Prepping Your Skin
Trim long hair with scissors to make it easier to shave. If you’re trimming a long beard or thick pubic hair, start the shaving process with scissors. Snip away at the hair until you’re left with hairs that are only 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) long. Trim carefully so you don’t end up cutting the skin beneath the hair. If you were to try to shave long hair with a razor, you’d end up making very little progress. You can also use a pair of clippers to shorten your facial hair.
Shower before you shave to soften the hairs before you cut them. Taking a warm shower is a great way to soften up the hairs on your face, legs, or pubic area. This will make them more malleable and easier to cut. Showering will also soften the skin of your face. Shaving will be a more comfortable experience, and you’ll be less likely to get razor burn. If you don’t have time to shower prior to shaving, splash your face with a few handfuls of warm water. It’s not quite as effective as showering, but will have a similar effect.
Exfoliate your skin with a loofah or washcloth while you shower. Using an exfoliating body wash or a loofah to lightly scrub the area of your body that you plan to shave will help you get a very close shave. You don’t need to scrub excessively hard. If you do, you’ll irritate the skin. A light exfoliation is all you need prior to shaving. Purchase a loofah, washcloth, or exfoliating body wash in the bath and body section of a large supermarket or a pharmacy. You can also exfoliate after shaving to get rid of the dead skin cells.
Lathering and Applying Shave Gel
Squirt a quarter-sized dollop of shaving gel into 1 hand. Hold the gel canister in 1 hand, then lightly depress the button on the top of the can with 1 finger until gel starts to shoot out. Continue to apply pressure until you have a dollop of shaving cream in the palm of your second hand that’s roughly ⁄4 inch (1.9 cm) across. It’ll take you a few tries to figure out the amount of shaving gel that’s right for you. In general, though, it’s better to use too much gel than too little when you’re shaving.
Rub 2 or 3 fingers through the gel in a circular motion to lather it up. When you first squirt out the gel, it will look like a thick, shiny liquid. To lather up the gel, stick a couple of fingers into it and rub them around in a circular motion. As you rub, you’ll notice that the shave gel loses its color and turns white. The shave gel will also foam up and triple or quadruple in size. In fact, foamy shave gel closely resembles shaving cream.
Continue to lather up the foam for about 15–20 seconds. If you stop lathering the gel prematurely, you’ll be left with a mixture of thin foam and gel. So, keep working 2 or 3 fingers through the gel until it’s all turned into a foamy lather. Stop rubbing when all of the foam gel has turned into white foam. Some people prefer not to use shaving gel since, unlike shaving cream, it takes some time to work up into a lather.
Apply the gel to the parts of your face or body you want to shave. Scoop up a small dollop of foam with 3 or 4 fingers, and rub it onto your face, neck, legs, or pubic area. Aim to have a thin, even layer of foam across the entire surface of the skin you’ll shave. Make sure that you don’t leave any patches of skin uncovered, or you’ll likely end up irritating the unlubricated skin when you shave it. If you’re shaving your legs, you may find that it’s easier to lather up and shave a 1 ft (30 cm) long section of skin at a time, rather than fully lathering up both legs.
Shaving with the Gel
Hold your razor against your face at a 30° angle. This will give you the ideal amount of blade-to-skin contact and allow you to get a close, smooth shave. Hold the razor near the top of the handle, with your index finger resting just below the razor’s head. That way, you’ll be able to to apply precise downward pressure when you start shaving. If you’re shaving your legs or pubic area, try to keep the razor steady at about a 30° angle as well.
Pull your skin taut before shaving each patch of skin. Use the hand that’s not holding the razor to lightly pull each patch of skin to 1 side before you shave it. This will make the skin taut and flat and allow the razor to easily glide over it. This is particularly relevant when you shave your pubic area, since pulling skin taut can prevent cuts and scrapes in a sensitive region. Some patches of skin on your face—e.g., your upper lip, chin, and cheekbones—are pretty firm already and won’t need to be pulled taut. The same goes for shaving your knees.
Shave yourself in the same direction that the hair grows. When you’re shaving your face, legs, or groin, always shave downwards (towards your feet), since this corresponds with the “grain” of the hair. Shave in short strokes, each about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long. You won’t need to apply much pressure to the razor. Just let it slide down your face or legs, clipping off hairs as it goes. While shaving against the “grain” of your hair can get you a closer shave on the first pass, it’s also more likely to nick or irritate your skin.
Rinse the razor blades and shave another patch of skin. As you shave, your razor blades will quickly get clogged with pieces of hair and shaving gel. Rinse the blades by holding the head or the razor under running tap water. Then, resume shaving with your cleaned blades. Either take a second pass at an area of skin you’ve already shaved, or move on and shave a fresh patch of skin. If you want to conserve water, dunk the razor’s head into a glass of water to rinse it. Swish the razor back and forth half a dozen times to clear out the blades.
Apply aftershave or lotion to moisturize your skin after shaving. Shaving with gels tends to dry out your skin. So, once you’ve finished shaving your face, splash some aftershave on to re-moisturize the area. If you’ve shaved your legs or pubic area, apply a fragrance-free moisturizing lotion to prevent the skin from drying out. Purchase aftershave or moisturizing lotion in a local pharmacy or drug store.
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