Today I am talking about something that will be a big thing for the men amongst you, but ladies you should also take note too.
When you think about your grooming routine is there one thing that you dread above all others? Does it burn, cause red irritation and bring tears to your eyes when you shave? Is this you?
Look I’m not going to lie, that was me. That’s why I grew an epic beard. But work frowned upon the cave man look, so I needed a clean neck and styled cheeks… The neck is where the razor burn is at its worst… FUCK!
I was sick and tired of spending upwards of $30 for a pack of cartridges that made me bleed from the follicle, caused ingrown hairs, bad red rash, and intense burning pain on my face. So I turned to the gods of the internet for advice… And our Lord and Savior Google answered.
The issue is the number of blades on the cartridge head. 6 blades per head… SIX FUCKING BLADES! So say you did 3 passes with the cartridge to get all of the hair, that’s 18 blades scraping across your skin. No wonder it fucking hurts so much.
The answer is to look to the past, did your Granddad ever complain of razor burn? Did he ever have to deal with ingrown hairs on his face? Chances are that he didn’t because he knew how to wet shave with a single blade. No I don’t mean a cutthroat or straight razor shavette. I mean a good old Double Edged Safety Razor.
That’s my one. It’s a three piece design, which means the full head comes off and you insert a razor blade into it ad then screw on the handle. This holds the heal in place and the guide means its kept at a 30 degree angle. And I swear to everything good and bright in the world, after the initial cost of buying the handle (which can and regularly do last for decades) and the shave paraphernalia that further helps make the experience nicer… It works out cheaper than cartridges. (The following gallery shows you pretty much everything you will need to mug lather. There eare other ways but this is the one that I find works best.
Razor Blades of your preferred brand
Assembled head with blade
A good alcohol free post shave balm
This is something you need to store used blades when they’re dull
What I do first is when I’m getting ready for my shower I fill my Lather Mug with warm water and stand my brush in it to soften the bristles and warm the ceramic, and in a separate glass I warm the razor with the blade in it so that 1 it’s not cold fuck that, nice and warm please, and 2 because you should never ever use a dry razor.
Then I have my shower (complete with bad singing and much splashing) this helps soften the beard, if however you need a shave and can’t have a shower then soak a handle towel in hot water and lay it over the area you wish to shave for a couple minutes and it’ll soften those hairs nicely.
Now it’s time to build your lather, take your now soaked brush and squeeze out the excess water so that the bristles are just damp. Then start swirling in a circular motion (direction doesn’t matter imo) on your chosen shave soap. once you have a foam starting to form pour out the water from your mug/bowl and start furiously working the foam in to a thick luxurious lather. if you find it is too stiff and dry add a few drops of water. Do this for a minute or so and you’ll have a nice thick cream that will do you at least 2 or 3 passes depending on how many you like to do.
Using the brush, apply the lather to your skin, painting it on and being sure to work the lather under the direction the bristles lay to help raise them. Once you’ve done that… It’s time to shave.
Using a safety razor is slightly different to a cartridge razor, the head doesn’t move. So you need to find the angle, which is possible using the head, its angled at about 30 degrees and when you tilt the head to that it’ll lay flush, and you can shave away. you only want to use short strokes and on the first pass you want to exclusively go with the grain. So follow the direction the hair is going. This’ll get a shave that’s good enough for work but feels like fine sand paper.
Once you’re done with the first pass, relather and go again. This time across the grain. So on sideburns you shave holding the handle of the blade toward your nose. And this will get you almost the perfect shave. For really fancy occasions or on date nights (bow-chicka-wow-wow) you’ll do a third and final pass against the grain.
When shaving though, you want to apply almost no pressure whatsoever, let the weight of the razor and the edge of the blade do the shaving. From each blade you’ll get about six good shaves if you use both sides of the blade, because rinsing is lesfrequent thanks to two shaving surfaces. When the blade feels like its catching and tugging on the hairs a bit that’s the indicator to change blades.
That’s where this beauty comes in
Some manufacturers make blade banks. You simply fill them with used blades, and when full (it’ll take a couple years to fill them) you seal them with a strip of tape over the opening and toss the whole lot in the recycling. Each pack of blades contains 5 or 10 blades depending on manufacturer, and you can buy sleeves of 100 for about $25 AUD (Feather do 100 for 15 and are about the best blade on the market fyi) and they’ll fit any safety razor handle. So they work out cheaper than cartridges too, and they’re more environmentally friendly.
And once done with the shave, add a nice soothing moisturising shave balm. I was absolutely stunned when I switched to this and still multiple shaves in I have no razor burn or ingrown hair issues. Shaving has actually become enjoyable.
You can get everything you need from various websites online and your local barber shop will even help you find what you need, if not sell it to you directly.
Shaving… Like a true Gentleman Greetings Inmates, Today I am talking about something that will be a big thing for the men amongst you, but ladies you should also take note too.
