Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, we discuss how to shave
with a double-edged safety razor.
So how do you shave with a double-edged safety razor?
Well first, I will show you the classic technique of how to get there
and then I will show you a much faster way that gives you the same, smooth results.
Whenever you shave with a sharp light, step number one is always a
pre-shave routine; you can't emphasize it enough.
So what does it mean? Well for one, you can take a hot shower that makes your hair soft.
If you don't want a shower, you can use a wet towel. The way I do it is I just make a
towel wet, put it in the microwave for a minute, and that's plenty hot and I put
it in my face and let it rest there. It's very comforting, but it also helps my
hair to get soft. If that's too much time for you, you can also splash your face
with hot water for a minute or two, until you can feel your hair is getting soft.
Step one of two: apply shaving cream or shaving a lather to your face.
If you're a hurry, I suggest you get shaving cream from a tube. Never use aerosol cans
because it don't have enough fat. You can also use a shaving soap but you'll need
a brush to lather it up and it takes a bit more time.
That being said, using the shaving brush is probably the best way because it puts
the lather all around the hair. It also may help to move your hair slightly away
from your face, which makes the shave easier.
If you wanna learn more but why aerosol cans are so bad, please check out this video here.
Once with the shaving cream or a lather on your face, it's time to actually shave.
First, by this point, you should've loaded up your head with the blade and make sure it's all straight
and not in there crooked, because you don't want to cut yourself.
Go the first passes to remove any excess hair so you can then shave in a second or maybe
sometimes, a third pass to get that perfectly smooth results. I mean just
starting out, I always suggest to stand in front of the mirror and look at the growth
erections of your beard hair before you even start shaving or lathering up.
If you can't remember how your beard grows, maybe you take a little pen and paper, and draw on the directions you think your hair is
growing it. Honestly, it's very simple. Just look at it closely and you'll see it.
Why is it important to do that? Well, in the first pass, you want to shave in
the direction of your hair grain which is much less stressful on your skin.
Honestly, every man has a slightly different growth direction and so it's
hard to make blanket statements. Personally, I've memorized my growth
direction so I know exactly in what way I have to shave. When you make a pass,
always ensure that your skin is tight or stretched because if there's loose skin,
you're much more likely to cut yourself. So what does it mean specifically?
Well, I always use my free left hand to stretch my skin just in the area where
I'm gonna shave next. That can mean pulling your sideburn overhead or you
just pull your skin in that area just before the razor blade goes over it.
Sometimes around your cheeks, you can also just puff your cheeks to get enough
air there to make sure the skin is tight. In the area below your nose and your
mouth, you can also tighten your skin with your muscles or just use your
tongue from the inside. Depending on the head of your double edge razor you
should hold your handle at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees. You'll hear what
the right angle is once you do the pass. When you do the pass, you want to be very
gentle on the skin. Don't have any strong pressure, just use gravity to slide down
on your face. Ensure that you make short and slow strokes which are also known as
passes. When you start, make sure you shave in straight strokes the 90-degree
angle to the blade, that way you're less likely to cut yourself. Once you're a
little more advanced, You can also have a slight stride; which means you go at a
slight angle because this kind of movement creates a stronger cutting
motion. Alternatively, you could get a handle that is slightly angled so if you
pull down your handle straight it always cuts the hair at an angle, therefore,
enhancing the cutting motion just like on a guillotine. Frankly, I only suggest those
angled heads for people with very thick hair because it makes for a more
aggressive razor. And what's the problem with that?
Well, if you have just very thin beard hair, you still get the same result with
a less aggressive razor and your skin will thank you for it. Once you're done
with one or two strokes, just switch the handle to the other side and use the
other plate. Repeat once or twice. Now, it's time to rinse the plate.
You can either do it under running water or in a sink that's filled with water.
If you feel any kind of pulling or any pain when you shave with a DE razor, it either
means that you didn't do a proper pre-shave routine or that your blade is dull.
Now if you use shave cream, you can clearly see where you've already shaved.
Personally, I like to have a little bit of extra shaving cream in my free hand
so I can apply it after each pass, because you can't have too much shaving
cream on your skin when you shave it because it protects it. In the beginning, it may be
tempting to go over the same area three or four times without reapplying shaving
cream; but trust me, it's better to have new shaving cream on there every time
before you shave. That being said, you're just learning a technique;
everything is gonna take you a lot longer and so by the time you make it
from your right side to the left side, you may already get this drying feeling
on your face. Now you don't want a dry shaving cream because it clogs up and it
prevents the skin protection. Therefore, if you can feel that it gets a little
drier, wet your hand go over the area again, and maybe reapply a little bit of
lather or shaving cream just so everything is fresh before you shave
over it. The tricky areas are usually right underneath your nose and
underneath your mouth, and again I use my tongue and some puff air to make sure the
skin isn't straight in those areas. Also, around your jawline, it can be hard to
get it smooth all the way along, so what I do is I pull up my skin and make sure
that this skin here is up here so it's straight that I can shave it smoothly and
I get that smooth results. Every man has different problem areas. For example,
underneath my right ear, I always have to go in a different direction, otherwise, it
doesn't get all the hair. The chin is another area or it can be a little bit difficult.
Again, use your fingers and your face muscles to keep the skin tight.
Just shave in different directions, always reapplying the shaving cream.
After you're done with the first pass there may be still some residual hair in certain
places. That's when it's time for the second pass, so you put shaving cream on
your face with your hand or you lather up and use the shaving brush and then
you cut this time across the drain. What does it mean? Not against, but at a
90-degree angle to what you did before. Again, pull your skin tight and shave in
the same manner as we did before, just at a 90-degree angle.
Most men are done after that pass but if you have thicker hair or if you want an
even better and closer shave, you do a third pass; this time, shaving against the grain.
If I do this, it cuts my hair below the skin level and even after 24 hours,
my face is just as smooth as if I would have just shaved it with an electric shaver.
I know it sounds too good to be true but my wife is amazed every time
she feels my smooth baby butt-like skin in my face. When you shave against the
grain, it can feel more aggressive on your skin and you can also hear the
cutting motion more, I think. It's just because you're literally going against
the grain. Once you're done with the third pass, it's time to
splash your face with cold water. Some people use ice water because they
believe it helps your skin to kind of close all the pores, and therefore stop
any kind of bleeding. I find regular cold tap water is just fine.
Afterwards, very important to add a post-shave balm or product. Every company that
offers shaving creams also has post-shave products, some smell a little more.
The traditional old-school all alcohol is not recommended because it dries out
your skin. Obviously, there are tons of product in all kinds of price ranges and
you can learn more about them in our in-depth shaving guide.
I have found that an inexpensive Nivea aftershave balm for sensitive skin is a
great product and it doesn't cost much. The result of a DE shave is superior to
any cartridge razor shave and on par with systems like Supply or OneBlade.
Some may argue it's not quite as good as shaving with a straight razor, but that also
takes a lot longer and it's even more technique. In my mind, a straight razor is
not something I would use on an everyday basis simply because it takes too long.
It's more something you'd use on the weekends
when you want to enjoy the shaving process. And now the big question is, how
can you achieve that same result of a DE shave just a lot faster?
Well, let me share with you my shaving routine, which is geared towards the best result in the shortest amount of time.
First, I start by taking a warm shower; not doing any other prep work with towels
or just splashing my face. Just taking a regular shower the way I would normally
already does enough to get my hair in the right condition.
Two, I apply shaving cream out of the tube with my hands because that way, I don't
have to lather up and I don't have to clean the brush and it's super quick.
The third step, I use an electric shaver to get rid of all the excess hair in my
face this is the equivalent of the first and maybe the second pass, but it's a lot
faster and you don't have to pay attention to cutting yourself because
electric shavers are pretty good that way. All you have to ensure is that your
electric shaver is meant to get wet because if it doesn't, you have a problem.
I prefer to be a wet electric shave compared to a dry electric shave simply
because it gets a much closer shave it has a much better job so once aligned
with the electric shaver I simply reapplied a shave cream with my
hand and go against the grain, once. The advantage is that my blades
last a lot longer that way because it's just one pass, not two or three.
Afterwards, I clean up with cold water and add my post-shave balm; and I can do
all of this in about five to six minutes. Of course, when you're starting out, it
may take you a little longer and this method has a disadvantage that you also
have to invest in a waterproof electric shaver, which can add two or three hundred
bucks to the overall upfront investment, but for me, it's totally worth it because
it saves me the time. And if you're honest with your time,I think it'll be
worth it for you too. Just calculate how much time you would save over the course
of a year, two years, or five years. Alright, I've given everything you need to
know about how to shave with a DE razor in a classic way, as well the time-saving way.
If you want to learn more about shaving, check out the shaving guide here.
In today's video, I'm wearing a combination of an orange
salmon-colored shirt with a fair isle knit vest in brown. I'm combining it with
a light beige herringbone tweed jacket, and a Prince of Wales check bow tie in
burgundy. It's from Fort Belvedere, just like the silk wool pocket square which picks
up these earthy tones of red, brown, green and yellow.
My pants are mid-round corduroys and I'm combining them with Fort Belvedere socks
in charcoal and orange shadow stripes, which afar creates a look of something
brownish, which goes well with the pants as well as the olive green Derby shoes
but it provides enough contrast and picks up the orange and warmer tones in
the other parts of my outfit.