So after my face broke out like crazy again after shaving, I thought I'd try using a hair trimmer on my face instead. Ive heard from others here that its supposed to be less irritating and cause less ingrown hairs and breakouts because the hairs are not cut underneath the skin's surface.
I followed some guy's advice in this thread and got a Andis T-outliner which is a trimmer not an electric shaver. ( http://www.acne.org/...ng-razor-bumps/ )
So I bought the Andis T-outliner to try just using a trimmer om my face and neck hair instead of a wet shave. OW. My face burns and feels pretty irritated after using that trimmer. It seems to have got a decently close trim , but my face is burning like hell. I tried using it dry on my beard hair as that is what I thought you were supposed to do with trimmers? I had 2 days worth of stubble growth about. Are you supposed to apply anything to your face before using a trimmer on your face? Are you supposed to use trimmers with nothing on your face like this?
Like this trimmer basically feels like a normal hair clipper, with all the guards taken off. Meaning that it vibrates a ton and bounces around on your skin which makes it hard to control, the metal heats up after awhile, and it feel irritating to the skin to me.
Is there something I am missing here in how to use this in the place of shaving? I found this to be just as irritating or more irritating then when I wet shaved with a mach 3. Maybe I will get less ingrown hairs from this, but my face feels on fire right now, like the trimmer scratched up or made tons of small cuts on my face.
Sounds like you should have just went with a regular electric shaver, preferably a nice one like a Braun.
Yea what I am thinking now. I got a braun electric shaver from a costco, meaning I can still return it if I use it and dont like it. Ive never used one before.
I am just a little worried about using an eletric shaver over pimples. Like with a mach 3 or something it usually was ok to go over pimples. I dont know how the electric will be for that.
Sounds like you should have just went with a regular electric shaver, preferably a nice one like a Braun.
Yea what I am thinking now. I got a braun electric shaver from a costco, meaning I can still return it if I use it and dont like it. Ive never used one before.
I am just a little worried about using an eletric shaver over pimples. Like with a mach 3 or something it usually was ok to go over pimples. I dont know how the electric will be for that.
Hmmm, I am trying to remember...I haven't had pimples in my beard area for a long time now. I think the electric sometimes would or wouldn't take off the white heads, it never hurt or anything, it was about how much pressure you applied.
Try the i-Stubble (I have the Andis T-Outliner, a Braun Series 7, and the i-Stubble). The Braun is an awesome shaver if you want to get that close...
I was not happy with the Braun 5 series at all. It cut my face worse than wet shaving and it missed like 25 percent of the hairs on my face. Plus it leaked lubricant/oil onto my face every once in awhile... Will be returning that.
I ordered an istubble though. Hope this works ok for me.
When using the beard trimmer, I think you should just use it on a dry face (in fact I've always found it easiest and most convenient to do before showering or washing my face). I've been trimming my face/beard down to a stubble like that on and off for two or three years now. I used to always be clean-shaven, but my face gets far too irritated and broken out these days to do that as frequently as I would need to to still look somewhat professional. I also have some lower cheek acne scarring that I like having covered by a short beard.
Anyways, the trimmer I use is called the "Conair Trimmer Grooming System All-In-One." It works pretty well, doesn't heat up, and doesn't seem to give me too much irritation. It's wireless and the head is small enough that it allows me to access all "corners" of my beard. The big downside (and why I'm curious to find a better trimmer) is that it takes a long time (usually at least 10 minutes) for me to get a nice, even trim and I have to go over each section of my face several times. I'd like to find something that's quicker and more efficient, so by all means let me know how the iStubble works for you!
The istubble has been working pretty amazingly for me. It doesnt irritate my face like at all. Ive only managed to cut myself when I made it go over large pimples. I can go ove each area multiple times in different directions and not have much irritation. My neck gets red right after, but it is just from the combs rubbing on my skin and within about 15 mins and after putting on moisturizer the redness is gone. One problem with it though is that the trimmer head is big, so getting the hairs in the mustache area below your nose can be tricky. Ive been able to adjust though and flip it around at different angles to get the hair there. I also will pull off the comb guard and use the trimmer blade naked on those hairs that I cant reach under my nose. Ive been breaking out way less by using this trimmer. It does take awhile for me to get every area trimmed to the same length though. But I think spending more time using this trimmer, versus wet shaving and breaking out horribly every few days is a small compromise to make.
Are you still using the i-Stubble? I ordered the i-Stubble home yesterday, so i hope your experiences still are great!
I have always used a Gillette razor with Gillette foam, both things are meant for sensitive skin, but i still get irritations from it, so i'm definitely looking forward to try the i-Stubble.
I have been a stubble/trimmer guy for years......long before it became the "in" thing. No regular shaving methods ever worked for me due to my skin issues and tendency to get in-grown whiskers. I have been using my current trimmer for about 2 years and it is the best I have found. It is called "Peanut Trimmer" and is made by Wahl. It is popular with hair stylists for trimming around the back of neck. I bought it at Sally Beauty Supply for $37 but I think they're available from many on-line sources too. They sell a rechargeable model, and also one with a chord which I have. It is compact in size (1.25" blade width) and has high precision trim blades. Use a short snap-on guard for the beard trimming and naked blades for the edge work and neck trim. This thing is professional grade and simple in design. That iStubble trimmer looks too big and all the gadgetry is prone to malfunction (cheap china crap). Once it dies on you check out the peanut, you might like it. Rock on bro!
just read through this topic and i hvae the same problem with wet shaves/electric shavers, i get ingrown hairs which then look like spots/acne and makes me break out more as i have oily skin, i started to use the sideburn trimmer on the back of my electric shaver to shave my hole face which i saw and felt was better so i purchased an i-stubble but as i saw bout your post sayin the comb head was too big to fit on mustache n found that too, i opted to turning the i-stubble over and so the comb was at the top of clipper and not pressin my face an shave like that, after one of them breaking i got it exchanged but again after few months it broke so i turned to my hair clippers with a guard 1 (comb 1) for a bit of a beard or no guard for a stubble look but as you pointed out the metal bit heated up quick so i decided to use my hairline trimmer 
which worse as wel as a i-stubble but it smaller, it does come with a few lil combs which ive not used on it as 1) i missed placed them oops and 2) i like the shave i get with it again i turn it over so the edge of the clipper is on face and not lay flat to facet an it leaves a nice stubble if i want to get a bit closer shave i use it same way but go backwards n forwards over facean no need to press hard, it has not cut me part from when ive had a pimple n nicked the head of it but i usually dab on some hand sanitizer on it, does sting but helps clear it up. hope this helps as i know how annoying shaving with award skin is.
beard trimmer has been my quick option, but the ones actually designed for a facial hair for non-black people type hair. I say this because there are some trimmers out there designed for their particular kind of hair which are more powerful than you need, and may cause you unnecessary irritation. Also i found a haven in de shaving, when i actually want a closer shave. doesn't cause me razor burn like a gillette sensor or mach would do.
I got a Bruan 7 series a few days ago and it's great. I had been using the Bruan 5 series the last few years but did get a bit irritated recently as I think the blades got a bit worn down. I was having some issues with it not working all the time so I decided to get the 7 series and it's amazing. I can't even feel the 7 series where normally I would feel the 5 series literally ripping my chin hairs out.