I noticed some guys said they use an electric razor to shave thier body hair. They said it would reduce ingrowns.
Anybody do this? Any recommendations?
Hi Ted–
Electric razors have pros and cons for body hair:
Pros
Hard to cut yourself
Better for avoiding ingrowns
Some are adjustable, allowing different closeness settings
Can be used dry
Cons
Don’t get as close a shave
Can be hard to use on areas that aren’t flat
Doesn’t last as long
Causes rash for some
Can get clogged or dulled, especially with a lot of hair.
Requires more cleaning.
Depending on the thickness of the hair, you can use a foil type or a rotary type. The rotary ones usually have floating heads which adjust to the contours of your face, where the foils tend to be a little less flexible. Some find the foils are better for wispy hairs.
You should trim hairs with a hair clipper or beard trimmer before using an electric razor the first time.
Factors to look for
number of blades/number of heads
speed of motor
blade angles
material
thickness in microns
rotary heads or foil
wet/dry
rechargeable
I have made a list below:
List of electric shaver manufacturers
Prices range quite a bit, from $50 to $300. The higher-end ones aren’t necessarily batter.
One thing to keep in mind is that your skin has to get used to a razor, which can take a couple of weeks.
A couple of brands to consider:
-
Norelco 6756X Deluxe Advantage Wet/Dry Cordless Men’s Razor (has lotion cartridges)
-
Braun Syncro Shaver System with Clean & Charge Storage Stand and LCD Panel, 7570 Braun
I have tried almost every electric shaver on the market and I have found the Braun Synchro 7500 series to be the best by far for body shaving.
The Braun 7526 you can buy at a store like Wal Mart for $139. It has the self cleaning charging station too which works very well. It has the Ultra Speed motor which runs at 8500 RPM. If you are budget minded you can get the 7505 without the cleaning stand for $99.
Body shaving is very hard on an electric shaver but the Braun is more than up to the task. It will run for about an hour on a single charge. And the best part is it gives a shave almost as close as a blade. Hard to compete with a Mach 3 Turbo though.
I have had laser hair removal on my upper body and not much hair left. I can shave my whole chest and stomach n about 5-10 minutes. I am a bodybuilder and wear shorts most of the time and prefer to keep my legs clean shaven. I use the Braun on my legs almost every day and it only takes 15 to 20 minutes.
Among other shavers I have tried, the Panasonic Linear Smooth Operator is overrated. It is about $249 at Sharper Image. The screen will not hold up to body shaving and it does not shave as close as the Braun. You can used it with shaving gel in the shower, but if you’re going to use shaving gel just go ahead and use a Mach 3 Turbo instead.
The Remington Microscreen 3 is OK but the motor heats up and the screens are not very durable. Its very noisy too. The Braun is very quiet for a high speed electric.
Hope this helps.
RJC2001
Thanks for the great post!
I find that Braun products are consistently quite good for hair removal. I use their Silk-epil rotary epilator on my arms and legs, and I think it’s really first-rate (especially for arms!).
Wow those were both extremely informative posts!
And literally worth several hundred dollars. (Saves me from trying out some bad razors).
Your time and efforts are very much appreciated.
I started using clippers on my arms and legs, I use the #2 setting (#3 for the front of my legs), and I don’t think I could ever go back. With the settings, there is some hair left there and it looks so natural. I trimmed off so much body hair that I could have made a wig out of it.
But I want to get my chest and stomach clean shaven, just that ingrowns have been a problem so far. I’ve got a wealth of different ideas to try out now.
I will let you know how my experiences go!
[ May 08, 2002, 02:19 AM: Message edited by: Ted Striker ]
I used to use a trimmer on my arms and legs. Then I finally decided to just shave them clean and never went back. Much more comfortable and looks better with better muscular definition.
RJC2001
Hey RJC2001,
This is off the topic but since you seem pretty knowledgable about bodybuilding, and if you don’t mind, I wanted to ask you your opinion about working legs.
I put alot of weight on in high school only doing leg press and the leg extensions/curls. Then I plateued for a while. Then in college, I started doing smith machine squats and deadlifts and put on ALOT of weight too. I learned how those two lifts stimulate HGH and testosterone and how they make your whole body get big. Anytime I want to get big, I do those two lifts and they work like magic.
The problem now is that I’ve learned my back has imbalances, so once I go over 300 lbs in both of these lifts, I usually get injured. I can’t imagine not doing these 2 core lifts.
I guess I wanted to know if you and maybe some of the guys you work with had success on just doing the sled for legs. I know alot of the hardcore guys never did any squats, they would just load like 1000 pounds on the sled and go at it. Then they built their glutes up with stationary lunges.
Also I was thinking using the leg press/sled might be better because it seems easier to recover the next day, and it’s hard to recover after 10 hours of work at the office sometimes.
Any thoughts?
[ May 09, 2002, 12:38 AM: Message edited by: Ted Striker ]
Maybe I’ll try the hack squat machine or some other squat type machine…
Ted,
I think squats are all around a better exercise. The HGH effects and total muscle building effect are well documented for squats.
However, using the sled and lunges should give good results too and may be the way to go if squats cause more injuries.
Either approach will work but I prefer squats.
RJC2001
Thanks RJC. I agree.
I’ve been digging around and have found some squat machines. I’ve contacted the manufacturers to see if they will give me names of local gyms that carry them.
There is a squat machine by Pendulum that alot of NFL teams are using now. It takes the load off your back, but it’s mechanics are great so it’s closer to a true squat than even the smith machine. The cool thing about this machine is that you can load the plates in the top, middle, or bottom, to emphasize each part of the lift. So if the bottom of your squat is weak, you can put more weight at the bottom.
I’ll let you know what I find out!
I’ve tried most of the under $60 models from different brands over the years on my body, and I’ve had the best luck with Panasonic. Just a completely anecdotal observation, though. As a bonus for women, the Panasonics usually have a smaller head that can get into various bodily nooks and crannies that we usually like to shave. I have had the least amount of success with Remington, due partly to the large heads, and partly because they seemed to work well at first and then not at all later. Also, wet/dry has been the way to go for me. Wet shave with shampoo as a lubricant will give a close shave without bumps later on. YMMV.
Yeah that’s the only downside about the REmington’s. I couldn’t get the bikini shaving right because of it’s large heads so it’s not as versatile in terms of getting a good shave.
Although I really like it since it shaves the hair off completely.
The bottom line is electric razors are not meant for body hair. They are for male facial hair only.