When I started shaving way back, I was told to go with the grain to avoid cuts, etc. Unfortunately, it does nothing for me so I go against the grain and get smooth skin (I use a shaving brush and soap). However, I noticed on TV commercials that women seem to shave their legs against the grain. Yes, I know it would be awkward to go with the grain unless one has Inspector Gadget arms, but why don’t you see more women with tissue and bandages on their legs from the cuts they’re supposed to get from going against the grain?
I shave with the grain, re-lather, and make a second pass against the grain. Works fine for me. No cuts, don’t see why it would be any different for women shaving. I think guys just get taught incorrectly. Plus we don’t change our blades often enough.
If I want a close shave, I do what HongKongFooey described.
As to the difference between shaving habits of men and women, I bet it’s something to do with hair density. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll shave parts of my face against the grain all in one pass, but only where there’s less hair or finer hair. For me, that’s my neck, under my chin, and my cheeks. If I try to do that on my upper lip, for example, the razor just jams up and rips out uneven chunks of hair.
I always shave against the grain, except on my upper lip and around the edges of my mouth. Close shave, never cuts. You need quality razors.
I (male) always shave with. If I go against I get more cuts and abrasions.
It depends upon how long it’s been since I last shaved. If I’ve left it several days, I’ll do two passes: the first with the grain, the second against. Otherwise I shave against the grain.
I think people in general are more prone to ingrown hairs & irritation on their faces (where the men shave) than on their legs (where the women shave), and shaving with the grain helps prevent that.
It’s also recommened that if you shave your bikini area to go with the grain & not against, to prevent irritation - you don’t get as smooth of a shave, though, so I don’t know that many women actually follow this.
Also, never underestimate the “looks better on TV this way” aspect of anything you see in a commercial. Particularly involving a beauty product.
Although, I think the density argument has a lot of weight in this case: like others I shave one pass against the grain on less-dense areas of my face, but need to go with-then-against on the denser areas.
<— Male
I tend to shave against the grain. One of the benefits of having tough skin and fine hair, I guess- I’ve never had a problem.
Thick hair, moderately tough hide, against the grain (or else nothing happens), never any cuts.
OP: what HongKongFooey said.
^^ This. Yeah, I get a nicer shave against the grain, but then I get “razor bumps” (ingrown hairs) when the hair starts coming out again. Yup, against the grain with an excellent razor will cut the hair below the skin.
Male here. The only places that I never shave against the grain are the lower half of my neck (I’ll get a mess of ingrown hairs) and my upper lip (I never thought about that before now.) The rest of my face I’ll go any which way.
Don’t the majority of people shave with electric shavers?
So shaving with or against the grain is irrelevant for most people.
(Male) I always shave with the grain. It works OK and I was told that if you shave the other way you run the risk of ingrown hairs and irritation. I didn’t realize women made a habit of shaving against the grain on their legs! I guess it’s partly because it’s a lot more convenient to pull the razor towards you on your shins - running it downwards would practically be quite difficult - and when the hair’s very short you don’t have the same risk of ingrown hairs.
Straight Dope article about shaving the face:
When I shave, I shave against the grain. To date I’ve not had any irritation or ingrowns.
also, my grain changes depending on where the hair is. On the underside of my jawbone, for instance, the hair grows back, not down, so agains the grain is toward the chin, not toward the collarbone.
They get them, they also get razor burns and bumps. The cuts can happen either with or against the grain, as it has happened to me either way (female).
I know Sue Johansson (of the TV show), once told a caller that the reason you don’t necessarily see the bumps all the time is that the women shaved constantly, thereby not giving time for new hair to grow out. The question was about bikini line, the woman was wondering how they did that. Leg hair, unlike facial hair in men, grows slower.
From personal experience, I know that if I shave my legs/thighs with more than normal frequency, the bumps disappear and the skin remains smooth. That all goes kaput once I stop.
Don’t know if I’m in the majority, but I do use a quality rotary electric and get a good shave without irritation or ingrown whiskers.
Absolutely. Because that actor may have to ‘shave’ several times to get the shot right, the blade is removed from the razor. The area is completely covered in shaving cream, and the stub of the razor acts like a squeegee. Spoken as someone who has had to ‘shave’ onstage; for TV, it’d be even harder because the camera is so much closer and so much more unforgiving.
I don’t really know, I don’t use an electric shaver, and the only person I’ve seen use one was my uncle, but then I don’t spend a lot of time in men’s bathrooms watching them shave.
I shave with the grain because if I don’t I get ingrown hairs and I’m not all that fussed on having a super smooth shave, I only shave every couple of days and prefer to have a little bit of growth.
Every commercial for a women’s razor I can remember seeing featured a woman shaving her lower legs. Shaving one’s legs with the grain requires a bit of contortion that wouldn’t look good on TV - okay, looking like something out of the Kama Sutra may be perceived as sexy, but you also want it to look easy and comfortable. The long straight against-the-grain strokes are probably as good as it’s going to look.
And speaking as a woman, I haven’t had enough problems with razor burn/bumps/other bits of shaving unpleasantness to bother with anything but the direction of least resistance - which is upward. Other women’s experience may well vary.