For many years, shavers have attempted to remove hair as close to the skin as possible, by cutting it straight off.

This is fine, however, if the hair is left to grow it goes through an annoying rough stage.
Apparently, hair which has been waxed off then regrown doesn't have this, because each hair starts off very thin, then tapers back to full thickness.

However, waxing is not something I'm ever likely to consider.

Therefore, I propose the hair sharpener. It doesn't cut hairs straight across, but at a series of acute angles, to form them into soft points.
It may not be able to cut as close, but the hairs won't ever be annoying and stubbly as they grow out.

This would be good for men who want designer stubble, and anyone who wants to trim their body hair on an occasional basis while avoiding the pain of waxing and also the discomfort of stubbly bits rubbing together.
-- Loris, Sep 12 2023

hair sander [pocmloc, Sep 12 2023]

I want to say that wax thing is probably false, because hair doesn't grow that way. It grows from the base out. That tapered stump you'd leave behind would become the new end of the hair, and this would cause it to be more likely to split. Split ends that close to the surface could make it irritatingly likely to cause ingrown hairs to form. I don't know a whole lot about dermatology or hair, but I know a great deal about splitting hairs and being irritating.
-- 21 Quest, Sep 12 2023


I don't know how hair regrowth after waxing works, but I assume enough people have done that for the reports of initially thin, softer hairs emerging to be a known fact.

Whether tapering the hair by cutting would cause more split ends than transverse cuts I don't know either - I concede it's possible, but also can't exclude the possibility that it may reduce them.
For what it's worth, a brief search on google gave a number of hits suggesting that the best treatment for split ends is to cut the hair with diagonal cuts rather than straight across - for a variety of reasons, but at least one said this was to avoid damaging the hair.
-- Loris, Sep 12 2023


Quite so. That's why razor blades are slanted at an angle, as I understand it.
-- 21 Quest, Sep 12 2023


I believe the main reason for waxing over shaving is that it leaves no stubble at all, therefore leaving it smoother than even the closest shave and for a longer duration, as well as eliminating the risk of nicks and razor burn. But once the hairs grow back it's just as prickly.
-- 21 Quest, Sep 12 2023


<of waxing>
//But once the hairs grow back it's just as prickly.//

I have zero experience of waxing, but that's not the impression I had. A bit of very careful searching later, I found this text:

::Many people who get their first wax after shaving feel disappointed immediately after the wax, or a few days later, as they can experience stubbly and sharp hairs. This is not a part of the regrowth cycle from a wax; it is merely some of your shaved hairs breaking through the skin. After a few waxes, you should be able to experience hairs that grow back on the same cycle, and you’ll find that your hair even becomes finer the more you get waxed. ::
-- Loris, Sep 12 2023


What was the source of that? It sounds amazing awful lot like marketing BS to me. "Don't give up on waxing until you've paid for MANY wax jobs first." Shaved hairs don't break through the skin unless they've gotten ingrown. Shaving doesn't cut them below the surface of the surrounding skin. What happens sometimes is a dull portion of the blade may snag a hair and rip it off below the level of the skin, but that only happens with dull blades and poor shaving technique, and shouldn't account for more than a small percentage of the total hairs shaved.

If you want the hairs to be softer, use moisturizing cream and exfoliate. I gotchu bro.
-- 21 Quest, Sep 12 2023


It /was/ a waxing clinic, but there were a number of hits saying similar things, not all of them touting for business. Looking at the quoted section again, that second sentence does look dubious.
Another source I found later suggested that the follicles would become damaged and this was the reason for softer hair after multiple waxings.
-- Loris, Sep 12 2023


Waxing is one of those things like wet shaving, it has its adherents who swear by it, and like wet shavers, attribute many of the benefits of all the other things they started doing along with it to the shaving itself. People whose shaving routine used to consist of slathering on some cold foaming gel and making a single pass with a 5-blade cartridge razor now apply a hand lathered hot soap with a shave brush in a swirling pattern to lift all the hairs up and soften them and better lubricate every inch of skin, then adopt a 3-pass shave technique with their safety or straight razor, taking 10 times as long because they actually enjoy the routine. Naturally they're getting a closer, better shave this way, but they attribute it to their new choice of razor and blade. Similarly, if you go to a spa and get waxed, you're likely also getting a whole lot of other stuff done to your skin with it that you simply weren't previously taking the time to do for yourself.
-- 21 Quest, Sep 12 2023


Oh, sure, absolutely.

But this idea isn't about getting a ridiculously close shave, it's for people who want to sport designer stubble. Or not particularly unkempt nether regions without pain, or spending some of their time being like sandpaper down there.
-- Loris, Sep 12 2023


People actually wax their face? My ex used to shave her legs and said she could never wax them because it hurt too much. I can't imagine doing it to my face. I watched a woman in Mexico take off her mustache in one fell swoop onto a strip of wax. I thought the upper lip was coming off with it. Owee!

"Many people who get their first wax after shaving run out into the street screaming with blood seeping out of a million follicle holes. But they say they love it and get a really close shave."

What's the deal with an ever closer shave? What was wrong with the Gillette safety razor shave? Or the barber's straight razor shave? 3 blades. Then 5. What's the object of having the smoothest shave? Running your cheeks up in everybody's grill saying "Woohoo, feel this! I've got a smoother shave than you! Like a baby's ass! A perfect shave!" The whole thing is marketing. "When you're done waxing it's recommended that you manscape your pubes into an interesting shape and braid the remainder. Then you've really got something to show off. And you can wear your new manscape pants with the window panel. (I'm running over to the Product category to see if anyone has invented pants with a crotch window.)
-- minoradjustments, Sep 13 2023


Personally, I suspect it's at least partly an addiction to the sting they get from applying alum and/or aftershave. The closer the shave, the more it burns.
-- 21 Quest, Sep 13 2023


//pants with a crotch window// instant [+]
-- pocmloc, Sep 13 2023



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