Have you been as shocked as I was the first time you received a razor burn from your electric razor? I was like, is it for real? Is my expensive & safe electric razor not above causing me razor burns?
I ran into this issue further along the road when my clients complained about razor caused by my premium shavers. Then I realized there’s more to it than fancy gadgets and expensive blades.
I studied, asked experts I know and reached deeper into the internet to gather knowledge. Then I applied these solutions on my personal routine and on my customers as well.
After years of experimentation, practice & perfection, I’ve figured out the entire picture and I believe it’s time for me to share this information with you.
This way, you’ll be able to use this information to spare yourself the agony of razor burn from an electric razor.
Contents
What Is A Razor Burn?
A razor burn is basically the scorching sensation you feel right after a shaving session. It happens due to the close contact between your skin and sharp blades. When blades and skin are close-by, the blades tend to chunk out tiny particles of your skin after one pass that generates the burning feeling.
When you pass over a second time, the agony intensifies even more. It’s harmful for your skin and a painful matter overall. Thus, gaining a deeper insight into this matter and utilizing the solutions is the best approach in my opinion.
Do Electric Razors Cause Razor Bumps?
Manual razors often go hand in hand with razor burn due to the close contact with the skin. When it comes to electric razors, many consumers believe that these units are gifts of technology that minimizes this trouble.
However, from my vast experience in the field, I regret to inform you that electric razors do cause razor bumps. It’s not a constant issue because there are a few factors that contribute to such grooming debacles. I have described these factors for your broader understanding of the matter.
Sensitive Skin
What I’ve witnessed in most men is that electric razors cause razor burn to ones having sensitive skin. In a survey it’s been found out that around 44.6% of people in the USA have sensitive skin or very sensitive skin, so it’s more common than you think!
Sensitive skin is often prone to damage from slightest of harshness, be that shaving or any other procedure. Even when I performed shaving with an electric razor on such skin, the clients have faced a certain degree of razor burn.
This is because a lot of the electric razors tend to shave really close to the skin. Foil shavers pull the hair inward to feed into the blades and it has resulted in razor burns for some individuals. Compared to foil shavers, rotary shavers’ constant scrubbing motion generated similar discomforting outcomes as well.
Pressure
The second instance I’ve had my clients complain about razor burns after shaving is when I applied a higher degree of pressure while shaving them. It was necessary to give them a close shave to maintain a neat look, but the pressure seemed to have taken a toll on some of their skin.
It’s a dilemma I’ve found myself stuck in for quite some time. Whether I had to opt for a less close shave or a clean one with razor burn as a consequence. Finally I found perfect solutions to draw a balance between the two which I’ll discuss later in this article.
The Type Of Razor
The kind of device I’m using for a close shave matters a lot in terms of razor burn from electric razor. Manual razors in contrast to electric ones are guaranteed to cause the majority of the consumers razor burns. For the electric ones, there are only a handful of brands that come out on top and offer a shave with no razor burn at all.
Dull Blades
From my experience, shaving with dull blades is a major mistake someone can make. Such blades keep on scrubbing past the skin without any effective outcome. This kind of vigorous animation close to the skin irritates the outer layer and ends up causing razor burn in the end.
I’ve seen similar effects on clients when I forgot to sharpen, clean or lubricate my shaver blades. This contributes to a certain type of discomfort and contributes to bringing about razor burns overall.
Low Battery
Another thing I learned from my long grooming career is that most electric razors don’t perform well when they’re low on battery. The motors function slower than usual and the blades aren’t vicious enough to chop through the bushes.
It causes tugs & pulls to the hair from their roots and it’s a very disturbing event for the one who’s on the receiving end. And if there’s no foil layer in between the skin and blade, the tugs and pulls convert into constant throbbing motions on the skin which is enough to produce rashes or redness.
Hair Type
Lastly, the hair type of the beard contributes to razor burns as well. Not all electric razors are built to remove coarse beard and generic units have often caused ingrown hair due to the curly nature of the hair. The procedure itself is tricky to get right without proper knowledge and inducing razor burn from electric razor in this case renders out to be very easy.
If you keep these causes in your mind, you’ll be able to find out solutions to mitigate these like I have, which are discussed further down in this article.
How To Cure Razor Burn From Electric Razor?
When I find myself in a spot with someone shooting a remark that they are feeling a razor burn, there are a couple things I do instantly to relieve them from the pain and start the healing process.
Apply Cold Water
I usually apply cold water on the face immediately after learning that the client is feeling razor burn from the electric razor. Cold water cools down the pores and the irritated spots immediately giving instant relief. You can also scrub over ice on the face if you have some at your arm’s length.
Use Aftershave Lotion For Healing
Once I’m done relieving the customer of his razor burn, I focus on the healing part. Using an aftershave lotion serves multiple purposes here. It takes care of accidental nicks or cuts if there is any and works as an antiseptic for the nano chunks of skins that have been the cause of razor burn.
While razor cuts take a longer period of time to heal, razor burn from electric razor recovers significantly faster if you take care of it properly.
Methods To Prevent Razor Burn From Electric Razor
As I’m a professional who practices grooming on a daily basis, I have instruments that are made to endure heavy-duty and caters to the needs of a barber.
However, as a home consumer, you won’t have to spend as much as I do as you can get away without razor burns if you follow my instructions in this section.
Use Specialized Electric Shaver
One of the key solutions to prevent razor burn from electric razor is to use specialized razors. For instance, I keep separate razor units that either specialize in sensitive skin or perform better than other shavers for coarse hair.
Such particular devices make sure that the recipient is treated with the perfect shaver so that their skin is treated in the best possible way. If you’re new to shaving, I’d recommend picking out something that suits first time shavers the most.
Take Care Of Your Shaver
What I learned the hard way is that buying fancy shavers isn’t enough to prevent razor burn from electric razor. I had to pick up the habit of maintaining them frequently which includes cleaning the razors after each shave and lubricating them.
This not only has minimized the risk of razor burns, but also has helped me increase the shaver’s durability!
Shaving Preparations
I started sticking to certain preparations for shaving. For dry shaves, I completely avoid applying any water on the face or washing in general because that tends to decrease the efficiency of dry shavers.
For wet shaving, there are preparations different from dry shaving which require a pre-shave procedure. It includes applying lukewarm water for washing, putting on shaving cream and exfoliating to prepare the beard for a burn-free shave!
Shave Using Appropriate Techniques
If you aren’t familiar already, there are certain techniques to shaving that can spare you the pain of razor burn from electric razor completely. When my customer asks for a dry shave, I use specific methods that I’ve picked up over the years to give them a pain-free shaving experience.
In terms of wet shaves, the preparation step is highly important. Apply low-pressure if you’re using a foil shaver. Also, follow these wet-shaving tips to turn your shaving into an effortless journey. It has provided my customers with relief as they never complained about razor burns ever since I started applying these methods.
Follow Post-shave Procedures
As mentioned earlier, following up the shave with a cold water wash and application of aftershave lotion has proven to be of great benefit to help with razor burn. Even if there’s no burn afterward, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with some post-shave procedures to discard razor burn from the electric razor as a whole.
Thoughts
I won’t drag this any further, for I believe I’ve provided all the necessary information regarding razor burn from electric razor. It’s been a disillusioning factor for me at first, to grasp the concept that my top-notch device ended up giving me a razor burn.
It’s been a learning curve for me since then. I perfected my shaving methods, learned more about electric razors and their behaviors and the routines that are of significant importance during each shaving process.
A last note that I’d like to add for ones with sensitive skin is that, if none of the methods with specialized shaver or the other ones I’ve mentioned earlier – shave every other day. This way, your damaged areas will get proper time to heal themselves and it won’t damage your skin permanently.