On shaving

My facial hair has slowly emerged over the last 15 years. First there was fluffy peach fuzz, then some of it grew longer and eventually darker hairs started to come in. After about 5 years I had a pattern that could loosely be described as a bit of a goatee.

My moustache is thinly spaced and does not join in the middle. Only recently has a thinish line of hair started to link that to my chin. My chin coverage is patchy on places, it does not fill in fully. More recently, almost as if a switch has flicked, I've started to get visible hairs on my cheeks, and some hairs start to emerge in the sideburn areas. The one area that did become quite hairy quite fast was my neck. I could grow a neck beard! But they are ugly so I won't.



Learning to shave was another step into the unknown. In the end I asked a M2F friend to explain the basics and things to watch out for. She was not at all impressed by the request, but did explain all about washing my face beforehand, letting the shaving foam rest on my face for a while, what razor burn, was and the importance of shaving in the right direction. These are things are all worth knowing.

I started out with an electric shaver. This was fine for a while, but as I was consciously in stealth mode and keen not to actually transition until I was routinely being seen as male I found the shave it gave convenient, but not particularly close. As darker hair started to emerge in small areas I could guarantee that it would be visible during the afternoon at work. That took me to wet shaving, which I've been doing with a cassette razor for about the last 10 years or so.

There has been a fashion for multi-bladed cassette razors for as long as I can remember. I found that once they go beyond 2 blades, they are too big and awkward for my face. Long before I started transitioning I bought a Gilette Mach 2 because I wanted a razor even if I didn't need to shave and because its a Trans thing. I liked the weight and feel of it, and occassionally shaves the girly fluff off my face just because I could. I use it with canned shaving get, either Gilette or Nivea, for sensitive skin. The Mach 2 is a very old model of razor now. It was already deprecated when I started to actually transition, and I fortunately had the foresight to buy a job lot of 50 multi-packs of blades before they became impossible to find. I can make the blade last quite a long time by using a Razor Pit (Amazon Affiliate Link). I am only now coming towards the end of my casette blade stash and so the time has come to find an alternative.

This takes me onto the safety razor. Some years ago on holiday I realised I'd left my razor at home and bought a cheap safety razor from Boots plus some razor blades. I didn't like it and cut myself using it, so it went into the bathroom cabinet where it had been forgotten. This morning I dusted it off, put in a new blade and shaved with it. I guess a few more years using the casette razor has made me more confident and competent and I had a really close shave which I really enjoyed.I did manage to nick my chin, but only mildly and I will get better at it with practice.

One piece of the puzzle I had been missing was what to put on my face after shaving. I'd found I didn't need to use anything after the electric razor or the casette razor, but my skin was uncomfortably dry after the safety razor this morning. After a bit of research I concluded that shaving balm was what was needed to sooth my skin, and after stopping off on the way home I have applied some sensitive skin shaving balm which has worked a treat in moisturing and making my face feel much better.

A few months back I had to travel for work and ended up staying in a posh hotel with an extendable shaving mirror in the bathroom. This turned out to be so much better than peering into a normal bathroom mirror, so I have installed one at home. The bathroom is now increasingly full of my shaving gear and I think the safety razor will become my new standard. I may even look at getting a better quality one along with a shaving brush, bowl and stand. I like the increasingly masculinity of my bathroom, and maybe one day I will be in a position where I can actually grow a convincing beard. I'd also like to be able to have a proper shave in a barber's without anyone questioning my right to be there. This may take some time....