Men Tips

posted by mmproducts on Apr 25

Have you ever noticed after you shave your face with clippers that your skin is dry and ashy? That’s because when you shave with clippers the clippers rob your face of moisture. Even the way you need to use the clippers for shaving your face goes against how they were intended to be used. When using clippers on your face, you need to turn them backward and use them upside down. They were designed to give you a tight fade and trim your hairline or the nape of your neck. Shaving your face with clippers scratches the skin, inflames follicles, and removes moisture. Your face should always be hydrated when you shave, but when you shave with clippers the face is completely dry.

In my 30+ years in the barbering and grooming industry, I’ve learned one thing for certain: brothers are scared to use a razor. Be it urban legend, or Black men not being handed down the tradition of razor shaving by their fathers, or maybe even the unrealistic belief that razors are the cause of razor bumps and will jack up their skin. Whatever the reason, African-American men are shying away from the razor. So, here is the real deal on razor shaving.

Debunking Razor Myths

You can’t get a close shave with a razor

This is absolutely untrue! You will get the closest shave possible when using a razor. The razor is able to get much closer to the skin than a clipper or electric razor can. You should also make sure you are using a multi-blade razor that you change out regularly.

Razors cause you to get razor bumps and messes up your skin

It is true that razor bumps and ingrown hairs, clinically known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, affect up to 80 percent of African-American men. But the fact of the matter is, if you are getting razor bumps when you shave with a razor, then - I hate to tell you it’s not the razor it’s your technique. The most important thing to know is that you should be shaving with the grain, not against it. A lot of men have been taught to shave against the grain to get a closer shave. However, not only will shaving against the grain not give you a closer shave, but it is also a leading cause of skin irritation and inflammation, resulting in ingrown hairs and razor bumps.

You have to shave more often if you use a razor than if you use clippers

Again, this comes down to technique and equipment. Using a double or triple blade razor and shaving with the grain of the skin will give you a shave that lasts just as long as any other method of shaving.

Razors dry out your skin

Sorry brothers, wrong again! Actually razor shaving is an exercise in hydration. What do I mean by that? Just think back to when you were a kid and you saw the old men in the barbershops giving razor shaves. If you don’t remember that, just think back to the movie Barbershop when Eddie, played by Cedric the Entertainer, got ready to shave his client. What did he do? Old school barbers would lather the face, then put on a hot, damp towel and let the lather soak into the skin for a few minutes. So how does that translate to you shaving at home? Razors should always be wet and warm. Keep rinsing the razor off in hot water as you shave. When you are finished, put on a post-shave treatment that reduces the chance of inflammation ever occurring.

TAKE DIRECTION. The No. 1 mistake is to drag a razor against the hair growth. Face mapping determines the right direction and is fundamental to my Directional Shave Method. Typically, hair grows down from the temple to about the Adam’s apple, where it changes direction. However, each beard is different and should be mapped and shaved accordingly.

KEEP SHARP. The No. 2 shaving mistake is to use a dull blade. Dull blades tug at hairs and cause skin irritation. Choose a high-quality multi-blade razor for ample ease of gliding, and let your razor do the work. Replace blades before they begin to tug. Rinse them often while shaving to extend their lifespan and to prevent dirt and hair from entering pores.

STAY WET AND LUBRICATED. Mistake No. 3 is not wetting and lubricating the face sufficiently. Never use soap when shaving; instead, liberally apply a formula with aloe or menthol, to moisturize and lift the hairs.

DO IT DAILY. Shave every day or at least every other day. If men don’t shave regularly, their beards grow too long, making it harder to shave without tugging. Tugging causes irritation, and irritation causes bumps.

DON’T LINGER. Shaving should take only about three minutes. Any longer means a man is needlessly shaving over the same areas, which could irritate the skin. Use light strokes, and never pull or stretch the skin while shaving. Use sidestrokes to finish for an extra clean shave.

TREAT YOURSELF. Treat yourself everywhere you shave, every time you shave, to reduce inflammation, prevent infection, and hydrate and soften the skin. If your beard is prone to razor bumps, use therapeutic aftershave consistently after each shave.

So you feel inspired to give razor shaving a try. But even after getting these guidelines and the 411 on what does or doesn’t cause razor bumps you feel like you need to see how to do it before you actually put that blade on your face? Don’t worry, I got you. Go to http://www.bumppatrol.com and check out my video Smooth Moves for shaving tips.

Master Barber Will Williams
Director of Education
M&M Products Company

posted by mmproducts on Apr 25

Which comes first, the bump or the ingrown hair?

Like the chicken or the egg question that has two schools of thought, some men believe it’s the bump that starts it all, and others blame the ingrown hair for their nasty razor bump problems.

To help set the record straight and convince you that there is only one true answer, I’m going to clue you in to how ingrown hairs form. Once you realize how they occur, you’ll start to take precautions that guarantee you a smoother game face in no time.

Lots of men think that ingrown hairs are caused by shaved hair curling and growing back into the skin. However, my position is that the ingrown hair in question actually never left the skin’s surface once it was shaved. Trapped underneath, it could wreak havoc on a face or neck.

There’s no question that shaving can cause skin irritation, particularly if you shave against the grain or if you needlessly shave over the same area. When this happens, your skin reacts to the irritation by swelling with white blood cells to defend it against the perceived injury. This inflammation is what causes a hair pore to close, trapping a hair inside with its tip embedded just under the surface with no means of escape.

Even though it is trapped, the hair continues to grow at the root, while the strand coils up, longer and longer, under the skin causing the bump itself to grow. Shaving over the bump is usually painful and causes further irritation to the area. Unless a man’s shaving regime improves, the cycle continues.

Prevention is a lot easier once you recognize that shaving irritation is the real culprit.

To avoid the problem, and also to treat it, I always recommend a razor bump treatment. Even on easily irritated skin, where a treatment with no alcohol works best, I see results that can change a man’s face and overall wellbeing within days. After all, razor bumps are more than a cosmetic problem for men. They affect his professional image, his health and his self-confidence.

So don’t walk around with egg on your face because of ingrown hairs. To keep the bumps at bay:

- Tweeze individual ingrown hairs and spot-treat each bump that’s left behind with a dab of bump treatment.

- Prep your beard with a shave gel that contains aloe or menthol to lubricate, lift the hair, and soothe the skin.

- Stop skin irritation right away with a post-shave treatment that reduces the chance of inflammation ever occurring. A swipe of the hand with bump treatment prevents infection and hydrates the skin.

As for the matter of the chicken and the egg, I’ll go with the chicken.

By Will Williams, Bump Patrol’s Director of Education and Licensed Master Barber. Visit Bump Patrol resource site for more shaving tips at www.BumpPatrol.com, and to learn about Will’s Directional Shaving Method.

posted by flowth on Apr 25

Have you ever had this happen?

A few years ago before I had learned anything about human attraction, I had a girlfriend who I adored. At the time, I harbored the idea that being nice and doing nice things amplified attraction, connection and intimacy in a relationship. I was taught to be cordial and to treat women like queens and that would be enough. And so my relationship went fine for a few months. She would do nice things for me and I would predictably reciprocate every nice thing she did by doing something just a little bit nicer. When you harbor the idea “she should be treated like a queen” it’s hard not to over do the acts of kindness. One day after I had bought her flowers and a new necklace, I got the “I think we should see other people” spew. I was dumb founded and heart broken wondering “what did I do wrong?” After studying this attraction game and learning about basic human psychology I realized it wasnt what I did. It was what I did too much of.

What is happening here and why is being “too nice” a bad thing?

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with doing something special for someone you care about. But more and more guys are being raised only by their mothers who instill a “treat your women like a queen” attitude in their sons. I was one of these guys. And what our mothers have done has taught us how to gain affection rather than attraction. In other words, they are teaching us to be good husbands and providers rather than attractive males.

SO once you have a women attracted to you and you want to keep it that way, there are a few things you must understand.

Reciprocating acts of love/ nice things need not be immediate. In fact they are better off being spontaneous and unpredictable rather than decadent and frequent. There is nothing wrong with letting someone know you care about them. But too many nice things can kill attraction.

And doing too many nice things is predictable. The key word here is predictable. When something you do becomes common and predictable, it’s value naturally decreases. Just like if you were to win $1000 a week for the rest of your life. The first few weeks might be very exciting but after a while, the novelty would wear and it would simply become the norm. Why do you think so many Parisians pay such little attention to their beloved Louvre Museum and their massive Eiffel tower. They are always going to be there. They aren’t going anywhere. So they don’t need to pay any attention to them. And this concept can be generalized.

We tend to put things in the back of our minds when they become predictable.

Another good example…

Have you ever noticed a terrible odor that is almost unbearable to smell. Yet after a few minutes the smell seemed to have disappeared. This is the same principle. The odor didnt disappear. Your mind simply put it in the peripheral, so you could focus your attention on more important things.

Also, when you are overly nice, doing a lot of nice things frequently, an added pressure arises in the women. She is going to think “god, this guy really really is into me. Am I as into him as he is into me?” And that discrepancy in the way she feels is going to create guilt. And because we rarely like to make ourselves out to the bad guy, we tend to put the blame elsewhere aka it was the guys fault. And this will transpire in to contempt and those little things that she found so attractive in the beginning are now driving her crazy. Until she gets to the point where she can’t keep hiding her feelings, she will break things off with you.

In conclusion, there is nothing wrong with doing nice things for a women. But doing nice things in a predictable and frequent fashion will have a detrimental effect and ultimately kill attraction.

So don’t overdo the acts of kindness

Understand the niceness only has the ability to create affection rather than attraction.

You cannot “buy” a women’s heart

Being “nice” does not mean you need to conform to her opinions, ideals, morals, or perspectives

Being “nice” does not mean you need to stray from being you

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