A Smoother Shave

You’ve probably heard that it’s a bad idea to use an alcohol based aftershave (apart from the stinging, it dries out your skin).  You can get liquid ones without alcohol, or you can use a moisturising one – or just some moisturiser.

But if your skin doesn’t need moisturising (because it isn’t especially dry) just the pores closing, try using cold water.

After you’ve rinsed all the soap off with hot water, splash cold water round everywhere you’ve shaved.  It’s close your pores, make your skin feel refreshed and take away any little bits of irritation.

Even if you do want to put a moisturiser on, I’d use cold water first.  But you might find cold water is all you need.

If you’re just switching to using a double edged razor (as I recommend!) then you might find that to begin with it’s a bit sore.  If you’re not used to such a close shave and your hand’s a bit shaky, it might take a while to get the hang of it.

Consider trying only shaving every other day.  If you used to use an electric shaver, you might find that the second day of a ”proper” shave is nearly as close as an electric shave anyway.  And if gives time for your skin to get used to it.

It’s what I did at first, and it really helped.

But after a while I found it was actually easier to shave every day - because that way there’s less hair to cut through.  Once I’d got the hang of a decent razor, it actually irritates my skin less if I shave every day.

So if you’re just switching, try every other day.  But once you’ve got the hang of it, try daily – it might be more comfortable, not less.

I’ve said before that if you use an electric razor and suffer from razor burn, bumps or rash, my advice to you is to geta  double edged safety razor.  When I use an electric razor, the underside of my chin is covered in razor rash.  But nowadays I use a double edged razor and I virtuatlly never get any at all.

But I know not everyone is willing to make the switch – electric shavers seem so quick and handy.

So here are some tips on reducing razor burn whilst sticking with the electric:

• First of all, wash first – have your shower before you shave.  (But make sure you dry off properly!)  When I first started shaving, I was told to shave before I showered so the hairs stuck up stiffer.  But it only makes it harder to cut them – which means more burn.  If you don’t want to shower first, at least wash your face in good hot water.
• If it’s really bad, use a pre-shave lotion.  If you’re in the UK mention I some places you can get them in the report you can download from the right.  But make sure you get one for electric shaving.
• Make sure the blades in your shaver are clean and sharp.  To clean them, take them off and use a little brush – one should have come with the shaver.  Get it really clean of shaving dust.  And every so often, when it stops shaving so well, replace them or use a little gadget to sharpen them.
• While you’re shaving, be gentle, move the shaver slowly so it doesn’t tug and use a mirror so you can see what you’re doing and be precise.  It makes more difference than you’d think.
• Afterwards use a good after-shave balm.  Not an alcohol based one.  One that moisturises.  Or if your shaving burn is particularly bad one day, try a witch hazel based lotion of some kind or other.  It’ll sting at first but will actually help to heal your skin.

That’s my advice, if you must stick with electric.

Nine times out of ten, if you wet shave, the easiest way to improve your shave is to use more water.  It gives you a closer, smoother, less irritating shave. 

The easiest way is with a shaving brush (even if you use gel or foam out of a can, you can still use a brush).  And if you need another pass after you’ve gone over your whole face, you can almost always just put water on your face – the little bit of slippery stuff left will be enough.

It doesn’t matter whether you use shaving soap, cream, gel or foam.  Adding more water to your face first and adding more water after you’ve put the lather on will make it more slippery.

And that makes for a better, if messier, shave.

There are some great videos on YouTube by a chap called Mantic.  I’ve just been watching them and it’s really helpful to see what to do instead of just reading it.  I wish I’d come across them years ago!

You can watch the videos here: www.youtube.com/use/mantic59

Or read his blog here: mantic59.blogspot.com 

It’s all about double edged razor shaving, not specifically avoiding razor burn.  But if you’ve read my Razor Burn Report, you’ll know that I recommend using a double edged razor as the best way to avoid razor burn anyway.

One thing that’s almost sure to cause razor burn is using a bladde for too long.

It gets blunt and uneven – and your skin suffers the consequences. In fact in my mind it’s one of the big advantages of double edged razors – the blades are cheap enough to replace often without feeling that you’re throwing money away.  That an the fact that a double edged razor shaves smoother anyway.

But there’s still the question of how often to replace your blades.  It varies – for me some makes will last a week (I don’t shave every day – I often have weekends off).  For example Wilkinson Sword last well.  But Merkur, which I find scrap my skin a little anyway, get worse as they get older.  And Dorco, much as I like them for leaving my skin feeling as comfortable as if it had never been shaved at all, just doesn’t get the job done after 3 shaves.

You need to experiment a bit.  But here’s my advice – don’t try to feel how long a blade has left in it by how it shaves.  Far too often, you’ll only find out when it’s past it.  Instead, experiment to find out (ie use it until it feels past it), remember how long a blade does last and after that, count how many times you’ve used a particular blade.  then get rid of it just before it’s at the end of its life.

That way you never end up using a past-it blade… and getting a rough and uncomfortable shave.

I wrote last time about the blades I’ve found best for avoiding razor burn.  But you might like to find out for yourself.  Instead of having to buy a separate pack of each type of blade, there are companies that sell “sampler” packs, where you get a range of different blades so you can try them all out.

It’s really surprising how much difference the blade makes.  But then, I suppose it’s the bit that actually does the cutting so maybe it’s not so surprising.

If you decide to give it a try, I’d suggest using two or three of each make blade in a row before you go onto the next type.  I’ve foudn with some of them that it takes me a while to get a feel for how to use them – and until then, it’s my fault if it’s a bad shave, not the blade’s!

You can get sampler packs here: http://www.connaughtshaving.com/samplepack.html  if you live in the UK
or here http://westcoastshaving.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2&zenid=8772f56a3748c751bf178385e55e7c24 in the US

In the Razor Burn Report you can read about what razors, cream and so on I recommend to avoid razor bumps, burn and rashes.

One thing I didn’t talk about is the effect of different blades.  Maybe I should have… A job for later – to add a new bit!

Anyway, from my experience, for a double edged razor you won’t go too far wrong with the Wilkinson Sword blades you can buy in high street shops (this is in the UK – in the US I don’t think you can get these quite so easily).   In my opinion they’re the best all round blades.  They give you a nice close shave but without irritation and without being so scarily close that you’ll cut yourself every time you start shaving.

You can also get a good result with the Persona ones – most “no-brand” blades are these, including (I think) the Tesco ones.  They work nicely – but in my experience don’t last quite as long.  On the other hand they’re very cheap so it balances out.

I’d stay away from the Merkur or Feather blades – they’re good blades for a super close shave but more likely to give you problems if your skin is especially sensitive.

And if you really have trouble, try the Dorco 300 blades.  (You can get them here: http://www.connaughtshaving.com)  they don’t shave quite as closly as the Wilkinson Sword ones but of all the blades I’ve tried, they’re the most comfortable if your skin is a bit dodgy.

I’ve been hard at work lately, putting all the tips I’ve picked up here and there (and a few I’ve discovered myself) into one place.

And finally, it’s ready.  You can download it (all 13 pages – lucky for some!) here:

Download Razor Burn Report

Hope you find it useful – if you do, why not leave a comment about it!