2mo ago

Body and Facial Shaving Products

Heya,

I've been looking into razors and trimmers to take care of facial and body hair, including sensitive areas. Just looking up these products shows that pretty much anything as explicitly male or female marketed, including not just stereotypical elements like colour and such, but also explicitly calling themselves "for men" or "for women".

Is there anything to this label? Does it actually make any difference or are these just arbitrary visual differences?

Also, do people here have good recommendations for what to go for? It'd be nice to have something that maybe makes it a little easier than using disposable normal razors, as that's associated with some major constant effort and has some less fulfilling results in sensitive areas.

Thanks for reading!

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The plain old double-edge safety razors that I (cis m) use for my face and my wife (cis f) uses for her sensitive areas etc. take exactly the same (standard) blades.
In fact, the blades only vary by non-gendered things like sharpness and cutting angle. We bought a sampler pack off Amazon for maybe $10 quite a long time ago and haven't used it up yet.
The razors themselves are slightly gendered (mine has a short black handle; hers has a longer silver handle with neat blue mid-century starbursts), but that's only because we chose them to be.

Ive never actually confirmed this, but cis girl friends of mine always told me to get the razors "for men" because theyre supposed to work better (and because of pink-tax they're often cheaper :3)
For wet body shaves, i would recommend starting with one that has many blades and then later switching to a double edged safety razor when you've got the flow down. I also recommend getting some body shaving gel for women. Dont use to much pressure and go over the places you shaved with cold water, it's supposed to close the pores. Ive had issues with ingrown hair before HRT so i got myself a ladyshaver, mine is from Phillips. If you don't get grossed out by it, you can buy them used for a lot cheaper. I also got a cleanser with salicylic acid from cera ve and have been using that for the last 1½ years. Works well for me :) Remember to use moisturizer after shaving, your skin will thank you.
I shave my face with a gilette fusion razor because it's worked better than any other method for me in the past, but the blades are crazy expensive. I recommend using a moisturizer instead of an after shave (iirc the alcohol dries your skin).
Edit: Important thing to avoid razor burn: try to remember your hair growth pattern. For me the hairs on my Thighs grow sideways and not shaving sideways there caused a lot of razor burn.
- Big up recommending moisturiser. In addition to this, I have found that exfoliating before is a huge help.
  Also your hair direction tip is a big one. Sometimes I get impatient and shave against the hair grain because it's quicker to get a close shave that way, but I always end up regretting it due to ingrown hairs and other irritation

I think it's almost entirely marketing.
Anecdata:
using a "men's" face razor on one's legs will blunt it far quicker (and make it so it can't be used on the face anymore). I have heard it suggested that maybe razors intended for shaving legs are more durable for this purpose, but I think that the skin on the legs is probably more forgiving towards blunt blades.
When I was using either men's or women's razors depending on whatever was cheapest, I found that the most consistent determiner of shave quality was fresh razors (especially as I tend to not change blades often enough, partly because they're bloody expensive)
due to this, I switched to using double edged safety razors. The blades are cheap as hell and I got a way better shave. It was intimidating at first, but easier than I expected. (Get a little box or tin to dispose of old razors in). The cheap blades encouraged me to switch more often.
The technique is a bit different from what disposable razors require, so I'd maybe recommend getting a double edged safety razor, but allowing yourself some time to practice using it on less sensitive areas (using things you're more familiar with for those areas in the mean time)
As well as cost, I get far better results, including fewer ingrown hairs. Now I'm used to this new kind of razor, even shaving my vulva and butt-crack is quite straightforward and quick. I have only cut myself once or twice using a double edged safety razor, and it was when I was being a dumbass and not taking my usual level of care. Just make sure you use plenty of soap/foam (hair conditioner works great too)
- Safety razors are the best, it's the only way I can shave now.

its not easier than disposable cartridges at first, but i think that getting a saftey razor was the best choice i made, i just got a cheap one from a drug store for 15 bucks, its just silver, not really gendered at all, and i get disposable blades online, blades are cheap, and not full of plastic. i get really sharp ones, i think that they help me to get a really nice, shave. the disposable ones tend not to be very sharp so they wont cut the hair as well, i never got a good shave with one felt like. i switched and once i got the hang of it after about a week, i started to get really close shaves that would give me really smooth skin and not much hair noticeable to the touch for 12 hours, and not noticeable to the eye for 24 hours. its not for everybody, i do still cut my lip occasionally, but i would not go back personally.

Not really, no. The main difference is that body razors have a differently shaped razor attachment. It's a bit wider and has a bevel around it to make it easier to use on parts of your body with curves like your legs. They also usually have different built-in skin hydrating bars or whatever they're called to make it easier on your skin, I think. Honestly, I'm not too clear on it, haha.
I shave using the Schick hydro silk razors once a week. I usually don't get any cuts and if I do I replace the blade. I have a pack of 9 that you can buy to have on hand. You should replace them regularly cause when they get dull, they're more likely to dig in and cut you. I use sensitive skin shaving cream, no particular brand whatevers on sale. I also use this razor on sensitive areas once a week and find it works just fine. I have a specific shaving routine to try and minimize in grown hairs and skin irritation. Whenever I shave, and whenever I shower more generally, I use a body lotion to keep my skin hydrated. Super easy to dry out and that will also impact your results with body shaving.
On the higher end there's still like epilators and IPL devices, which might be worth looking into long term. Shaving suits me fine. For me it's worth the half an hour time investment once a week.

I use a Philips Norelco 2000-series electric foil shaver for face, chest, forearms, calves, and tummy, which combined is like 80% of my shaving activities. It works really well for me in those broad and relatively taut-skin areas, but very poorly on insides of joints like armpit where it tends to pinch. Blades last forever and it is quickly more cost effective over disposable or cartridge razors and is also quick easy, and causes a lot less razor burn for face shaving for me than anything else.
For the rest I use a mix of cheap disposable 2-blade razors on areas where I really want a new clean blade every time for hygiene purposes and a multiblade cartridge/"cartridge razor". I was using the gillette proglide 5-blade cartridges which work well but cost a lot, but eventually got a 3-blade leaf razor (safety razor in the form factor of a cartridge razor) which I have liked tremendously for thighs, armpits, and other areas the foikd shaver doesn't work well for.

I am not trans but I have been shaving anf keeping trimmed down south since the 1990's. I highly recommend the Philips Norelco OneBlade system for 99% of the work then finishing up the nethers in the shower with a Gillette Mach3 for when you need extra smoothness to the touch.

'mens' and 'womens' disposable razors supposedly have slight difference in geometry, but mostly it's just marketing. either sort will cut any hair just fine.

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