Gents,
I just thought it would be interesting to get a feel on what our esteemed members' complete shaving techniques are. By this I mean for your average/normal shave what are the steps/workflow you go through in order to get those perfect results.
I think this might be handy both for new users but also for others to possibly pick up/refine their current technique/workflow as there's some great information out there amongst our brilliant members.
To keep it digestible probably best to try to sequence in basic chronological order & approach via point format. I'll be the first sucker to jump in, rest assure it's very bog standard so prolly now gems of knowledge in there but I'm sure ya'll have some (I'm pretty sure Drubbing uses blue metal/gravel as a post-shave balm & that RM has some top secret materials he applies to his face/blades that he's testing for NASA!)
Gee seems like a lot but the whole thing is pretty quick these days. Ummm no real secrets there but just focus on a good lather......and don't let your mind wander too much when shaving or shave too fast or you'll end up getting a cut and feeling stupid.....oh and ALWAYS listen to your skin, sometimes I just won't be able to do a 2nd pass even if I want to, so never push ahead if your skin is saying not to......is all pretty straight forward.
Haha feel free to keep yours a LOT shorter, I'm just a weirdo.
I just thought it would be interesting to get a feel on what our esteemed members' complete shaving techniques are. By this I mean for your average/normal shave what are the steps/workflow you go through in order to get those perfect results.
I think this might be handy both for new users but also for others to possibly pick up/refine their current technique/workflow as there's some great information out there amongst our brilliant members.
To keep it digestible probably best to try to sequence in basic chronological order & approach via point format. I'll be the first sucker to jump in, rest assure it's very bog standard so prolly now gems of knowledge in there but I'm sure ya'll have some (I'm pretty sure Drubbing uses blue metal/gravel as a post-shave balm & that RM has some top secret materials he applies to his face/blades that he's testing for NASA!)
- I'll generally always shave AFTER a shower, but if I can't do this I'll soak a washer in hot water and apply it to my face for several minutes to wet/soak the hair. I'll reapply hot water to the washer throughout the process to get best results but a shower is superior IMHO.
- I'll wash my face with a face wash or regular soap to remove any sebaceous oils which can make a lather harder to build. Just super fast, nothing fancy needed.
- At this point or beforehand I'll either wet or soak my chosen brush (I have 3 in active use that I rotate on a single use each to allow full drying between uses). I only use warm water for this - just enough to cover 3/4 of the bristles. Sometimes I won't soak if I want a more 'scritchy' exfoliation.
- At the same junction I'll also place a splash of water over the surface of the shaving soap I'm to use (I generally always use hard soaps which I have in small plastic tubs). This is to soften the surface to allow easier brush loading.
- I'll check my blade & razor combo - generally this will be fine as I tend to change OLD/used blades out when I've had the previous shave and feel that they've been sufficiently used/don't have another nice shave in them e.g generally ~3-4 shaves.
- I'll run hot water into the basin, splash on my face and remove some of the water from my brush (this is adjusted depending on the soap I'm using - some like an extra dry brush - others prefer a bit left in)
- WIll then load the brush - how many swirls depends on the softness/nature of the soap. A few times I'll give the brush a gentle push down to flatten the bristles and get the soap right into the core of it.
- I then apply this to my face - I'm looking to spread it evenly across my entire face rather than form the lather at this point.
- Will then proceed to build the lather - circular movements across the face usually doing in several sections (haha don't try and do one big one! Great advice eh?)
- I'll add water gradually along the way...sometimes I'll dip the tip of the brush into the water - othertimes I'll press the brush tip on my chin (making a little well in the centre of it) and will drip some water into it from dipping my hand into the basin. Again spread this ALL OVER my face so that I don't overly dilute the lather in one section.
- Generally takes ~1-2min to get the right lather I'm after. Ideally I'm NOT chasing a BIG LATHER but rather something thick & rich with a very tight bubble (no bubble bath type stuff!)
- Once I've built the lather I'll change from a circular moition to more of a 'painting' movement to apply it evenly over my face.
- I'll then do the first pass, which is always WTG (make sure you know the unique direction of hairs on your face/neck - a newbie should always do a 'map' of this to help)
- Before I take ANY strokes I'll dip my razor into the hot water for 5-10secs to heat it up. Its only ~50 degrees so not scalding.
- I first do both cheeks, then my neck, I leave the tougher hairs on my chin/mouth area and upper lip for last - but do complete WTG pass on all....obviously washing off razor regularly.
- I'll reapply some more lather for the first pass if I need to - often around my jawline and neck this will be needed. To be honest I generally 'top up' the lather just before I do each section so its as fresh/ready as can be...e.g both cheeks, neck, chin/lip.
- WIll rinse off using the warm/soapy basin water - sometimes I'll leave it after 1 pass (Merkur Slant is quite good enough for this) - but generally I'll either do another complete pass or atleast a partial one around my chin/jawline.
- Leaving my face wet I'll repply the lather - depending on how much lather I have in the brush I might pait it on or have to rebuild it a little (generally the former).
- I'll then do ATG/XTG strokes depdning on how close a shave I need. Sometimes I'll use a 2nd razor (generally something mild for this - so kind of the 'Thomas technique')
- Oh also for the LAST PASS I'll try and handsqueeze all the last of the lather out of the brush and hand apply that to my face - this is the best stuff so don't waste it!
- Rinse off face and brush in the basin water - let this out deperately trying to send as much hair down as possible.
- I then rinse my face with cold water - then gently touch dry my face with a towel.
- If I've any cuts/weepers I'll apply an alum to stem the bleeding.
- Depending on how my skin is feeling I'll sometimes apply a witchhazel based toner (generally I only do this if its feeling a little prickly)
- Finally I'll apply a moisturiser (I don't have any specialist shaving ones so whatever the missus is using) - I make sure I rub this in with strokes that are WTG to avoid upsetting the skin.
- Then its clean up time...rinse razor under tap, unscrew a little, shake water out - blow excess water off and maybe a quick towel wipe - put on window sill on side to dry (removing blade if it's kaput - I put them in an empty vitamin jar with a cut in the plastic lid, toss it when full)....brush is rinsed, shaken out and tips gently dried on a towel...its then put on my stand at the back so it's at the back of the rotation....soap is left open and set aside to dry.
- Maybe apply some cologne but thats it.
Gee seems like a lot but the whole thing is pretty quick these days. Ummm no real secrets there but just focus on a good lather......and don't let your mind wander too much when shaving or shave too fast or you'll end up getting a cut and feeling stupid.....oh and ALWAYS listen to your skin, sometimes I just won't be able to do a 2nd pass even if I want to, so never push ahead if your skin is saying not to......is all pretty straight forward.
Haha feel free to keep yours a LOT shorter, I'm just a weirdo.
