How I Shave

Updated: 2008.04.08

This is all about my preparation and technique. I consider this more important for great shaves and I should be able to apply these techniques regardless of whatever product or equipment I am using. A great product or piece of equipment just makes it a little easier or pleasurable.

Beard Preparation:
Since I do most of my shaving at work, I do not have the luxury of using my own shower and sink. The water temperature never gets really hot and the locker room is kept cool or down right frigid. Nice huh? Not conducive to a great shave. Hot towel treatments are out too since I have no place to store them or dry them out. So, here we go. Long hot shower. OK, I can get the shower hot enough and never run out of hot water. That's a plus. I wash my face with a good facial wash at the very beginning of the shower. At the very end of the shower, I up the temperature to as much as I can stand and soak my beard for 45-60 seconds. The hot water opens up the pores and softens the beard. Once out of the shower, I have to collect my gear and lay it out. I can't have it ready to go because this is not my bathroom. I'll soak a brush while getting everything else ready. OK, my pores have started to or already closed due to the cold locker room. Oh well, tt doesn't matter. Now, the real work.

I wet my beard again with hot water for about 30 seconds and then build my lather directly on my face. I then shave with razor of choice. (Usually a Feather ACD-N or straight razor for the first pass)

Note: I keep the angle of the razor consistent to the plane of my face. Usually about 30 degrees. I use the least amount of pressure I can. It's whisker reduction not whisker weed whacking. If my lather is drying out, I stop, rinse my face with warm water and re-apply some lather. I don't just put on more lather. I want to keep my face hydrated and not just have a slightly wetter lather. If I find this happens a lot with certain soaps that like to fade, then I lather and shave my face in stages like waxing a car. One section at a time. I take my time. It's not a race. I don't try and do a BBS shave in 2 passes. It's asking for trouble. Again, a shave is to be enjoyed and not a race.

5) Rinse face with warm water.
6) Apply 2nd pass lather with brush.
7) Shave with DE razor of choice.
8) Rinse face with warm water.
9) Apply 3rd pass lather.
10) Shave with DE razor of choice.
11) Rinse face with warm water.
12) OK, it's cleanup time. Feel for whiskers. Wet the spot. Apply a little lather. Shave it. Repeat as needed. I'll use either a DE or the Feather/str8 depending on how close I want to get and where the final patches are. I want lots of glide for this step. My fingers feeling for whiskers while smoothing the lather will tell me where I need to work on.
13) Final rinse face with warm water.
14) Time to start closing the pores. Rinse face with cold water.
15) Pat dry. No rubbing and watch out for any bleeding. I don't like to get blood on my towel.
16) Apply styptic if needed. I will say the My Nik is Sealed works the best for me.
17) Apply Aftershave Balm (Optional)
18) Apply Aftershave
19) Apply Talc (Optional. Good for hiding rough spots.)
20) Apply Cologne (Optional)

Good to go.

Here are notes on my beard pattern and passes. Know your beard. It will save you a lot of time and irritation.


Beard Pattern/Pass Notes:

My beard pattern is all over the place. I mapped it out one time and went "Damn, that sucks." No full section of my face has the same pattern so I have to use a generic shave technique to cover all the spots to best advantage. Directional references are from the perspective of looking in the mirror.

Pass 1
Everything North to South

Pass 2
Cheeks - Ear to Mouth
Upper Lip - East to West
Lower Lip - East to West
Chin - East to West
Jawline - Chin to Ear
Neck - NW to SE on right, NE to SW on left

Pass 3
Cheeks - Mouth to Ear
Upper Lip - West to East
Lower Lip - West to East
Chin - West to East
Jawline - Ear to Chin
Neck - NE to SW on right, NW to SE on left

Pass 4 - Cleanup
This is the critical part. The one where I can make or break a shave. After 3 passes, there is still going to be noticeable stubble in several places and slight stubble in others. Under the chin, hollows of my neck and jawline are noticeable.

Under Chin - Around the world blade buffing
Left Hollow of Neck & Jawline - West to East followed by ATG Blade Buff
Right Hollow of Neck & Jawline - East to West followed by ATG Blade Buff
Everything - ATG blade buff any stubble left. Usually almost none at this point.

Further Technique Notes:
Unless I'm blade buffing, I use the sharpest blade I can with a particular razor and use short glide strokes on the first pass (Feather ACD-N or Straight) and long glide strokes on passes 2 and 3 except for the upper & lower lip and chin. This means I have to let the razor/blade do the work and just provide guidance. Pressure is the enemy.

If I've done this right, I'll have either near BBS with zero or almost zero irritation or BBS with some irritation. My skin turns red just from water or even light rubbing or a scritchy brush so, I can't judge irritation by color. The alum block or aftershave tells me how much I irritated my skin. A DE razor gives me one weeper a month. Maybe. A weeper tells me I got sloppy. The ACD-N or a straight are far less forgiving. It's my technique. Not the razor. I'm still learning.

How I Make Lather

Updated: 2008.04.08

New Method Learned: Lather Building Directly on Face

Applies to both soap and creams.

1) Soak the brush in warm, not hot, water until ready to shave.
2) While the brush is soaking, soften up the top of the soap with 1/2 tsp of warm water. Not required for creams.
3) Drain brush of most excess water giving it a couple of good shakes.
4) Charge brush with soap or stick a snurdle (almond size) of cream into the middle of the brush.
5) Wet the beard and then start apply the brush to the beard. It's gong to be a little dry. Add dribbles of hot water to the breech of the brush and keep swirling the brush on your face until you get the lather consistency you want.
6) Shave as normal. Note that you have no wasted soap or cream and you can see the consistency of the lather on your face. The drawback is if you over hydrate the lather in the beginning. Tougher to recover from since you have to add more cream or soap to the brush and try again.



Bowl Method:

Here is one tried an true method I use for making lather

For Soaps:

1) Soak the brush in warm, not hot, water until ready to shave.
2) While the brush is soaking, soften up the top of the soap with 1/2 tsp of warm water.
3) Drain brush of most excess water giving it one good shake.
4) Charge brush with soap.
5) Start making lather in bowl or mug with a light swirling and pumping motion.
6) Add drops of warm water as needed to the brush breech until lather starts to explode.

If I'm having trouble getting enough lather, I need enough lather for a pre shave lather plus 3 passes, I will gently scrape or squeeze the soap out of the brush into the bowl, wet the tips of the brush, recharge the brush with soap and then proceed to make lather as before.

For Creams:

1) Soak the brush in warm, not hot, water until ready to shave.
2) Drain brush of most excess water giving it one good shake.
3) Put about a 1 tsp of cream into the lather bowl or mug. I don't skimp or believe in who can make most lather from the least amount contests. The reason is I do a pre shave lather routine plus 3 passes. That requires a lot of lather. So, if I find I don't have enough lather to do that, I may add more cream.
4) Start making lather and add drops of water as needed to the brush breech until lather starts to explode.

I find creams are much easier to make lather with and easier to fix if there is a problem. Also, if I'm using a big silvertip brush that likes to soak up water and lather then some cream can be inserted into the middle of the breech to load up the brush faster.

Notes:
These techniques have never failed me yet and took many tries to perfect. I might make a lather a little thinner if I'm using a straight to increase slickness and glide over cushion. I can compensate for cushion by using less pressure but a big blade that doesn't glide is asking for trouble. Soaps more than creams can be a problem maintaining lather stabilization. The lather will fade on the face too quick or break down in the bowl. You can add a few drops of 100% glycerin to the lather mix to to help stabilize it. If you find that the lather is drying out on your face because you are taking too much time, hand smooth a little water to your face lather rather than adding more soap/cream. You might find shaving your face in sections like waxing a car is helpful too.

Custom Aftershave Balm & Aftershave

Custom Aftershave Balm
3oz Neutrogena or Proraso Aftershave Balm
1oz Witch Hazel
1oz Aloe Gel
10 drops Sweet Almond Oil
3 drops Emu Oil or 3 drops of Tea Tree Oil
Mix Well

Custom Aftershave
6 Parts Everclear 151
1 Part Witch Hazel
1 Part Distilled Water
1/6 Part Glycerin
1/6 Part Aloe 99

How to Clean a Brush

Brush Cleaning

1. Soak in a clarifying shampoo bath for 10 min. Rinse thoroughly.
2. Soak in a 20% distilled white vinegar solution 20 min. Rinse thoroughly.
3. Soak in a light Borax solution for 20 min. Rinse thoroughly.

How I Clean Up an Old Razor

This is the routine I use to clean up an old razor acquisition. Usually either from eBay or an antique store. It gets rid of almost any amount of junk on the razor. I have only had to trash 2 razors. One had a fractured handle and the other just had too much metal fatigue to begin with.

1) Soak the razors for 2-3 hours or overnight in a bath of Evapo-Rust
2) Rinse off razors in cold water.
3) Put the razors into the Digital Ultrasonic Cleaner with some water and a little soap scum removing solution and run it for 2 sessions of 8 minutes apiece.
4) Rinse off razors in cold water.
5) Scrub razors with toothbrush and Maas Metal Polish.
6) Wipe off Maas Metal Polish with paper towels or clean dry cotton cloth.
7) Finish polishing with clean dry cotton cloth.
8) Repeat steps 5-7 if needed.
9) Soak polished razors in a mineral oil bath for 2 hours. Wipe dry.

Done. The razors should be bright, shiny and lubricated now without any damage during the cleaning process. Nothing can be done however if the razor already has brassing and plating loss. Maas makes a polishing paste that will help with tough stains and light scratches.

Hot Towel Technique by Fritz Whittington

I have copied the Fritz's text for reference purposes only. I will review this and make modifications to the routine for my own reference. I currently use a pre shave lather routine without hot towels during the week and with hot towels on the weekend. I am curious to see how this goes.

This is a referenced post created by Fritz Whittington on The Shave Den Shave Forum. The link is here.

My thoughts on hot towels, from trying them a lot...
If you have a really tough, wiry, and also dense beard, then hot towels (and other preps) can make an enormous difference in the quality of your shaves. If you've the kind of beard where you wash your face and shave one pass ATG, then replace your Dorco blade every Sunday whether it needs it or not, then you probably don't need this.

I find a washcloth is much too small, and use hand towels about 16x24 inches. If you use a thick, soft towel, and don't wring it out too dry, then it won't cool off so fast. Pass it under your nose, over your ears, and take the flap hanging down and pull it up close around the neck. Rub your hands over it to help transfer the heat.

Here's a prep that I have found to get my very tough beard almost down to peach fuzz. You might try the full thing, then subtract out parts of it to find the minimum things that YOU need to get YOUR beard as soft as it needs to be for a comfortable shave.

1. Wet face with warm water.
2. Smear on generous amount of Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream (original). Include your forehead and nose if you wish. Massage into beard with fingers.
3. Shower, washing face last, scrubbing well with rough cloth and soap.
4. Onto wet face, apply about 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of the following mix: 2 parts extra virgin olive oil, 2 parts castor oil (USP) and one part glycerin (USP). Shake well before dispensing. Rub in well with hands.
5. Apply very damp hot towel for at least 2 minutes, refreshing with new hot water as needed.
6. Rinse face with fairly hot water, scrubbing with wet towel about 30-60 seconds or so.
7. Apply Proraso pre-shave.
8. Apply light coat of lather. Rub in with fingers or brush for 30-60 seconds. Let stand another 30 seconds.
9. Rinse with warm water, lather up and shave. Just before the ATG pass, rub a little of the oil mix on your face before applying the lather.

NOTES:

* Noxzema is dirt cheap and seems to work well.
* In step 3, the shower is optional if you wish to shower after shaving. But the Noxzema needs to sit for a few minutes, and be scrubbed off with soap.
* Steps 4-6 are the major softening parts. The scrubbing part is important, to wash away most of the applied oil, along with the oil/dirt it has removed from your face and beard.
* For step 7, some other pre-shaves can be substituted for the Proraso. It may be possible to eliminate it, or to use a little Noxzema instead. I just like Proraso.
* For step 8, It's handy to just stroke a little Arko shave stick over the Proraso, lather with a wet brush for about a minute, then let it sit while you build more lather in a bowl with cream or another soap.
* For step 9, for the ATG and/or touch-up passes, I usually squeeze the brush out and get all the leftover lather in my left hand, then apply with my fingers. Some have expressed concern that the oil will load up the brush-- this way, the brush never touches any of the oil. Even when I lathered on an oiled face with the brush, I didn't notice any problems. I think the glycerin is key here, as it emulsifies the oils so they rinse out easily with water. But, I've got hard water so I soak my brushes every 6 weeks or so anyway.