Tips for your BEST SHAVE!

Try this:

After putting on a thick layer of shaving soap (that alcohol-based stuff in a can is crap...start using good shaving soap, and you'll never, ever use Edge gel again) put a hot, wet towel over the soap on your face and hold it there for a minute or two. Repeat if desired (or necessary) Then, re-lather, and shave as usual. You will get the best, most comfortable, and closest shaves ever. Follow with a warm rinse, followed by cold water, then an after shave (lotion, balm, whatever you like) You'll have less irritation, redness, and discomfort than ever before, not to mention better skin. Witch hazel is an excellent, low-cost aftershave, too. I prefer Thayer's Witch Hazel with grain alcohol and aloe, but that's just me. I also shave with a straight razor, which will absolutely give you the best, most comfortable shaves imaginable. Nothing else will do.
 
I’ve only been shaving for a couple of months, but they’ve been fun months and I’ve picked up a couple of tips to share. I sported a beard for three decades and just shaved it off in May.

I too have fallen in love with the traditional straight razor shave. I guess I can’t honestly compare it with the newfangled devices I’ve never used, but it’s a heck of a lot more fun than those old injectors and aerosol foams that turned me off shaving for 30 years.

Tip #1 – Softening the beard. For you guys that begrudge the few minutes it takes to soften up the beard, try to use your time efficiently. Bathing or showering prior to the shave will help to soften the beard. You can rub hair conditioner into your beard at the same time you put it on your head in the bath. Actually, you can rub it on just when entering the bathroom and it will work to soften your beard while you take care of the other two S’s. I also lather prior to stropping my razor, and that gives the lather a little time to soften my beard while I sharpen things up.

Tip #2 – Post-shave. As others have mentioned, I also like a cold water splash, followed up by a splash of astringent witch hazel. Witch hazel is sold in pharmacies in bottles like the rubbing alcohol, and at a similar low price. Of course, you can use the more expensive “designer” brands of witch hazel with perfume added if you like.

Tip #3 – You can shave with oil. Many kinds of oil will work. Fletcher Thomsen, the inventor of ThomsenShave Oils, discovered this for himself when he shaved with gun oil on a dare. There are now a number of commercial blends sold for shaving. I like the ritual and the feel of lathering with soaps and creams, so I just use straight oil occasionally to break the routine. However, an oil shave with a straight razor is much quicker, as it dispenses with the lathering and brush. Travel kit packs easier with a tiny bottle of oil than with cream and a brush. Also, oil can be used to add lubrication to a lather shave. You can apply oil before lathering up, or as I sometimes do, lather up and make the first pass without oil, taking off most of the hair, and then oil the skin prior to applying more lather for the finishing passes. The later passes have more steel/skin contact and the lubrication is most needed then. My recipe for oil is equal parts unrefined shea butter and extra virgin olive oil, with just a dash of tea tree oil. This is solid at room temperature but liquefies when rubbed between the hands. I also like the commercial thomsenshave formula #4. Different oils have different smells. Gun oil with a splash of Hoppe's #9 as an after-shave is sure to make you a hit at the gun shows!
 
glockman99 said:
I have to use an electric razor...Otherwise, no-matter how I try to shave with a blade, my face & neck ends-up looking like it got into a fight with a chainsaw.:eek:.
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Electric razor, definitely! Wash face with a good soap first, towel dry and wait about 5 minutes. The Remington rotary titanium works great & the shave is over before you know it.

Yeah, it works on the neck too...

And NEVER a nick or a cut
 
rifon2 said:
Electric razor, definitely! Wash face with a good soap first, towel dry and wait about 5 minutes. The Remington rotary titanium works great & the shave is over before you know it.

Yeah, it works on the neck too...

And NEVER a nick or a cut
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Oh my goodness, you poor man. An electric cannot touch a good straight or DE razor for closeness or comfort. No, you don't have to worry about nicks, but you don't have to worry about getting a good shave either. :D
 
warden41272 said:
Oh my goodness, you poor man. An electric cannot touch a good straight or DE razor for closeness or comfort. No, you don't have to worry about nicks, but you don't have to worry about getting a good shave either. :D
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I used to think this was true.

But now I know it isn't.

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Recently on a trip I was aghast to see that I'd forgotten my razor.

So I rolled downstairs and got a double blade razor. I said to myself - hey, I know how to do this! I did it every day for years! :)

Used some of the spousal unit's fancy hair conditioner as shave cream, and wow! - I got a good, old time shave.

But I was amazed, amazed at the vanishingly small difference between the electric and the manual.

---------------------

warden41272 - have you tried a good electric razor recently?

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P.S. I will say that most electric razors really do give a bad shave. It took me a while to find one that works well. But every day, at home or in the car ;), investing the time to find a good one was worth it.
 
warden41272 said:
Oh my goodness, you poor man. An electric cannot touch a good straight or DE razor for closeness or comfort. No, you don't have to worry about nicks, but you don't have to worry about getting a good shave either. :D
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I have an electric razor to complement my straight razor. I take it when I'm flying with just a carry-on, so the TSA doesn't have a chance to appropriate my straight. I have to admit that the shaves I get with the electric are good, though nowhere near as fun. I don't care for really close shaves, because I get ingrown hairs and irritation from them. With a straight I can control the closeness to what I like. My Braun electric also gives me a comfortable shave that is not too close.

Another use for the electric is for touch up if I have sensitive or damaged areas on my face I don't want to go over with the straight. I had a few of these as I was learning how to use the straight, but I'm getting better now and the frequency of damaging events is less and less. Still, if I happen to notice a place I missed, the electric gives me a quick touch up without having to break out all the gear again.
 
Shaving after you shower is best, but really, who does that? Generally I shave first and then jump in the shower.

I splash some water on, put on some shaving cream and use my Mach III turbo. I have a goatee, so I don't have to worry about the chin, but I very rarely get a nick or a cut, I guess that the face gets used to it after 25 years of shaving. I used to cut my self every time I shaved.

I tried the King of Shaves shaving oil; found it too greasy. Their gel was okay, didn't seem to be any better than anything else. I do find that if I slap some lotion on my face before I shave, it seems a little less raw when I'm done.

When I'm on vacation I use a $6.00 "Shaveman" electric razor from WalMart. It doesn't do a very good job, but does okay for a vacation and I hate to shave so I live with it.
 
I have tried quite a few electric razors and they arent all that bad. I used to shave with a mach 3 turbo everyday and trim my muttons with my beard trimmer. I decided to out and try to find a good electric razor. Well about $500 later and 6 electric razors later I found a keeper.I use a Norelco now and am waiting for my straights to arrive to make the switch. The Norelco does a darn good job for an electric. Gets my neck hairs even the only electric that did for me. I just want to be a little more old fashioned and shave with an antique is my main reason for switching not for the quality of the shave. I have long friendly muttons (muttons that connect with a moustache) so I dont really notice stuble. I definately dont have a job that cares about it.
 
You know I have complained many times to the stinging sensation of the face after a close shave to my wife, and is the reason I dont shave unless I have to.

My wifes reply is, I shave my legs everyday and it doesnt hurt that bad, unless I cut myself.

After looking at all the balms, lotions, creams and what not we all use on our face, can we really call ourselves "manly"? Honestly, I dont care. If my face is on fire, I want something that can put the fire out. I bought my first Merkur safety razor when I was in Iraq, with an assortment of acessories, and still havent found anything to really stop the fire. When I first started using it, and I stepped out of the latrine trailor, I looked like I just slit my throat!!! I would even warn people that I was going to shave just so I wouldnt get put on suicide watch (joking around of course)!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I am back in the US, I use an electric shaver first, then use my safety razor to get that close shave feel. No matter what, on the front part of the neck, I still bleed like a stuck pig. I do know of the cold water trick as mentioned before, and yes now the water cant be COLD enough and does help a little to stop the bleeding..

I do have a question though. Does a straight razor really give you a really close shave with out all the pain and suffering????

flbache
 
The best shave is no shave at all. I gave up shaving decades ago. because its too much of a hassle. Not only that it is a losing battle, after wasting my time scraping and mowing the lawn on my face, I end up doing it all over again the next day, then the day after that and.................. You get the picture.

I also like a beard, after I let it grow out people seemed to be more inclined to take me seriously right off the start. Is that because it makes one look older, or more sophisticated/educated I am not sure, but it works. I hate the baby face sydrome, and the blood letting to maintain it, so I let it grow out.

For those of you who have never grown a beard, my advice is to let it grow out at least once in your lifetime. You would be surprised to see how your face really looks like without the cosmetic scraping and the hassle of doing it. Grooming a beard is easy and it requires only washing and periodic trimming. After that I cleaned out the bathroom shelf and threw the shaving equipment into the garbage and spent the money saved on other things like knives.

I guess the only real hard part about maintaining a beard is how much to snip and trim off. It is all too easy to cut too much off, and then have to wait and wait for it to grow back out.
 
norelco beard trimmer works great for muttons. I set it 3/4" setting and zip around. Done in a few seconds. I just started with the straight razor thing this week. I have had more razor burn than ever. Probably ny technique but still. If it doesnt get better over the next 3 weeks its back to electric for everyday and straight for special occasions.
 
flbache said:
snip

I do have a question though. Does a straight razor really give you a really close shave with out all the pain and suffering????

flbache
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It does for me, at least if it is sharp. A dull sraight razor is the worst shave. When I was in the army, I'd only shave every other day if I used my straight but had to shave everyday with a safety razor.

It does take practice to get there.

ron
 
There are many suggestions for the "best" shave - as shown by the amount of (different) advice given on the web and the amount of posts in this thread.

Shaving is something most do on a daily basis - and the ones with large amounts or eleborate preparation, and /or waiting are probably not really practical first thing in the morning before rushing off to work......

For me I've settled on the Gillette Mach 3 Turbo - it's fast, easy, comfortable and safe for me to use - and I've tried many shaving "systems" (see the Multi-Blade Razors thread for more details).

Saving gel/cream/foam was something that came also by experimentation.

I found foam in a can too fluffy - and because they come out of the can as a light foam - there is a tendency to merely put it on as-is - so there is not much benefit from massaging the stuff into the beard.

Gels are another matter - they are still quick to apply - but it requires some rubbing into the beard - hence one gains the benefit of some massaging - which helps soften or condition the beard.

Some early stuff like the first Gillette gels were pretty thin, whereas I have found the Edge gels more dense/thicker (the earlier stuff sometimes felt as it clumped/lumped when being spread/rubbed).

I like the Edge gels - currently I use the Edge Advanced gels - "Extra Protection" which claims to have Aloe and Vitamin E - but I think this is just like slightly different flavors of basically the same stuff - I have used their "sensitive skin" version (which has Aloe but no vit E) with equal success.

The Barbasol gel with Aloe I mentioned briefly in the Multi-Blade Razors thread - even turned out to be OK - at least using the Mach 3 Turbo - it is thinner - but just as slick/slippery.

Overall however given the choice I'd use the Edge gel (or a close imitator).

This gives the "best" convenient/quick, practical shave....... for me.

--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
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