Wholeman Advice
The Shave
The perfect shave
How to make a daily chore a pleasure
The key to a pain-free shave is preparation of the stubble. The easier you can make the job for the blade, the more comfortable you will find it. This expert advice applies primarily to beards, but can also be adapted for those men who like to shave their heads.
- Stay trim
If you have a lot of stubble or even a beard, you should trim it back as short as possible with electric clippers first. Putting a razor straight on to long stubble will quickly clog it, meaning instead of cutting hair it will pull it out, which hurts. Pulling the hair means the skin is more likely to cut too.
- Soften up
Rather than splashing a bit of warm water on your face and lathering up, you need to soften the bristles. The easiest and most time-efficient way to do this is to have a hot shower before you shave. If your stubble is quite coarse, you should encourage it to stand up by using a mild facial scrub and then applying some shaving foam while you’re still in the shower. This will give the foam an extra minute or so to soften your bristles, meaning a less painful shave.
- Get steamed
If you don’t want to have a shower before you shave, then you can try a barbershop trick of using a hot towel to soften the beard. Take a small hand towel, soak it and ring it out. Then pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Shake the towel out for a few seconds and test it with your fingertips to make sure it won’t scald you. Then wrap your face in it, starting beneath the chin and bringing the ends up to meet across the mouth. Leave for a minute – it’s very refreshing.
- Lather up
What with foams and gels these days, most of us don’t bother lathering up with a traditional badger-hair brush. The more expensive shaving foam brands are worth the money as the foam tends to be thicker (thus providing more cushioning for the blade) and less full of drying detergents that can damage the skin. Whether you’ve just got out of the shower with foam still on, or have just used a hot towel, make sure you have a full covering of foam and work it in to your beard to encourage the softened bristles to stand up.
- Stay sharp
Ideally, you should change your blade after every five or six shaves (once a week if you shave every day, leaving your face to rest over the weekend). This will minimise the risk of cutting and irritating the skin. Store the razor clean, dry and in an upright position in a stand to stop the blade from blunting or rusting. This will prolong its life.
- Follow orders
There is a correct order to shaving and it’s easy to remember. The thicker the stubble, the longer you leave the foam to soften it. So start with the easy bits – the cheeks, the sideburns. Then move on to the lip and the neck area. Finally attend to the jaw-line and the chin. Always shave with the direction of hair growth (down on the cheeks, up on the neck), fully rinsing the blade in hot water between each stroke.
- Touch test
When you have removed all the foam, run your fingers over your face to check that you haven’t missed a spot. Rinse in cooler water to help close the skin’s pores.
- Calm down
Pat dry with a clean towel and let the skin rest momentarily before applying a soothing post-shave moisturiser. Do not put aftershave straight on to raw skin as this can irritate the face Home Alone-style due to the alcohol content. Instead dab a little on the pressure point on the neck just beneath your ears.