It is amazing how many men do not know how to shave properly
I am 32 and have only learnt to shave properly since creating Clean Shaven. I used to suffer terribly from ingrowing hairs and bad shaving rashes / razor burns. When I was younger, nobody showed me, nobody taught me at school, but hey, how hard could it be to shave correctly?
Just add a bit of shaving cream and start shaving…. How WRONG could I be!
So here is my step by step guide ….
STEP 1 – SOAKING YOUR BEARD WITH HOT WATER
To get the best possible shave with our amazing razor blades, you need to make sure your facial hair is soaked in hot water. Ideally, shaving after having a shower is perfect, but if that is not possible, rinse your face and then apply a warm moistened towel to your face for a minimum of two minutes.
When your beard is soaked  in hot water, it becomes weak and is easier to shave.  (Just like when your at the pub and you pick up a beer mat soaked in beer, it is so easy to rip)
Applying shaving products to a dry face is one of the leading causes of shaving rashes.
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STEP 2 -Â USE QUALITY SHAVING CREAMS FOR BETTER LUBRICATION
Personally I like exfoliating before applying shaving cream. I l like to give my face a good scrub to remove all dead skins cells and also soften my facial hair even more. (feels like washing your face with shower gel that has sand in it!)
I like a shaving cream which is really thick when you squeeze it out of the tube. This is because you know when you spread it out across my face, it is going to stick to your face making your face like an ice rink allow a razor glide across your face that Torvill & Dean.
Although shaving cream main object is to make sure your razor glides across your face smoothly, it also serves to lock the moisture into the whiskers, keeping them soft and upright, primed for the cut. The ideal scenario is to leave the shaving cream on your face for at least a minute before you begin cutting, so that the beard is as soft and wet as possible
STEP 3 -Â SHAVE IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION
When you are shaving, it is best to shave in the same direction of which your beard hair grows. Start shaving the sides of the face first. Start with the sides, then the moustache area and last the chin. The chin hairs are the toughest, so this allows them the most time to soften under the shave cream.
Shaving in the opposite direction of which your beard hair grows will give you a closer shave, but causes two major problems:
1. Cutting yourself when shaving
2. You run a high risk of cutting off a hair below skin level, causing an ingrown hair (razor bumps) – the whisker grows into the surrounding tissue instead of out of the pore, resulting in inflammation and possible infection.
You also need to let the razor do the work – do not press too hard or it will cause razor bumps (ingrown hair)and razor burn.
You do NOT need special razor bump products – 99% of the razor bump problem will be solved by not pressing too hard, shaving with the grain and using a good shaving cream.