I shaved for the first time in a while so I could update a profile picture and my chin looks like this.

Flying Squid@lemmy.world to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 295 points –

I don't particularly want my new profile to have that meth chic look.

113

The long gray beard says "biker in his 60s" but the smooth, (mostly) unblemished skin says "I just learned to drive."

Also if this is shortly after shaving, it might just be razor burn. It's clearly been a while so your skin might just be angry and not used to blades.

I am an old fashioned guy in his 40s.

Splitting the difference, then.

got that "just learned to ride a motorcycle in my 40s" look

I have never learned to ride a motorcycle. They scare me.

got that "about to have a midlife crisis and learn how to ride a motorcycle" look

You need to think less motorcycle and more 19th century president.

Ur not a flying squid u fucking liar

you can tell just from a chin pic? you havent even seen 98% of the rest of the body

I feel the need to stand up for my fellow sea creatures. That could for sure be a squid.

Who said you could talk, jellyfish?! You insolent little bitch!

Seborrheic dermatitis. Cortisone cream to treat. I've had some luck with pyrithione zinc (active ingredient in most dandruff shampoos) soap to keep it from coming back.

Don't listen to Big pharma just keep picking at it and make an open wound like GOD intended

I have this and it is exactly how mine looks too. It also clears up generally within a couple of days after I shave. I also get it on my scalp and on my sternum, which I think is common with it.

Hate to break it to the OP, but keeping myself cleanly shaved has helped a lot with keeping it off the face. I still get it occasionally on my sternum like you.

Me too, but it hides under my beard so it’s not really visible anyway. It does occasionally itch, but not too bad. I like my beard more than I hate the dermatitis.

I‘d use Ketozolin shampoo regularly. This looks like tinea barbea.

Definitely some form of fungal skin infection. If the ketoconazol shampoo doesn't work talk to a skin doctor for some anitfungal pills. It'll clear up in a few weeks.

How is shaving off a reverse Mohawk in your beard making you look more presentable?

Because I like this look?

Lemmy, sing to us ace of spades!

I may be on Lemmy, but I could only hope to be Lemmy.

If it helps though, despite it being 4/20, I'm drinking port.

I'll tell ya the secret sauce. It's so we can easily filter out people like you in public without having to start a conversation. I like what I like, and don't give a shit what others find presentable.

Sincerely,

Some dude with non-standard head hair and facial hair.

Wow ya really got me! Good one!

Skin issues aside, if this is for a profile pic it should be trivial to remove the discoloration in the pic.

Silver lining and all that.

I'd feel like I was cheating.

Nah. You're not photoshopping a six pack on yourself. You're just removing a temporary mark that isn't part of your regular look. It's making the photo more representative of your true every day appearance.

I can see it that way, but I still don't think it would feel right to me to do it. I'd rather have people see my flaws and if this is some long-lasting thing, if it's there in a couple of days, I'll use it in the profile picture.

That level of honesty is noble but unwarranted. It's a profile pic that is supposed to be a "here's my general appearance" and that's just a temporary blemish. If it becomes a part of your personality, take another picture. It will give you time to adjust to whatever the skin is going to do.

if you don't look like an utter piece of shit in your profile picture, people won't be impressed when they meet with you IRL.

Gotta keep up the game.

But if these blemishes turn up intermittently in different places, aren't they a part of you in general? Yes, they might not be in that spot all the time, so "sure it's fine to remove that because it's not a permanent part of you" but if it keeps reoccurring, then I would argue that they're a permanent part of you.

I would still remove it, but simply because clear skin makes you look better. I wouldn't try to explain this vanity away.

Lean all in, wear an old civil war uniform (ideally Union but if you want some of that southern strange you could go Confederate) and work on your thousand mile stare. It's like peacocking!

It'll attract someone. (But I won't be held responsible for the type of someone).

I don't know if my wife would want me attracting anyone, right or wrong.

She into dudes from the 1800s? Profile pic still stands!

Ooh yeah, if it goes all the way up he could make a wicked general Burnside.

i've been told i'd look good in old war attire.

I'm not sure how i feel about it, but at least im not the only one LMAO.

I have had a beard for years and shaved it awhile ago. Same thing. Goes away in a few days in the sun for me.

It looks like some sort of fungal infection to me. Watch the redness go away within 48 hours, now that that area gets sunlight.

I have to admit that that is not at all what I imagined the bottom third of your face to look like.

Neither did my face, but it's used to it.

I seem to recall there was a kids' game with faces split in three, and you could spin to make different ones with different parts? Don't they have those on plastic barrels at some playgrounds?

You should find one of those playgrounds, print this picture out, and stick it on one of the plastic barrels.

If you use to have lot of flake it might be seborrheic dermatitis it's mostly give a lot of weird yellow flake but if i shave the skin under the flake look like that

Yeah I get this too if my beard grows for more than a couple days. Also the back of my scalp if my hair gets really long.

I get that after having a beard and using my CPAP, I think it's pressure sores. I use some dandruff shampoo on my skin and it clears up in about a week.

I have dandruff shampoo. I'll try that, thanks.

I have a long beard. I would not be able to have a beard without using dandruff shampoo on it at least 3 times a week. I make sure to use beard oil right after to maintain moisture though.

i haven't shaved in like 3 years.

I'm scared to shave to be frankly honest. I don't want to know what i look like.

I used to get something similar under my beard/mustache. I'll use a tiny bit of this shampoo periodically and it controls it quite well (assuming it's fungal). Head and Shoulders might work too. https://a.co/d/2nMo1nH

Some other people said dandruff shampoo. I have some Selsun Blue in the cabinet I might try. Thanks.

I get beardruff sometimes too but it's usually bc my skin's dry and dandruff shampoo just dries it out further. Try moisturizing your face more regularly with cream or aloe or the like. If I let my beard get long it's more difficult to moisturize properly and I'll sometimes have patches like that when I shave. Usually clears up in a day though after some aloe.

Hopefully it's going to be okay. It could be staph infection or cellulitis going on.

Hopefully it's just really bad razor burn, but it could be anything. I'm in poor health right now for non-skin related reasons, but it could definitely have an effect there. We'll have to see.

Either way, it annoyed me that I went from "I'll make myself look presentable" to "well, so much for that idea" just because I did the thing you're supposed to do in order to look more presentable.

A beard is perfectly presentable so long as it is trimmed and tidy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise

Mine looked pretty awful.

It's all in the way you trim and neaten it imo. When people let their beards run wild, it tends to not look that great. But if you keep it trimmed neatly, even if it's long, it can look pretty nice!

Nothing some make-up or a bit of photo-editing can't fix in a pinch.

Staph and strep infections are more common than you think, they live on healthy human skin after all, and usually no sign to be alarmed. Whenever you get a pustule or redness, it's probably staph.

Warning signs to watch out for are intense itchiness, affected skin feeling very different to the touch (usually rough or leathery), browning or rapidly growing red patches and a stinging, pulsating pain.

I had a really bad strep infection in my leg in 2023, caused by an infectious a wound that I repeatedly scratched due to itching, and it hurt so much that even just moving the leg into an upright position would cause pain that made me see stars. I have before/after pics from my leg at that time if you want.

Cellulitis usually causes swelling

Source: had cellulitis from jumping into rocks in the James river. Was admitted to the hospital twice and was released on 9/11 because they thought the hospital would be inundated with victims of the pentagon attack

I've gotten that as well. I have had success using rubbing alcohol on those spots. Also helps to use an alcohol aftershave.

That depends on your skin type and the cause of the blemish. Test it on your arm first before slathering it straight on to your face.

Once I started keeping pure isopropyl alcohol (99.9%) around the house to use in several hobbies, I quickly gained some deep respect for it's magical properties and it's ability to dry anything it touches. Diluted or not, I don't look at the stuff the same way anymore.

(Also of note, rubbing alcohol is isopropyl and aftershave is typically ethanol.)

This is one of the reasons humans have to evolve past hair and become completely smooth. Fucking facial and body hair, I swear...

I got laser hair removal all over my body* fifteen years ago. Best decision ever.

*got rid of all body hair except for eyelashes, eyebrows, and the hair on top of my head.

Full bald dong?

I'm a woman.

But since you mentioned it, the hottest & my favorite men I've been intimate with took care of grooming all over their bodies, no body hair. Smooth and clean everywhere.

I'd like to but many people I've heard said it's a procedure that needs to be repeated periodically, isn't it?

It was a 3-year process, one treatment every 3 months. And no exposure to the sun during those 3 years. But it was so long ago, I hardly remember, and ever since then I've been maintenance-free, and free to sunbathe to my heart's content. No hair.

I've been kind of considering doing something like that since I've grown to despise pretty much all my body hair. What do you mean no exposure to the sun? Is it just a case of "don't stay in the sun unnecessarily" or straight up "turn into a vampire and avoid the sun at all costs"?

They don't want you to get a suntan or a sunburn during the course of treatment because it will affect the way the lasers react to your skin.

I have an at-home laser hair removal gun. It works best on dark hair and very pale skin because it uses the absorption of UV light to heat and kill the hair. It has a safety feature that makes you validate that "my skin is pale enough to use this" before it will turn on because it will burn anything dark. Hair, skin, whatever.

It won't work on blond or white hair, and there's no real workaround to that. Electrolysis is an option for light colored hair, but I think that's more invasive. Not an option for me, so I haven't looked into it.

Was the treatment full body, once every three months? I've thought about this for about 15 years but it seemed like it would take forever. Probably less than 15 years tho... This would be amazing.

I'm not exaggerating when I say it's the best decision I've ever made. For anyone who's extremely annoyed by their body hair and has money for laser hair removal, I HIGHLY recommend.

Best. Decision. EVER.

I did my trouble areas which I consider full body but it wasn't technically full body. I did my facial sideburns, mustache area, underarms, Brazilian bikini, and my entire legs.

Body hair has it's uses. Keeping you from getting a cold (micro clima) and preventing skin irritations.

I wish my beard grew that long, but it never wants to, I'm a little envious. You might benefit from one of those heated beard brushes that smooth out the hair. I got one but my beard refuses to grow in long enough for it to matter.

Lots of shampoo recommendations but some sunlight will help, too. When you wash your face, dry it well.

Yeah I bought one of those professional hair shavers to cut down because of this.. Going full on with a safety is not fun

Dribble some whiskey on it, clears it right up.