Best Electric Shaver For Seniors [2020 Guide]

If you are looking for the best electric shaver for seniors, in this post you will learn what considerations you should make when choosing an electric shaver as a senior and my personal recommendation.

If you are in a hurry, my recommendation is the Braun Series 3 electric shaver. It’s affordable, accurate, and durable. Can’t beat it at this price point in my experience.

Shaving is something most men get used to in their puberty and it becomes a routine you don’t pay much attention to.

Many seniors learned to shave with razors or manual shavers and prefer them over electric shavers. There’s just something about the whole ritual of shaving, it’s an integral part of many guys’ identity.

But as you grow older it things tend to get a bit harder. You hand is not as steady as it used to be, your beard might be courser, you have wrinkles and your skin gets cut and irritated more easily.

A modern electric shaver makes shaving so easy, fast, and safe that it’s the ideal shaving tool for older men. But not all electric shavers are created as equal.

Choosing the right kind can be a daunting task since there are so many options out there. But worry not, I will help you find the perfect shaver.

Before we talk more about my recommendation, let’s look at how aging affects your beard growth and shaving.

How Aging Affects Beard Growth

As you surely know, different people have different rates of beard growth. Some men have to shave twice a day to avoid the “5 o’clock shadow” while others have no beard growth at all.

Most men are something in between and usually shave once a day or every 2 days. You have probably noticed that aging has affected your beard growth in some ways.

You’ve probably noticed that the older you get, the more hair you get in weird places. Your eyebrows grow longer, your ears and nose start to grow hair. Some people get beard-like facial hair on their nose for example.

This is all a normal part of aging and nothing to worry about, but many people prefer to shave this hair off.

So aging affects where you have to shave and trim. More importantly, aging can affect your beard growth.

As you age, your testosterone production will generally reduce. You might expect this to reduce your facial hair growth as testosterone is the main source of hair growth.

But it’s actually not testosterone itself but its metabolite DHT that tells your facial hair follicles to keep growing facial hair. There is some research that suggests that DHT levels remain constant or even rise in some cases by aging.

This means that most senior men will have consistent beard growth for the remainder of their life. The aging process affects the hair follicles and can make the hair more coarse or thinner, depending on your genetics and lifestyle factors.

The key takeaway is that most men will need to shave their beards their whole life after puberty (unless they let it grow of course) and it becomes a bit harder because of the changes in the skin.

How Aging Affects Shaving

So the beard keeps growing as you age but how does aging affect the actual process of shaving?

Like I talked about in the post Best moisturizer for seniors, the skin loses elasticity and becomes thinner as you age.

This will make the process of shaving harder than compared to smooth and resilient younger skin. It’s harder to shave between the wrinkles to get a full smooth result.

The risk of cutting your skin while shaving also increases exponentially as your skin becomes wrinkled, less elastic, and thinner.

If you have ever cut yourself with a razor or a manual shaver (probably every guy has) you know how painful and annoying it can be.

Aging can also affect the strength and stability of your arms and hands. As your coordination reduces, it becomes harder to control the force and position of your shaving.

Finally, the hair of your beard can become rougher and thicker as a result of aging. This increases the demand of the shaver and makes it once again to cut yourself and to get a clean shave.

Considerations When Choosing A Shaver For Seniors

So what should you look in an electric shaver for seniors?

A perfect electric shaver for seniors needs to be light so it’s easy to control even if you have reduced strength and coordination in your arms. A bulky or heavy shaver will make it hard to get good results without assistance.

The shaver needs to have a good track record of producing good clean shaves without excessive irritation of the skin so that you don’t have to do several shaves or get cuts.

If you prefer to keep a trimmed beard, it’s good to have the option for a beard trimmer that allows you to shave the lines of your beard.

The shaver should be wireless and waterproof. The wireless operation will make controlling the shaver much easier since you don’t have to worry about where the cord goes.

Most people shave their beards over the bathroom sink, which might be full of water for finishing the shave. A waterproof shaver will not break if you accidentally drop it.

Best Shaver For Seniors

My recommendation for the best electric shaver for seniors is the Braun Series 3 wireless shaver with the precision trimmer.

It is a lightweight, compact and wireless shaver with 3 pressure-sensitive shaving elements. Very durable and waterproof so you don’t have to worry about getting it wet accidentally or while cleaning.

The Series 3 can be used dry, with water or foam or gel. It’s very easy to keep clean, you just take the head off and rinse the blade under running water.

I’ve personally had two of these devices. The first one lasted 5 years before the battery gave out. It was still possible to use the shaver if I shaved my beard in two runs but I didn’t like the hassle and got a new model. The second one has been going strong for a year.

I actually had to only replace the dry foil shaver head only once in the original one and that was after I accidentally dropped the shaver and the head got a dent in it.

Before that, it worked perfectly and I was quite honestly expecting it to fail at some point but was surprised at the durability.

I’ve had shavers and hair clippers from several other major brands but the Braun shavers have always astonished me with their practicality, durability, and quality. Especially considering the price since they aren’t really that expensive compared to some other models.

It gives a really good close shave, usually with a single pass. Especially if you trim any longer hair with the precision trimmer first.

I’ve never had razor burn or irritation from it and I actually shave my beard dry, so this tells a lot about the sensitivity and quality of the shaver.

The only real con with this shaver is that the battery will eventually fail and if you have very thick beard growth and shave daily, you will probably need to change the foil heads more often than I do. And they are rather expensive, around $25 or so.

But if you shave a few times a week or keep a short beard, this is probably the best shaver you can get at this price point and in my opinion great for seniors because of the lightweight, functional construction, sensitivity, and water resistance.

Conclusion

I hope you found this post about shaving useful and found a suitable electric shaver for yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me in the comments section below and I’ll get back to you.

Aging doesn’t remove the need for shaving but it can make it quite a bit harder. Your skin becomes thinner and wrinkly, your coordination can diminish and it can become harder to get a clean shave.

A high-quality electric shaver can help you get a good shave fast, even if you have problems with arm coordination or other age-related ailments.

It’s important to pick a high-quality shaver but the good news is that it doesn’t have to break the bank and investing a bit in quality will usually result in long-term savings.

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Thanks for reading and see you next time!