excrete toxins couldn't be healthy (although don't quote my on this, I'm no expert... I'm just using my usual approach of "if it isn't natural, it probably isn't healthy and it's easier to use natural stuff").
Now I use a deodorant crystal instead of an antiperspirant or excessive amounts of deodorant, mainly because I don't like the idea of putting chemicals on my skin every day. You can
read more about them here. The one I use is similar to the one on that page.
Long story short, body odor comes from bacteria that interacts with what you sweat out of your body, so blocking the sweat with antiperspirants isn't very logical. The crystal has natural materials that kill the bacteria, and I find it works very well (although it wears off after a while if you're sweating, and you'd need to wash and re-apply it to be odor-free). I still use some deodorant when I go out, but I use much less then I used to.
See the "Potassium Alum is not Aluminum" heading on
this page for more info on why these deodorant crystals are supposedly safe.
FYI, I get my deodorant crystals at my local Coles supermarket in the, err, "grooming" section with all the toiletries (this is in Australia, by the way).
My next step is to move towards completely natural deoderants, and I also want to more consciously look into the shaving and after-shaving lotions I use.
* * *
This is an interesting topic, and I'd love to hear what other people use to (successfully) keep their facial hair under control.