Those little black dots of hairs still visible after I shave are annoying the crap out of me! Any way to get rid of those dots, or at least to make them less visible?
Right after a shave, or 8 hours later at 5:00? If the latter, there’s very little you can do, unless you want to shave at work, you hairy, hairy man. If the former, are you shaving in multiple directions? I have pretty wiry hair that I need to shave first with the grain and then against (and sometimes across it, too) to get a clean shave. Make sure your pores are open as much as possible preferably after a shower, but at least by washing with warm water beforehand. If you’re not using a 3 blade razor, I’d recommend one of those.
You may experience more irritation if you haven’t been doing this before. Get a quality aftershave cream.
On the less visible front, I can only mention concealer, but you’ll probably have to wait for either an actor or a woman to come in here and comment on proper usage.
Grow a beard. 
I have a dark beard (well, the hairs that aren’t grey are dark…) and very pale skin, and I have a 5 o’clock shadow immediately after shaving, no matter what I do.
I second control-z. Grow a beard.
How are you shaving? You might need a different razor. I use a 5-blade (can’t remember what it’s called, it’s that one with the battery in it that makes it vibrate) and it gives me a very close shave (and I have a dark, thick beard and pale skin). I do get a 5 o’clock shadow later in the day, but no amount of shaving in the morning will prevent that.
What’s your pre-shaving routine? I shower, use an exfoliant, and leave the shaving cream on my face for about five minutes before I pick up the razor.
I agree with BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed re: shaving in multiple directions. I try to avoid it since it irritates my skin, but if you need a really close shave, definitely do once with the grain and once against.
Warm water, lotsa soap and a good scrubbing to prop the hairs up… Followed by a good razor and** the right kind of shaving cream**. Thick shaving creams are like thick oils that prevent friction between objects, except that when the razor is riding on a thick film above the skin, it can only get so close to the hairs.
I found that sensitive skin products are thicker and just keep the blade farther from the skin, causing the cut to be higher.
One of those things you never think about.
I think some ladies need to chime in and explain to the OP that the 5 o’clock shadow, aint always such a bad thing.
That’s been my experience anyway.
Shadow - gooooood. Sandpaper - baaaaaaaad.
Hmmm… tried shaving against the grain today, and it’s a little better, but not great. I still look like I dotted myself with a black pen on my chin.
I can’t grow out a beard because I’m asian and I don’t get a beard. I get stubble. And then, whiskers. Sparse whiskers.
One word. Wax.
If you don’t have much coverage, this is actually a viable option for you.
I’ll second the waxing and add that after the first time, the pain is less and the hairs are finer (at least that’s how it works on my legs).
Do they even sell waxing kits for men?
And anyway, it’s not like I can let my chin hairs grow out to waxable length. Yes boss, I know I’m stubbly today, but my beard is too short to wax… cringe
Laser Hair removal?
My waxing kit is gender neutral, doesn’t even have flowers on the box. I use the ones with the wax already on paper, just rub the strips between your hands for 20 seconds, rub on and rip off. For facial use (according to the box), cut the leg strips in half. If your hair grows fast enough to create a permanent 5oClock shadow, you may be able to grow it out over a long weekend (say Xmas day through to Sunday) it only needs to be 1/4 - 1/2 inch.
Alternately, try plucking them. You’d need only just enough hair for the tweezers to get a grip, even less than waxing. A chin would be far less sensitive than eyebrows.
Uh, I’m gonna go ahead and disagree on this one. If you ladies have ever had to tug out the stray chin hair, I suppose that would hurt less than your eyebrows. But our chin hair is in there with a much firmer grip. Ow ow ow, I’ve tugged pubes out that hurt less.
Fair enough then - break out the laser!
The OP is in Japan. I’m pretty sure all lasers there come mounted on sharks.
Leave it alone, and consider yourself blessed. The 5 o’clock shadow look is hot!
Shaving against the grain works, but you’re more likely to get a nicked. I had the option of either (a) shaving with the grain and really not getting most of the hard to get ones (corners of mouth, right directly below nose, a few occasional hairs here and there) or be covered in a few dumb looking dry blood spots. Also, you can’t shave as hard so no matter what its not shaved down enough and you’ll get the 'ol 5.
Then I found out by accident the way to stop this.
Shave against the grain. Nip yourself here and there. Whatever. As long as it isn’t deep (like keeps bleeding, keeps bleeding, keeps bleeding even if you were to put a little bit of tissue paper on it). Then step into a HOT shower for several minutes. Get your face right in the hot spray for some time.
When you get out you more than likely would be fine. Here and there after this procedure I’ve ended up with a dot of blood from one of the three or four spots that bled a bit from the shave. Even if that happens its worth being able to shave real close and not have to step back and miss some stuff.
my $0.02
If it’s sparse enough, you might consider electrolysis.