Like the title asks, is there a way to edit the player character's appearance ingame without resetting the character level as per the showracemenu via the console commands?

Huh? When I used it, the level didn't reset... of course, I kept the same face (just wanted to change hairstyles), just had to re-add the warpaint.

I use showracemenu all the time without having character level reset. What's actually happening in your game? Oh, there's a "barbershop" mod - maybe that would help you. Let me find you a link, back shortly.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=12117

See if that helps?

If you keep the same race and just change the characters appearance, your character should not get reset. Be careful because changing the race (and maybe the six?) will cause the reset problems.
Ninja'd