Follow our five shaving tips for a close, clean, nick-free shave every day.
STEP 1: Prepare The first essentials for perfect shaving are water and warmth. When hair absorbs hot water it becomes softer and easier to cut, and with warmth, the skin and facial muscles also become more relaxed, making shaving so much easier – thus the best time to shave is after a bath or shower. Soaking a folded flannel or small towel in hot water and wrapping it around the face for thirty seconds can also achieve this effect. back to the top
STEP 2: Lather Up For the closest shave possible, lather up with a shaving
cream and high quality shaving
brush that will work to lift ingrown hairs and moisten the beard. Choose an alcohol-free, vitamin E-enriched shaving
cream (Alcohol based shave
foams and gels can have the opposite effect, dispersing moisture and cooling the skin, which may cause irritation.) back to the top
STEP 3: The Right Tools Our facial shaving advice: Don’t skimp here.
We highly recommend our Edwin
Jagger English Shaving Brushes, handcrafted by master craftsmen.
These are individually made, and densely filled with a minimum of 13 grammes
of Pure
or
Super
Badger hair (Super Badger is softer). Edwin
Jagger English shaving brushes are designed for supreme comfort and guarantee
many years of quality shaving.
Always
use a quality
razor with the sharpest blades available, and avoid disposable
razors with low-grade steel blades that bend when shaving. Select a
blade
that suits your technique. We recommend the Gillette Mach 3™ for wet
shavers wanting an extra smooth shave. The revolutionary Mach 3 triple
blade has an advanced lubricating strip, which indicates when the blade
no longer provides a close shave. We also recommend Edwin
Jagger English shaving razors, manufactured to the highest standards,
assembled by hand in Sheffield and incorporating the latest Gillette
shaving systems. Edwin Jagger has an international reputation for designing
and manufacturing perfectly balanced shaving razors, each providing
a secure and comfortable grip that is so important in wet shaving. back to the top
STEP 4: The Shave Make sure you use a sharp blade that has been warmed in the sink or under hot running water. Shave with the grain of your beard, or move the blade sideways across the growth in awkward areas such as the chin and under the nose. Never shave against the grain as this pulls the skin in the wrong direction causing small cuts and "grazing" to the skin and is the most common cause of "razor burn", ingrown hairs and shaving rash. Rinse the face thoroughly with cool water to close the pores and pat the face dry with a soft towel. Use an anti-septic alum stick to treat any small nicks or cuts, which occurred during shaving. back to the top
STEP 5: The Follow Up A good wet shave exfoliates and cleanses the face, leaving smooth new skin and a healthy clean appearance. Newly exfoliated skin needs to be protected from the elements, so for healthy skin it is important that men use an after-shaving moisturiser or shave balm. Products containing alcohol should not be applied to the skin immediately after shaving as this may inflame the skin and cause dryness. For best results cologne and other fragrances should only be applied to the ‘hot spots’ behind the earlobes and on the sides of the neck. back to the top
