Thread: Hmmmm... Stroking an imaginary beard

Hello,

I've just signed up and in keeping with the trend of this forum, new guy has a question.

I have been doing alright learning this technique of shaving but I have a bit of a speed bump to learn to overcome. I have a few fairly prominent moles on my face and I'm deathly afraid of slicing them right off. That's probably what a doctor would do if I let him!

What I've been doing is shaving and then once I'm finished taking a cheap electric shaver to buzz the hair off the moles. So I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to get them with the razor or some other barber's implement. I'm afraid that the answer might be to tweeze them to maintain an authentic barber grooming experience, but I thought I'd see what the experience of you folks might teach me.

Thank You All!

I don't have any moles, but I would guess that when shaving with a straight, a moment of absent mindedness might lose you them. I manage to nick my face on smooth spots when i'm not concentrating. The good thing about a straight is it can be very precise. Get a square point and you will be able to get as close to the moles as you need - with care of course.

Originally Posted by Gothamitic

...I have a few fairly prominent moles on my face...

I have one. It's not smooth, but I think with some experience, I'll be able to go over it similarly to what I can with the cartridge. As for now, I'm basically trying to do what nicky describes:

Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

...Get a square point and you will be able to get as close to the moles as you need - with care of course.

I find a straight usually follows the geography of your face. Unless the moles are highly raised I would think the straight would just glide over them without doing damage. However since I don't have any myself, I would be careful.

Hey Thanks!

Speedy replies and some really good thoughts, what more could one ask?

Originally Posted by Gothamitic

what more could one ask?

Moles that are at the same depth as the rest of your face!

I don't know if I'd try gliding the razor over the moles, gothamitic. Though I don't have any raised moles to speak from experience, i have had the occasional divot (bad razor cut) in my face over the years. Shave anywhere near it, and that razor somehow finds it every time and cuts it even worse!

Maybe keep a safety razor nearby (or whatever you were using before the straight) and keep shaving the difficult areas with that. Take your time with this.

Keep on straight razor shaving, though. Eventually you'll think about this "straight shaving the moles" question and think, "what was the big deal about that again?"

That's the day you'll tackle it and it'll work.

I have a large mole on my left upper top lip and it is a curse!! A straight most definitely will not glide over it. I, for now, just finish of over the mole with a Bic disposable as I will not go near it until I can straight shave with my eyes closed aboard a ship in a hurricane! I will say however that I can shave around it very close even with a 5/8 round point. I have a little EKS 4/8 spike point that I think will be just the trick to clean around the area close, but I need to get honed as it is dull to say the least. Once honed, I will try and perfect the use of the EKS razor for this “problem” area extraordinaire. I would love to take a straight and lop it off for good, but I have a feeling I would then need a nurse to perform my next 30 shaves and although a pleasant thought, I think I’ll pass!

Ray

Damn moles ! I have 2 on my right upper lip , one isn't too bad and I can go over it lightly with my 4/8 spike point . The other one is a little larger and higher and I need to work my way around it . What I did when I was first learning to shave with a straight , was to shave the right side of my upper lip with a 3 blade disposeable razor until my technique improved enough to do it with my tiny little 4/8 razor , which up until then I'd thought was a useless razor , because of it's size . My advice is to shave what you can with the straight , and shave the rest of your face with whatever you've been shaving with . Over time , your technique will improve , and you will learn to work around the moles with a straight .

Um I am uneducated on this so forgive my stupidity, but why don't you just get them cut out/removed by the doctor?

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Um I am uneducated on this so forgive my stupidity, but why don't you just get them cut out/removed by the doctor?

I have a long history of skin cancer in my family, so I've had the experience of having 1 or 2 moles removed ;-)

Method 1 - stitching the resulting absence of tissue:
This typically will bunch up the hair follicles giving you a patch of very close hairs and/or a small scar. This could end up being just as rough a shave if kept bare, or a funny looking patch if allowed to grow (I have the patch on the edge of my goatee - funny looking, but whatever)
Method 2 - cauterizing the absence of tissue:
While taking a little bit longer to heal, this will usually end up leaving a very nice, very smooth pink scar for a while slowly fading to a barely noticeable blemish that's usually level and smooth compared to the surrounding skin. There will also be no need to shave this area since typically, the removal takes any hair follicles that were there along with it. So, if you did want to grow a beard over it, it would probably be worse looking than the "bunch" described above.

Now, if there is any medical reason what-so-ever, that should not stop you from having them removed!! Funny looking beard > dead every day of the week.