Smoother a/r 6 hours

This may or may not be total BS but here it goes:

I go for a good shave but not BBS. Right after the shave I am not BBS. Several hours later I am still not BBS but definitely smoother that when I finished shaving.

Seems weird but not so much when I thought about it:
1. The skin has had a chance to recuperate and is working on a new layer
2. Coral Skin Food (JASON 6-in-1 asb, or equivalent product) adds a protection layer and further smooths things a bit

The gift that keeps on giving... for a while

Cheers
Ivo

Not BS, I get a similiar effect, one WTG, one XTG on some parts, others are ATG, rinse and coral skin food. Usually a few hours later, but also the same feeling on my face.

Perhaps you are a bit dehydrated in the morning when you shave. Several hours later you have rehydrated, causing your skin to plump out and whiskers to retract a bit more.

The reason your face feels smoother a few hours later is because you have irritated your face during the shave and later on the skin has recuperated so the irritation is gone and your face feels normal again.

Sometimes I go all out for BBS, other times not. When I don't go BBS I've found that stubble doesn't seem as bad a few hours after shaving as it does when rinsing the lather off.

So - I've noticed the same thing you mention but I don't have any theories as to why it happens.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The reason your face feels smoother a few hours later is because you have irritated your face during the shave and later on the skin has recuperated so the irritation is gone and your face feels normal again.

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Any shave takes a layer of skin and so can be said to lead to irritation (is this what you meant?) - but I don't really count it as irritation unless I have redness. I was talking about cases where no redness is involved.

I see that others have similar experiences

Cheers
Ivo

How about this theory...

We all spend quite a bit of time in preparing the beard. Part of this preparation is to get the hair to saturate with water to improve the ability to cut it. As the days goes on, the hair loses that water, and the keratin "scales" of the hair smooth back down. So, you wind up with a beard that is smoother long after the shave.

Chris, this is a good idea.

Also in line with your prep thought - maybe hairs lose the prep water and this makes them shrink a bit so the shave becomes closer than it was (for a while). Even though I think hairs become just thicker, not longer from water (sothey cannot then later lose the water and become shorter) Who knows...

Cheers
Ivo

Ivo,

Yes, that is what I was thinking of -- width vs. length. The hairs kind of plump up from the hydration, then thin back down later after shaving.

Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I've never experienced that phenomenon. My face always gets less and less smooth as the day goes on. I shaved at around 6am this morning - went against the grain and some faceturbation indicated BBS-ness. It's now coming up to 10:30 am and I can just start to feel some stubble coming through. By 5pm I guarantee there'll be brillo pad.

James.