I did a little pre-growth Googling, mainly to check whether my ideological alignment was okay, and decided to grow a funny moustache again, mainly for my own amusement. (Neither I nor anyone I know has money to give to medical research or the marketing of medical services. Isn't it enough that we've participated in medicine as consumers, and are now nearly bankrupt?) Deep down, I still just really just want to look like John Waters.
There was good advice to let the whole beard grow, the first week. Chicks dig stubble, my spouse confirmed, and in this case, it hides the shame of a pretty sketchy 'stache. Too much nose hair, too little thickness just outside the Hitler zone. (Conversing on a forum, someone else with Native American heritage complained, so that's my excuse now!)
So, unlike No-shave November, Movember offers plenty of shaving enjoyment: first, on the neck, which of course everyone enjoys; and particularly, under the eyes and nostrils, to define a line. Despite lathering up, every other day or so, this week was still pretty awful for me, however. I couldn't quite shake the smell of cheese coming from my facial hair. The same unwelcome microbe as from the time I tried growing a full beard, apparently impervious to aftershave and alum. Plus, my little ingrown spot flared right up. I guess we really have to call it a deformity, at this point, always in the same spot, unwilling to develop into a proper wart or tumor.
Finally, last night, I made up my mind. The stubble was not standing up anymore, and felt more like little pole-vaulters than cushy velvet. This morning, I poked the not-shaving-bump and hit it with peroxide, so it would be soft and deflated, and not catch the blade with its scabbiness. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Oh,what a relief to be rid of the beard! No problems with the Ming Shi 2000S and Ming Shi blade. Six days wasn't skin-weakening, the way a whole month was. Indeed, I felt it was a great shave, though I wouldn't pass the cotton ball test. I think there are a couple reasons for that. One, that awful forest of cheese shifted my perspective on the aim of the shave. It actually felt completely gone after two easy passes, and I only squared up my strokes for a deeper, third pass because that's automatic for me.
Also, I think the follicles are standing the hair up less firmly, now that they haven't been reamed for awhile. A real, physical difference resulting from not shaving, more like what I had been hoping for in the month-long beard experiment. So that line of study is once again open. Theoretically, it kinda makes sense that the new, softer skin quality would progress outward from the dermis.
