Electric Razor Question - Don't throw that boulder at me....

Looks like most of the forum deals with non-electric razors, so hopefully this is an OK place to post a question about an electric one.

Let me preface by saying that for the last 20 years i've been trimming my facial hair, with very occasional endeavors into shaving. At the moment i trim with Andies trimmer or manscaped lawnmower and the stub feels about right. If i want to go smooth i use gillete fussion and if i need to go bbs then i get out the fatboy with feather. As i get older and more and more of my facial hair transforms into "silver strands of experience and wisdom" I suspect i will have to trim shorter/more often and eventually shave more often...

Before i i get to the stage of everyday gillete or DE Safety razor shaving, i'd like to experiment with once/day or once per week electric shaving. I'd like to leave a little stub to reduce irritation / ingrown hair etc.

I am currently seriously looking at Braun series 9 razor. I don't want to mess around with cheap wanna-be razors, but i also have never shaved with an electric one and would like to figure out where in my future line-up razor like Braun Series 9 belongs. Will it cut so short that i end-up with hair below skin surface, basically like gillete fusion or feather on fatboy, OR will it still leave some roughness and leave some hair protection for the skin? One thing I do not like about using the trimmers like Andies (with 00000 head) or manscaped lawnmower 4 is that it feels like a shovel is digging into my face; but stubble length wise they are about right for what i'd like now. If there is a better choice for good quality shaver/trimmer that would cut with flat surface like Braun or Phillips, but not go to the gillete fussion closeness, i'd love to play with it.

Thanks ahead

 

Its been years since I used a Braun (or any) electric. I had more razor burn, ingrown hairs and just overall crappy shaves with it than I did with any multi-bladed contraption. I don't think they will leave stubble at all.

 

Way back, when I shaved every day with an electric, Braun became my preference.

I went to electrics after the original Atra refill carts dropped out for the more expensive Mach3 which left me with in-growns all the time.

I started using Remington Face Saver that came with my first electric. I never stopped using it with electrics.



It is paraffin wax and talc pressed into a stick. It made the razor glide and reduced irritation. I wanted shaves to be “not too close”.

Today I prefer mostly open edge but will shave with most stuff, something I wish I’d have learned to do well much sooner.

 

I haven't used a Braun series shaver in quite some time, but....I did move on from it. I seem to remember liking it for awhile, then it 'not working as well'. Maybe it's cause back then I didn't/couldn't find new blades for it very easily. Amazon (or mail order in general) has fixed that issue.

Currently, I have a Panasonic Arc 4. It still works very nicely, have replaced the cutters/foil twice. That really helps. No issues with ingrowns, stubble, or anything other than overshaving if I'm going at a BBS too diligently. Works best wet with lots of rinsing. I use it with a balm most times, not the same as @Edison Carter mentioned, it's just a Nivea cream.

Now that I know my beard mapping after starting almost exclusive wet shaving since Jan 2019, I get better shaves with it. However, like my other shaving methods.....the nemesis area for open edges (primary method of shaving 99.99% now), safety razors (AC/SE/DE styles), and the Arc 4 is the lower right neck & jawline. Growth there is UP and towards the ears. Takes attention to get the angle right.

 

What i came to realize is that i do not like the phase of hair growth that occurs between bbs and 8 o'clock shadow (takes me couple days to get there). I'd like to keep my face at the 8 o'cklock shadow level but without stabbing it with the trimmer shovel.

 

Have you tried the Phillips Norelco OneBlade?

I use one to groom the goat & stash but never tried the shave thing it is supposed to do.

 

I still use an electric foil shaver (braun) to touch up my straight razor shave on day two if my technique wasn't up to par on a spot. I use a Norelco double header (non-lift and cut version) to stretch out my two day SR shave to three days if I am in a hurry. All I can say is that an electric razor is inferior in every way to any quality single edge shave. Always more irritation, more razor burn if you try to get close, and if you have a rotary with the dreaded Lift-n-Cut system, guaranteed in grown hairs.

I would urge you to avoid any and all electric shavers as your primary means of shaving. Electrics have a place, but it is a very limited role if you want to have healthy skin.

 

pulled a trigger on Braun S9 9390cc. Hoping that with light touch it might do the job. Reviewers on youtobe said it is very gentle on the skin; so i am hoping that means it will leave some stub with light touch.

 

Please report back.

 

OMG BBS.
Just got it about 20 minutes ago (well got back home from work 20 minutes ago and it was here).
Let me preface by saying that over the course of my life i probably shaved between 100 and 1000 times total. Had full facial hair for the last 22 years. So my skin is pretty smooth since it was protected by hair the last 22 years of my life.
On the first use out of the box without shaving cream, just spashed some water on my face i got a BBS in about 5 minutes. Still have some rough patches on my chin, poor technique on my part, i am sure they will clean up...
Starting hair length was the lawnmower 4 + 1 day growth.

The smoothness of the shave is basically onpar with fatboy and feather blade.
I still see some dark spots where the hair used to be, which i do not see with fatboy and feather, so i would put the Braun S9 9390CC somewhere between gillete fussion and fatboy with feather.
When I applied aftershave it had less stinging than after either fatboy or gillete, so definitely less irritation.

Hard to quantify the amount of pulling/tugging vs gillete or fatboy, i just don't remember how much tugging gillete and fatboy have with properly lathered face, but definitely less tugging than gillete would be without soap, not even close. The tugging that did occur was so minimal that i did not hesitate to push the razor head into my skin and go over the same spot multiple times.

 

Yeah. It is definitely closer than i aimed for. After a bit more playing with my face I'd have to downgrade it to partial BBS. It is BBS with the grain, but i can still feel some hair going against the grain, even on easy places like cheeks.

 

Ain’t it great when a purchase you make brings satisfaction.

Congrats.

I appreciate your willingness to share.

If I had to get another electric, I’d want the best I could get.

 

I am not trying to be offensive here just giving you a caution: enjoy your ingrown hairs, they are on their way.

 

Let your face become accustomed to it as you learn to use it. It can take up to a month for your face to adjust to a new electric shaver. I always get a comfortable smooth shave when I use my Braun Series-9.

Clayton

Sent from my SM-A705U using Tapatalk

 

I shaved for more than 30 years using Norelco and Braun electric razors exclusively. Still have the Braun Series 7, and it provides great results when I use it with a pre-shave. Ingrown hairs were never a problem for me.

Congrats @pcm81 on finding a razor that works for you! Stick with it, and I bet your shaves will continue to improve.

 

If your beard hair grows out straight and is not curly you could avoid in-grown hairs with a lift and cut system.