How-to get the perfect shave.

[Ian Smith]

If you're like me, someone who has just recently switched from an electric razor to a manual razor for shaving, you might discover that there is an art to completing the perfect manly shave. Here a few tips to help you maintain a smooth, clean-cut face.

1) Avoid shaving first thing in the morning. Wait at least until you've taken a shower and rub your face with your hands. Your facial tissue is puffy, cold, and stiff due to fluids that slow down and collect in your body during your over-night slumber.

2) If you aren't going to take a shower before you shave, then wet your face with warm or hot water before beginning to shave. The water warms your face and slightly swells the hair shaft, allowing the blade to more effectively cut your hair while leaving your skin uncut.

3) Use a sharp blade. A dull blade is responsible for many shaving cuts as it drags over your face and catches your skin along with the hair of your beard.

4) Thoroughly apply and massage shaving cream onto your face and stubble. A shaving cream based with Aloe Vera and loaded with vitamins (E) are by far the best choice to provide a close soothing shave and protect against razor rashes and burns. (Ouch!)

5) Rinse the blade often in hot water while you are shaving, collecting too much shaving cream on your blade will render it ineffective, making you have to go back and re-do areas that you will miss.

6) Use slow and short strokes to make sure you cut the hair cleanly, without running the risk of slicing your cheeks. Start from somewhere specific on your face, me personally, I start from the top right and work my way over, then work from the bottom right and finish on the left.

7) Take your time. Cutting your face sucks ass, end of story.

8) Shaving with grain means shaving in the direction of how the hair grows on your face. It is always best to shave this way. Shaving against the grain can cause redness, rashes, razor burn and ingrown hairs, which are all painful. Feel your face by rubbing your hand over it to feel which way the hairs on your face are growing, different sections will have different hair-growth.

9) Use an exfoliate such as a facial cleanser or scrub to eradicate dead skin cells and open up the pores of the skin to prepare it for a close shave. I personally use a "facial scrub" that softens my face (ladies love it).

10) After shaving, apply an oil-free moisturizer to soothe and protect the face. If you prefer an after-shave, check the label for alcohol. Dryness and stinging sensations are by-products of most after-shave products whose primary ingredient is alcohol. It may feel good at the time, but alcohol based after-shaves are actually irritating to many complexions and can cause red-blotches and/or pimples.

[LINK]

My electric is horrible. It actually grabs the hairs and pulls them, it's quite painful. (dull blades?)

[Chikito]

Should think so cdub.

MAC 3 TURBO never want anything else

[Ian Smith]

Yeah dude, my electric razor did the same thing. They annoy me because (mine) was hard to clean, and had virtually no battery life. I switched over and I get a closer, cleaner shave when I take the extra 5 minutes and do it manually.

[Yopua]

I have never used an electric one so I do not know how good that is but manual is very nice, make sure like Meth said to clean the blades of shaving cream since if you don't then it messes up shaving for the rest.

[NickH]

haha i shave against the grain, i should probably stop it, though it does feel like it cuts the hairs better

[Giacomo]

Yeah my shaving routine is a little different and it ensures that I cannot even feel any stubble on my face for the next day or so.
I basically do everything Meth has said but after shaving with the grain I rinse my face off with warm water and then reapply the shaving cream and shave against the grain, there is always a chance of being cut whilst doing this so it takes some practice, but if you apply enough shaving cream and massage it into your face you should be alright and rewarded with a closer smoother than a baby's ass shave.

In regards to the alcohol content in aftershave I think a quote from Patrick Bateman is in order.
"I use aftershave with little to no alcohol, because alcohol dries out the skin and makes you look older."

[Nick Krygier]

I shave with an electric- it gives me the 5 o' clock shadow instantly. A little rough around the edges never hurt nobody

[Ian Smith]

I dealt with the instant 5 o' clock shadow for years until it started to grow in so thick it looked like a had a dirt mustache right after I would shave.

[Bob]

once you get used to it you can shave perfectly in less than two minutes.. if not less than one with a manual razor.. the best thing is to get a manual razor with the batteries.. it gets a cleaner shave

[Zthirtytwo]

Any of you guys hear of the manual straight edge razor. Its more like the old style of razor that you have to sharpen. a few of my friends say they have one and get an incredibly close shave with that.

oh and giacomo i am going to try that two step shave tonight to see how it works out for me.

[Ian Smith]

Yeah, go to the barber shop if you want those. I know the place I used to go in Philadelphia it was 5 bucks; shave and a shape up done in 5 minutes. Those guys were good. I wouldn't do it myself though, I'd rather not slice my own throat.

[Nova]

Originally Posted by xxIcexx

haha i shave against the grain, i should probably stop it, though it does feel like it cuts the hairs better

When I shave with a manual razor I do the same. I dunno why but I get the same feeling.

I have an electric razor but I rarely use the actual blade. Instead I use the beard trimmer. I hate being freshly shaved and think that the rugged, unshaven look fits me much better. With the trimmer it takes it down to a couple days growth which is just barely visible as far as my facial hair goes. I usually give it another 5 days before I shave again cuz by then it's a weeks worth of growth and it gets looking hobo-ish.

EDIT: And using shaving cream with aloe in it is an orgasmic experience. It feels so nice and cool when you're done shaving. It's so nice compared to razor burn.

[Zthirtytwo]

i tried giacomo's method and it worked, minimal rashness on my face, but more so than shaving with the grain all in all. I figure maybe with a reall good face cleanser/ moistuizer it would aleviate that issue.