Yes, shaving your facial hair will make you look younger and take a few years off your actual age. By contrast, you’ll look 3 to 10 years older if you have a beard, goatee, or mustache.
Let’s face it, growing old is inevitable. There’s nothing we can do about it. But there is something we can do to make ourselves appear younger than we are. For men, in particular, one of those things is through shaving our faces.
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How Does Age Change Your Face?
What are the effects of aging on our faces? To understand this, we must first talk about collagen and elastin.
These two are the major players for your skin’s youthful appearance. They help keep your skin firm, keep it supple, and give it a healthy glow.
Because collagen and elastin fibers weaken with aging, the skin loses its elasticity. As a result, the skin becomes thinner, drier, and more susceptible to nicks and cuts.
In this way, shaving becomes a chore for an elderly man. Ingrown hair and discomfort would be more likely as a result.
Will Shaving Make You Look Younger?
As I’ve previously stated, yes shaving your face will generally make you look younger and knock off a few years to your actual age.
Shaving is a great practice with benefits to mitigating skin aging, albeit it’s not without its own pitfalls.
The good news
- Close shaving is an excellent way to exfoliate, which means removing dead skin cells on your face. This helps to open up congested pores and promotes that healthy glow. In addition, shaving also makes it easier for skincare products to penetrate the skin.
- There is also the added benefit of stimulating blood circulation. Increased circulation promote tissue growth and repair. In turn, this will slow down premature aging and wrinkles.
- In general, people also tend to perceive a person without facial hair as younger as compared to someone who has facial hair. In fact, a British study published in Behavioral Ecology Journal stated that men with facial hair are perceived to be older. A different study was more specific. It was discovered that growing a beard adds ten years to your age. A mustache or goatee adds five years to your age. Even a light stubble gives you a three-year-old appearance and also gives the impression of a larger jawline.
The bad news
- Soap-based shaving creams, gels, and lotions may cause skin damage and accelerate aging. The soaps contain an alkaline detergent that works with the skin’s natural acidity. But this can easily be solved by specifically buying products that are soap-free. The good shaving brings easily outweighs the bad things about it.
Still not convinced?
If you’re still not convinced then I just want to tell you about a relatively popular skincare routine in Japan called “Kao Sori”, which is actually a little-known secret for the beauty of a Japanese woman’s skin way back.
This method involves using a straight razor to remove facial hair (peach fuzz). It is thought to stimulate collagen formation and increase moisturizer absorption.
You can read more about this method here.
While I believe shaving is good, it is not magic. It won’t stop you from aging completely, but with the above benefits I discussed, it will definitely make you look younger and shave off (pun intended) a couple of years from your real age.
Why Do I Look Old After Shaving?
This may just be your brain playing tricks on you, especially if you’re used to having facial hair on you. A clean shave might not be your normal look so you might have a different perception of how you look compared to other people.
In general, though, men with facial hair are perceived to be older, as I previously mentioned above.
Growing a beard adds ten years to your age. A mustache or goatee adds five years to your age. Even a light stubble gives you a three-year-old appearance and also gives the impression of a larger jawline.
Is Shaving Your Face Everyday Bad?
Shaving every day should not necessarily cause any adverse side effects, provided you are using a clean, sharp razor and a proper shaving routine to avoid skin irritation and ingrown hairs.
Disposable razors are alright provided that you only use them when they’re sharp and discard them immediately when they’re not.
If you are experiencing skin irritation, try using different shaving cream or gel until you find one that does not cause a bad reaction, as it can be the ingredients causing this rather than the actual act of shaving.
How Can I Make My Face Look Younger?
Here are some tips on you can make your face look younger:
- Commit to a clean shave. But if you can’t live without your beard, then at least keep it short on the sides and long on the bottom. You will appear younger as a result of this.
- Remove any unwanted hair. You must manscape any areas of body hair that have become out of control. Use a scissor to tame the lengthy hairs on your brows, or pluck them with tweezers. You can either have your ear and nose hair trimmed by a barber or do it yourself with a nose trimmer. For the rest of your body, there are plenty of options in the market.
- Make sure you have a good haircut. Avoid a ponytail and keep it short. If you have male pattern baldness or a receding hairline, a completely shaven head is your best choice. Hair growth products are not recommended because they demand a long-term commitment and the results will fade if you stop using them.
- Gray hair looks great with the right hairdo. If you don’t like the grays, a suitable color can be used to tone them down. For example, you can go with classic black. To effectively mix the grays with the black hair, you may also use a color camouflage service.
- Use natural skincare products that don’t contain alkaline detergents (mainly sodium laureth sulphate/ SLS). You should consider choosing products that contain natural oils such as jojoba, argan, and sweet almond.
- Consider getting dermaplanning done by a specialist. In comparison to ordinary shaving, it provides improved exfoliation. It’s also better at eradicating wispy facial hair (vellus hair).
- Wear sunscreen and add moisturizer to your daily routine as well. These are both good practices to preserve your skin’s youth.
Summary
Going back to the original question: Does shaving make you look younger?
The answer is: Yes, shaving makes you look younger and takes off a couple of years from your actual age because of the following:
- It is an excellent way to exfoliate, which means removing dead skin cells from your face, thus promoting a glowing look.
- It boosts blood circulation, which promotes tissue growth and repair.
- People generally have the perception that men with facial hair are older compared to people without facial hair.