You may be out there searching Google on what is a good shaving routine. How to shave properly and what to use. If you’re a young man looking for guidance on how to shave, keep reading.
Should you shave daily? Every few days? Weekly? Somewhere in between?
This is what I do.
How often do I shave?
My routine is this: I shave my entire face every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I shave my upper lip seven days a week, no matter what. You may end up settling on a different routine, but this one is an excellent starting point.
If you’re into beards, that’s not my domain. Go check out George Bruno on YouTube for that.
I shave my upper lip every day for two reasons. One, I don’t care for the way I look with any kind of facial hair growth there. But the main reason is that area is the most sensitive part of your face, and it’s just easier to shave a day’s worth of growth than it is multiple days’ worth.
The rest of my face is shaved every other day because it’s a good compromise between being too unsightly and burning through razors too fast. With my rate of growth, I look pretty good with one day’s worth of beard and I can preserve the life of my razors.
On average, I change out my razor blade roughly once a week.
The preshave
The preshave is as important as any other part of the shave. Doing this properly sets up a smooth shave the rest of the way. You don’t want to screw this up, but it’s easy so you don’t have to.
Get your water piping hot–as hot as you can stand it. Splash that hot water on your face. Once you get it in your hands, it will cool down very quickly, so bend down and get your face fairly close to the sink. Five or six inches away from the sink will do.
Apply your shaving cream, either on your upper lip or your entire face depending on which day it is.
Spray the cream off in the palm of your hand. For the upper lip, about the size of a marble. For the entire face, a golf ball’s worth will do.
Apply with your hand, rub it around until there’s an even amount on all areas of your face. Some people use a shaving brush, and that’s fine, but I don’t. I never have. I simply don’t find it necessary.
I use Barbasol brand shaving cream. Just plan Barbasol, in the blue and red can. If your face is sensitive, you can buy the aloe kind that’s in a blue and green can. They sell it everywhere and it’s inexpensive. Don’t waste your money on these elaborate gels that promise you the world but don’t deliver you anything better.
While you’re applying the shaving cream to your face, turn off the hot water. It’s unnecessary to waste it during this time. You can turn it back on later.
It’s shave time
Now you’re ready to shave. Before you take your first strokes, turn the hot water back on, rinse your razor under the water, and turn it off.
For my razor, I use a safety razor. I buy blades in a pack of 100., but you can also get them in smaller packs just to try them out. They’re cheap on Amazon and can last you as long as two years if not more. The safety razor itself is a timeless classic. The word “safety” is a bit of a misnomer, though. It can cut you up like any other razor if you’re not careful.
It’s important on any up, down, or side strokes to not move the razor laterally in the direction your shaving. Make sure your blade is perfectly perpendicular to the direction you’re shaving, and don’t curve your strokes at all.
I start my shave just under my sideburns with downstrokes about two inches long. After about 5-7 strokes, I rinse the razor in hot water and go another 5-7 strokes. Do this on both sides of your face all the way down to your jawline.
When shaving your cheeks, close your mouth and puff your cheeks out to get the best shave. This enables the most contact between the blade and your skin.
The next part is your neck and beneath your chin. Do this with upstrokes. Again, five strokes, rinse, five strokes, rinse, repeat. Then do the area beneath your lower lip with upstrokes.
The last part I do is my upper lip. You’ll want to do downstrokes for your first run. Three strokes, rinse, three strokes rinse. First one side, then the other side, then the part directly beneath your nose.
Again, the upper lip is very sensitive, so be very careful and deliberate on this. Don’t try to rush.
Rub a bar of soap, or squeeze a little liquid soap in your hand, mix it with a little warm water, and apply it to your upper lip. This time, do side strokes starting from the middle of your upper lip and moving towards your ear. The soap will further moisturize your face and the side strokes will get you a smoother shave.
You can do the soap thing to the rest of your face and touch it up with upstrokes only to get any hairs you may have missed.
Post shave
This is how you wrap things up. The finishing touch. This is important to feel like you got a good, close shave. Few things feel more refreshing than this.
Turn on the cold water and let it run for several seconds. Don’t use hot water. That’s done.
When the water gets cold, or at least cool, rinse your entire face with the cold water. Make sure you remove any excess cream. When all the cream is cleaned off, do one more splash of your entire face with the cold water–including your forehead.
Warm water will strip essential oils from your face. Leave as much of the oil on as possible, as it helps to moisturize.
When you dry your face, pat it dry with a towel. Don’t wipe it dry. Wiping with a towel will also strip the face and dry it out. Good shaving cream helps keep your face moisturized while shaving with the warm water.
This post-shave care will help preserve a youthful look and will help to keep wrinkles and dryness down.
Now it’s time to put the razor away. It’s very important to make sure your razor blade is completely dry after each use. Not drying your blade will cause microscopic rust to form, which can cause razor bumps and your blade to have to be replaced prematurely.
With a safety razor, unscrew the bottom of it which exposes the blade. Dab the blade a few times with a towel until no more water appears. Then tighten the screw, wipe off the top of the razor, then store in a dry place until you’re ready to use it again.
Go about your day
A good, close shave can really kick off a good day.
There’s a saying, “look good, feel good; feel good, perform well?” Get the ball rolling in the right direction.
Try this shaving routine and see if I’m not right.
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