Step 3: Shave

If you pay attention to what you are doing, this should be an easy and enjoyable process. As noted in a previous blog entry, the most important and greatly overlooked aspects of wet-shaving are the blade angle and the pressure applied on the razor.

The shaving blades are also very important. Blades can be sharp, dull, forgiving, smooth, cheap, expensive and overpriced (whenever you have a dull, expensive combination). The sharpest ones are the Japanese Feathers, with the Swedish Gillette's , Derby and Dorco platinum tied for a close second. After that, you have the mild ones: Personna Super +, Astra, Regular Dorco and Treet Platinum. Finally you have the rather dull blades: Merkur, 7A.M, Red Personna, Lord, Sputnik and the list goes on.  Here it has to be noted that a sharp blade doesn't necessarily translate into a smooth shave. You can get a good shave with a very mild blade as long as you prepare your beard properly and your stubble is not made of copper wires (I unfortunately, am not as lucky).

Step 4: Clean and Moisturize

After you finish shaving, using warm water, you should remove the remaining lather  and immediately follow with some cold water to close the pores. Some will use an alum block. They say that it will tell them how good the shave was. I guess the eventual nicks and stubble spots aren't enough proof of a crappy shave. Your skin has to suffer even more from the burning inflicted by the alum block to convince you that your shave sucked.  Joking aside, an alum bloc is a very good way of closing the pores and sanitizing your freshly shaved face. Next, you can apply the --sometimes extremely expensive-- balm or aftershave splash. I wouldn't use aftershaves that are very heavy on cologne and alcohol (some alcohol is OK though). This for the simple reason that it will dry and harm your skin.

Step 1 and 2: Preparing and Applying the Lather

1. Preparation

One of the most important aspects of wet-shaving is preparation. Our beard doesn’t stubbornly grow only for the sole purpose of being shaved. I’m sure that an anthropologist can provide some more information on why we have a beard and its purpose. However, for the scope of this discussion lets just agree that our beards need some special treatment in order to get a baby-butt shave.

Most people agree the shaving oil is a very good prep product. I personally notice a great improvement in my shave when I’m using shave oil, but not only oil. There are some other products out there, such as Proraso and Prep-Italy pre-post creams or Taylor of Bond Street Pre-shave Gel, only to name a few. Also, if you are stingy, a regular, oily face & body cream will do the trick. Vaseline creams worked very well for me until I discovered that they are “heavy” on petrol and not helpful to my long-term health prospects.

2. Applying the lather on your face

Some will write novels on how to obtain a good lather and the correct way of applying it on your face. I have more trust in people and I’m sure you’ll figure it out by yourself. Just some simple rules:

a)      If the lather is too thin you have added too much water or you have a crappy cream or soap.

b)     If you are using a canned gel or cream, you don’t know what you are missing or what a good shave is.

c)      If the lather is too thick, don’t worry. There is not such thing as too thick a lather. You are fine.

d)     You can create lather in a mug or directly on your face. I for one, I prefer the mug.

e)      If you use a brushless cream (i.e. Nancy Boy or The Art of Shaving) don’t try to create lather in a mug. Chances are you are going to fail. Instead apply the cream on your face and work it with a brush. This way you can fool yourself into believing those creams actually lather.

More steps to come……

Many of those who switched to wet-shaving also switched to expensive shaving creams and soaps. For some, wet-shaving is like a religion that demands sacrifices in the form of pricey soaps, creams, brushes and razors (new and vintage). While I admit that most of the expensive toiletries are excellent products as well, there are some that don’t deserve the hype and hefty price tag. The good news is that for all those overpriced and overrated products you also have some under-priced, underrated items. These are my picks in no particular order:

1-     Valobra Stick and Soft Shaving Soaps (Creams). Great products at a bargain price. Probably the most pH neutral shaving products I have ever tried. The lather is amazingly thick and slick. The soft shaving soap has the consistency of a cream but for some reason Valobra wants to label it as soap. 

2-     Merkur HD, Merkur Progress and Kent Shaving Soap. Well, not exactly underrated, but still great products.

3-     Pirate Cove Shaving Soaps. For some reason these soaps don’t get too much coverage on wet-shaving forums. However, I found them to be one of the best soaps out there. The smell is great and lasting, the lather is thick and slick and finally the price is great (about $3 on Ebay, if you can find them).

4-     Gillette Super-Speed Tan (1950’s-1960’s Super-Speed). An excellent, mild razor that doesn’t get much love because of its availability. Gillette made millions of them and consequently many of them are still around the present day. You can find them on Ebay for a good price and if you are a little patient you can score one in excellent condition for $20 or so.

5-     Omega Boar Shaving Brush. A great brush that behaves like a good wine; better with time. Actually, there’s a perfectly logical explanation for that. With time, the tips of the boar bristles soften while the brush remains dense and relatively stiff. An outstanding brush for soaps and a real bargain at about $12.

6-     Col Conk Shaving Soaps. As good as Pirate Cove soaps for creating a good lather. A little pricier though.

7-     Taylor’s Mr Taylor shaving cream. The best cologne scented shaving cream I ever tried.

8-     Col. Conk Pure Badger Shaving Brushes. They are made by Vulfix/Progress U.K. and identical to the more expensive Vulfix branded cousins.

9-     French Shaving Soaps (Provence Sante, Pre de Provence, Lothantique etc… ). At least as good as the British soaps. One characteristic for most of the French soaps is that they are milder and gentler to the skin as compared with heavily scented British Soaps.

10- U.S. Personna Blades. Can be found at Wal-Mart for $1.4 a 10 pack. Not the greatest blades out there, but cheap and convenient to buy.

11- If you are in Canada: JM Fraser Shaving Cream. For $10 you get 1lb. (it’s no typo, the tub contains 1lb.) of great shaving cream. It has a light lemon/lime scent, produces a great lather and does a great job at softening your beard.

The most important, and wildly overlooked, aspects of wet-shaving are: the blade angle and the pressure applied on the razor.

1) The correct blade angle is 30 degrees with the face. A wider angle will result in you scrapping your face rather than shaving. At a too steep angle you'll cut yourself. No $200 razor or $50 shaving cream will help you if you don't shave at the correct blade angle.

2) Do not apply any pressure on the razor. Let the razor's weight do the job. If you have a low-weight razor, apply some very gentle pressure when shaving. For the past 20-30 years Gillette and Schick worked very hard to create idiot-proof shaving systems that can be used even by a monkey. With double-edge razors you actually have to pay attention to what you are doing, when shaving. The benefits are that you'll get a good shave, use less harmful chemicals on your skin, say goodbye to ingrown hairs and actually enjoy your shave.

A Better Shave.

I discovered Wet Shaving while looking for a way to deal with a tough and troublesome beard. Wet Shaving is not about being snobbish, but about a better shave with less iritation and fewer ingrown hairs. An old style double-edge razor, like Merkur HD, won’t pull the hairs and cut them below the skin level as is the case with multi-blade catridges, taking better care of your skin and your beard. Also, with an old style razor you have the luxury of choosing the sharpness of the blade; so you can find the one that fits you best.

A Morning Ritual.

Shaving used to be a hated task for me. I couldn’t wait until the weekend to skip a couple of days. Now I look forward to this little routine. And why? I’ve replaced aerosol cans and disposable razors with a double edge razor, a good shaving soap and a pure badger shaving brush. Three simple elements that are not only able to give me a bettter shave, but that put together create a moment to unwind and do something for myself that I can enjoy and feel good about.

Elements of a Great Shave.

The secret to wet-shaving is getting yourself a good double-edge razor, shaving soap or cream and a shaving brush.

Different people prefer different razors and with time you will find the one that works best for you. For starters a medium size, moderately priced, new razor will do the job.

Buy shaving soap or cream from a reputable seller. When you buy from an old English barbershop with 200 years of experience there’s no way to go wrong. As you develop your preferences you can start to experiment with newer brands. I prefer shaving soaps over creams because they have fewer preservatives and last longer.

The shaving brush is the pivotal element of wet-shaving. So if you get to pick only one outstanding shaving prop, this has got to be it. The brush will massage and exfoliate your skin and the motion required to apply the soap will also lift your hair, preparing if for the shave. For a scrubier feeling try a brush made of pure or best badger, for a soft touch super badger or silver tip will do the trick.

Good for You and the Enviroment Too.

Wet-shaving also means less waste. Just think about all the non-recycleable plastic that   goes into multi-blade cartridges and handles, and the aerosol cans that release harmful by- products into the environment. Switching to old-style shaving props won’t gain you entry into Green Peace by itself, but it is a good start.