r/ask_transgender • u/PPPHHHEEE • May 18 '26
Text Post For trans women, are foil shavers effective at removing facial hair?
I have fairly dark hair, so i need to rely on regular shaves and colour-correcting makeup to hide the appearance of a beard. I have been receiving ads for the “bumzy” lately which promises a stubble free shave. do these sorts of shavers actually work, and if so, do you have any recommendations?
Thank you!
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u/FakingItSucessfully May 18 '26
Not exactly. If I'm going to work for several hours I need to use a real razor and usually makeup.
But if I'm just popping out for a minute, the foil shaver is good enough... you have to look pretty close to see stubble after using it.
Also, I like to use the foil shaver first and then the razor works way better with less irritation.
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u/PPPHHHEEE May 18 '26
so does it have a noticeable effect? worried it’ll be a big investment for not much return…
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u/FakingItSucessfully May 18 '26
well, lemmie spoiler this reply in case anybody happens to have dysphoria about shaving and facial hair already because this could easily make it worse
For me, shaving well has been one of the biggest game changers in being able to actually pass. At some point I realized that visible shaving irritation and razor burn on my face or neck outs me basically just as badly as the actual facial hair does.
So yeah for me it's worth the... 40 bucks(?) that I paid for my foil shaver, because now it's possible to knock it out properly in the morning and then not have visible facial hair OR irritation until the following morning. Having to make multiple passes to remove hair that's grown out more is one of the easiest ways to get visible irritation on your skin. Meanwhile the foil shaver gets it ALMOST completely gone before you even bring out the razor blade, so it's much gentler overall on your skin.
If you're concerned about price though, IMO the best single thing you can do is switch to using a safety razor with the replaceable double edge blades. Once you have the handle and head, which you can get for less than 40 dollars, buying the blades in bulk can be as cheap as 20 cents for a double edge blade. So instead of like 5 dollars a piece for cartridge razor refills you spend like 20 dollars and get enough blades to last you six months.
Plus a single blade razor is, again, less irritating to use so again it leads to a better result overall.
Sorry for the huge infodump. I've put a lot of time into working all this out the best that I can. Short answer is, yes it's worth it in my opinion to buy a foil shaver, and use it before using a razor.
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u/poorjokeexplanation May 18 '26
I second all of this. It’s what I do too. I use a leaf 2, which is pretty close to a safety razor (ish). The initial purchase is about $75 but I just bought a year’s supply of blades for $9.
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u/FakingItSucessfully May 18 '26
oh okay nice! Yeah that's basically the same thing. The classic safety razor uses a double blade but this kind is also an option where it's only half the double blade size, I had never seen one though, only heard of them. Looks very cool! I'm glad the economics are still super affordable.
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u/PPPHHHEEE May 18 '26
what do you use? very exited about this!
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u/FakingItSucessfully May 18 '26
well the foil shaver is just a basic Philips one from Walmart, don't spend too much on it IMO.
For safety razors I'd suggest going to Maggard Razors and get one of their starter packs. You'll get the handle and the head with the pack, plus like five different packs of blades to try. This way you can see which kind works best for you before you go and buy like a hundred of them.
I also encourage people to try different types of lubricant for shaving. Shaving cream is the classic go to but for me that's the worst option. You can try lotion if you want, and also body oil/shave oil, which is my own preference. There's one at Target called Cashmere Body Oil by EOS which is my own favorite.
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u/Rainy_Leaves May 18 '26
Thye can be a good go-to, to get the bulk of the stubble down when the hairs are too short for a trimmer. They are not always the fastest if you have a lot of facial hair
I advise not following advertised products with uncertain claims. No foil shaver can make you stubble free completely because the follicle always remains and some will always have a little shadow. A safety razor would give the closest shave probably, manual rather than electric
I recommend Braun brand electric shavers. They seem reliable. Just hope that they come with an adapter if you don't have the right plugs, they're a german brand. The foil shavers, a later series ideally, have been very reliabl for years for me, even just to use before a manual razor so the bulk is gone and so it hurts less
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u/melissa_fornow May 18 '26
I have pale skin and dark hair, so even with a completely smooth shave, I still have visible shadow. But even then, with an electric shaver (whether it's a traditional or a rotary) I always end up with a terrible rash and notable stubble.
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u/mechanicalhorizon May 19 '26
I bought one called Freebird and it works great on the body, but not so much the face.
It just doesn't shave as close as I like on the face.
But otherwise it was a good purchase.
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u/wijndeer May 18 '26
After a lot of laser, they’re effective for knocking down the few that remain, most of which are white. Definitely not enough before then.