Whisker Growth

rbscebu

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2020
Location
Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia
I enjoy SR shaving a LOT. With a three-pass shave I get a BBS result. Not good because then I have nothing to shave the next morning. I therefore limit my shaves to two passes each morning.

I'm sure others have a similar problem. What do you do/use to accelerate facial whisker growth?
 
That's a good question. Some of us have the opposite problem. If it didn't play havoc with my skin, I'd happily shave twice a day...
 
I enjoy SR shaving a LOT. With a three-pass shave I get a BBS result. Not good because then I have nothing to shave the next morning. I therefore limit my shaves to two passes each morning.

I'm sure others have a similar problem. What do you do/use to accelerate facial whisker growth?


In order to shave daily, I don't shave against the grain.
 
I do 3 + touch up passes for a complete BBS...but I still need to shave every day or else I look like a bum!!

I'm happy I need to shave daily!!
 
I still need to shave every day or else! I look like a bum!!
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Fast growing whiskers is a problem for anyone still using carts, paying $35 for a 8 pack of Gillette Fusions that'll last you about 1-2 months. I have a friend who's half bear. Will grow a 5 o'clock shadow by lunchtime, has to shave everyday because he works in sales. He'll shave after lunch if he has client meetings in the afternoon. His GF won't kiss him on Sunday because his face it a wire brush by then. He'll go through an 8 pack a month and buys them in bulk when they're half off. But when I suggest DE wet shaving, he refuses because razor blades are "dangerous" and he's worried about cutting himself (wtf, ikr?).

I do a 2 pass DFS 5 days a week and a 3 pass BBS on Saturday. Tbh, I enjoy the soap lathering aspect of the hobby more than the actual shaving. So the speed of growth isn't a factor for me.
 
I love a dolphin smooth BBS and have -yes @SpeedyPC- a spreadsheet of what combinations achieve said nirvana but also enjoy shaving daily and get amazed and cannot stop rubbing my cheeks but also frustrated when still BBS 12 Hrs later because you just know tomorrow's shave will be mheh! because not enough stubble for an enjoyable shave.
 
I'm just advancing a hypothesis here, based on my experience, so feel free to shoot this down...

You will probably never be able to change your rate of stubble growth. That's down to genetics. But what you could try is changing your pre-shave routine. Hear me out...

My habit of a lifetime has always been to shower after shaving, since I need to be sure that soap is properly rinsed out (otherwise irritation). However, during lockdown 1 (and only, in TAS), I did explore doing it the other way round for a month. The experiment wasn't really a success, in that I found it appeared to soften up my skin more than my stubble, so I ended up spilling more claret in a month than I ordinarily would in a year.

So my pre treatment is just a good splash of water, as hot as I can stand, from the sink. This seems to help also on those rare occasions I feel the urge to "top up" my shave for the evening. I'm guessing there's a possibility this might help for those with a slow-growth issue...

Maybe we need a dedicated pre-shave thread?
 
I love a dolphin smooth BBS and have -yes @SpeedyPC- a spreadsheet of what combinations achieve said nirvana but also enjoy shaving daily and get amazed and cannot stop rubbing my cheeks but also frustrated when still BBS 12 Hrs later because you just know tomorrow's shave will be mheh! because not enough stubble for an enjoyable shave.
You're right about needing a decent amount of stubble to make the shave more enjoyable. Whilst I shave in the morning for work Mon-Fri, I used to save up my weekend shave for Saturday evening (halfway between Friday and Monday mornings). That was always a super enjoyable shave, not only because I could slow down and take as long as I wanted, but the extra ~12 hours of growth (and facial skin recovery time) meant it felt great.

I've gotten greedy of late, however, and shaving daily on the weekends too - but I might shift back to my Saturday evening shaves to really make sure the weekend shave is a good one!
 
You're right about needing a decent amount of stubble to make the shave more enjoyable. Whilst I shave in the morning for work Mon-Fri, I used to save up my weekend shave for Saturday evening (halfway between Friday and Monday mornings). That was always a super enjoyable shave, not only because I could slow down and take as long as I wanted, but the extra ~12 hours of growth (and facial skin recovery time) meant it felt great.
Similarly, I will usually have 1 day break over the weekend
 
My habit of a lifetime has always been to shower after shaving, since I need to be sure that soap is properly rinsed out

After seeing so many people use a hot shower as part of their pre-shave routine, I thought I was the outlier who showers after a shave! It's not really an irritation thing for me (yet, touch wood). But I really don't like residual soap on my face after my shave. Post shave moisturising is a balm's job.
 
After seeing so many people use a hot shower as part of their pre-shave routine, I thought I was the outlier who showers after a shave! It's not really an irritation thing for me (yet, touch wood). But I really don't like residual soap on my face after my shave. Post shave moisturising is a balm's job.
I used to shower after a shave too, but time is of the essence these days, so I’m showering before bed instead.

I also like to make sure I have no post shave soap hanging around, but find I can rinse very thoroughly using a mister bottle and sink full of cold water. This mister is a little beauty and I use it to add water while face lathering and to lay-down a base of moisture between passes too: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hairdre...-/184255630057?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
 
...but find I can rinse very thoroughly using a mister bottle and sink full of cold water. This mister is a little beauty and I use it to add water while face lathering and to lay-down a base of moisture between passes too...
OK, that's an interesting approach.(y) I might add that to my experimental program I have lined up to keep me occupied during next year's sabbatical...
 
I have now started shaving daily as an experiment. I usually shave 5 days and let the hair grow over the weekend for my best shave of the week on Monday. The problem is my psoriasis (a genetic condition where the skin thickens and becomes red) usually flairs up Monday because the skin has had time to thicken up. I'm hoping a daily shave keeps it at bay, time shall tell. I have showered after a shave but 99% of the time shower before to 'soften up' the beard.

Getting back to the question at hand, sadly there is no way to increase hair growth and shaving frequency, if there was the male pattern baldness industry would be long gone. Lifting weights can increased testosterone levels, short term, and potentially hair growth. But it all comes down to your genetics, so not much you can do.
 
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