How to shave your face: Shaving tips for men
How to shave your face: Shaving tips for men
Whether your shaving for the first time, or you’re a shaving expert, mastering a correct routine is paramount for achieving silky-smooth skin. If you’ve ever suffered from razor rash, burn, in-grown hairs, or irritation, we’re here to help banish shaving misery back to the dark ages with this astonishingly superior how-to guide.Preparation
Hydrating your skin with warm water Preparing your skin for the shave is an extremely important step that often gets overlooked. You wouldn’t work-out at the gym without warming up, and it’s no different when it comes to shaving. Get yourself some warm water or a hot flannel, and place onto your bearded area. The combination of water and heat combined open your pores and soften your facial hair bristles. Why is this important? With your hair cuticles primed and at attention, the hair is in a better position for the razor to make a clean cut. This is important because, if the cut isn’t clean, you might experience ingrown hairs. 
We’d also recommend working in some Face Wash before shaving. This helps remove impurities which might clog up your razor and cause razor burn and bumps.
Be sure to map the way your hair grows in different areas on your face and neck. Facial hair generally grows in a downward fashion on cheeks, however neck and chin hair can grow upwards and sideways. Knowing the way your hair grows will be extremely important when we it comes to shaving.
Applying Shaving Cream Using our Original Shave Cream, lightly coat the face with an almond-sized dollop. Carefully massage into the skin using circular motions and pay particular attention to any problem areas you may have. Our Shave Cream does not apply as a beard of foam or lather; rather, it should go on as a thin, filmy layer of lubrication. Less is more. If it starts to dry on your face, a few drops will re-activate it and provide the slick barrier between sharp blade and sensitive skin.
If instead, you’re using a Lathering Shave Cream, take a shaving brush and dampen with warm water, apply an almond-sized dollop to the tip of the brush and apply to the face, with a shaving brush, and use circular motions until a rich thick lather coats your beard.
Picking the right tool for the job
Disposable Razor
Most people have learned the art of shaving by using a disposable razor. Great for beginners and experts, they’re designed to lessen the chances of cutting yourself due to the angle of the blades. Disposable razor blades can be pricey and unfortunately do not last very long. Also, because they contain up to 5 blades (or more!) they can cause irritation and razor burn; indeed, each razor stroke removes the outermost layer of skin along with your facial hair. The more passes, the more times you’re removing skin, and although this can act as an exfoliant, over exposure can irritate the skin. 
Safety Razor
Not only are they as cool as your Grandpa, but you’ll probably pay the same price for a blade your Grandpa did in 1930.. Safety razors give an extremely close and accurate shave, and with only one blade tackling your beard instead of 5, people usually experience less razor rash and burn. The downside: there’s a learning curve to being able to shave with one, and because the blade is exposed more (they’re only called ‘safety razors’ because they were compared to cut-throat razors), you are more prone to cutting yourself.
Straight (Cut-Throat) Razor
Just like the Safety Razor, these will give you an extremely close shave. So, if you experience troublesome acne or shaving irritations, this could be a good alternative. However, these razors are long-term investments and the technique takes a while to master. Straight razors can leave you looking like you went 10 rounds with a heavyweight fighter if used improperly - not good for that 10am meeting.
Shave
Shaving Technique
With your chosen razor in hand, start shaving in small strokes with the grain. Keep the flat of the blade at a 30-degree angle to remove hair in an efficient manner. We recommend taking each section of your face and neck at a time, performing a slow, yet thorough process, paying particular attention to any problem areas. Remember, if you’ve already mapped your hair growth successfully, you may have to change to shaving in an upward or sideways angle, to stay with the grain in different areas. 
Once you’ve successfully shaved your face, wash the residue from your face with warm water. Run your hand over the shaven area to see if you have missed any spots and re-apply and repeat as necessary. If at this stage you want an extra close shave, re-apply shaving cream and perform another pass. If you’re daring, shave across the grain this time. Repeat until you are happy with your shave.
Protect
Once finished, wash your face with cold water. This will close the pores and lock in the shave. Your skin might feel tight, so make sure you re-hydrate by adding some Cooling Post-Shave Balm.
Taking care of your tools
Razor
Once your shave is complete, rinse with warm water to remove trapped hair and shave cream from the blade. If possible, try to dry the blade as H2O can rust a razor. To keep yourself safe, go ahead and use a hairdryer for this part. 
Shaving Brush
After shaving, gently rinse off excess shaving cream with warm water and store upside down using a shaving brush stand.