Shave Report
I decided to shave most of the hair on my body (aside from my head) the
other day to assess whether it would help me move forward. Here's what
I've learned.
Trimming almost 23 years of hair from my body was much more difficult
than clearing my face. Often, large tufts of hair would peel off easily, but
considerable stubble would be left afterwards; i'd then have to take a
second pass with much more pressure and focus with the Phillips OneBlade shaver
I used.
It's possible that a different or disposable razor would have been
more effective than a vibrating one. I'm opposed to the waste that
disposable razors require, but I'll consider using my more substantial razor
in the future. Something that doesn't require electricity might be
beneficial; slightly wet skin seems to be easier to shave than dry skin,
potentially because friction against the skin is reduced without preventing the
hair from being cut.
Flaws in my skin are far more plain. More than one friend of mine noticed
the large scar on my left leg after shaving. Though the scar was easily visible
otherwise, it may have been obscured by the texture and color of the brown hair
on my leg. Now that this is no longer the case, the large seam and considerable
discoloration on my leg around the scar seem to stand out much more.
To this end, it's far easier to monitor freckles, sun damage, and
other potential flaws on my skin without hair in the way. I look forward to
continuing to leverage this visibility in the coming months to improve my
skincare routine to remove small blemishes and acne as well as even my skin
tone. How I will approach this is to be determined, but I will certainly be
vetting some skincare papers and updating these notes with my findings.
Overall my skin is far more sensitive. I think that I notice fluctuations
in temperature more precisely than I did before, and the textures that my skin
makes contact with are far more obvious. I'm glad I didn't opt for the
cheap bedsheets this year - I don't know if I'd have enjoyed them with
bare skin. Of vague concern is losing some sensitivity to touch overall because
I'm more exposed in general - but I'm not certain that my body will
accomodate in this way, as it hasn't so far.
I wouldn't say that the environment is necessarily more stimulating,
though - previously, the friction of the hair itself was supplying some
stimulation to my skin, but all of the stimulation now comes from whatever my
skin is in contact with. This implicitly increases *awareness* of sensitivity
but not sensitivity itself, I believe, as there is no more noise filter masking
my skin from having some experiences.
I experience friction against my skin in a slightly different way. Prior
to shaving, brushing my skin against itself was a bit of a coarse experience -
my body hair would feel a bit 'rough' against itself - but I didn't
feel any real friction.
Without this hair, bodily movement - particularly around the armpit area
- feels much smoother most of the time, but there are particular movements
involving lots of skin-to-skin contact that seem to cause my skin to stick to
itself a bit - creating friction from skin to skin without the padding of hair
to help reduce this.
Fortunately, shaven skin makes other processes far easier. Soap and
sunscreen can be applied seamlessly - I no longer have to scrub them in and
mitigate clumps of sunscreen in my hair, as there is nothing for the sunscreen
to clump around. This significantly accelerates the process of showering,
applying sunscreen and otherwise cleaning myself. Despite the time investment
necessary to maintain a clean-shaven body, given how much more seamless other
processes involving my skin have become, I believe that I'm actually saving
time.
Shaving was an overall good decision. It's made me aware of minor
flaws in my skin that I can now work to help rectify, and experiencing
additional sensitivity gives me more information about my world, which is
generally good! Maybe I'll be able to estimate temperature more accurately.
Visually, it also reduces the noise that my skin has, which leaves room for more
tattoos or outfits with far more detail. I'm looking forward to
investigating.
Shaving is initially difficult
Visibility
Sensitivity
Friction
Closing