I was once told that it isn’t about making your mind blank, it’s about acknowledging the thought that rolls into your mind, and then letting it go. The idea being to train yourself to let trains of thought go. When I’m being a huge dick to myself with my inner monologue I can sometimes remember “oh yeah! I can just not think about this” and then I’ll let my mind go elsewhere.
As someone who shaves regularly, my skin finally cleared when I began using alcohol and fragrance free aftershave lotion.