Shaving. Whether you enjoy the ritual of ridding your body of unwanted hair, or you detest the daily chore, there is no doubt that shaving is something most people have to deal with on a pretty regular basis.
The most frequent concern when it comes to shaving is that shaving irritates the skin and can leave bumps, bruises, cuts, and chafes – this leaves the shaver feeling dissatisfied, unhappy, and generally does not contribute any enthusiasm for subsequent episodes of the deed.
The first and most important step to have a smooth, clean, shave is to make sure you are relaxed. Make sure the lights are nice and bright and that you can see well. Make sure the mirror isn’t foggy and that you are adequately stocked of all the equipment you need. The worst thing is to start the process and realize about half of the way through that you don’t have after shave or moisturizing lotion to put on after you are done!
For an idea on a quality after shave, be sure to check out the Geo F Trumper Skin Food 100ml for only £14.50
Now, there are different types of shaving tools that you can use to shave with and some are better than others when it comes to the chances of giving you irritation.
The most common two types of razors that most people are familiar with are the cartridge razor and the disposable razor. Both of these styles of shaving tool have multiple blades, anywhere from two to five! The disposable blades are quite popular with women for shaving their legs and for men who travel or wish to groom areas of their body that aren’t their face.
The cartridge razors and disposable razors have a higher chance of making your face irritated. Disposable razors in particular have received a lot of controversial feedback in the past.
It is important to replace them when they have been used a few times because they will go dull and thus increase the friction between the blade and your skin. This friction is what causes the irritation and the cuts. Also, an old blade has a much higher chance of storing up old skin particles and bacteria so it can cause inflammation due to your skin rejecting the bacteria once it makes contact with you.
If you have a straight razor or a safety razor, your chances of irritating your skin are much less. These are higher quality blades and offer a much closer, smoother, shave. The straight razor can be dangerous for the untrained so be very careful! A last option is to use the electric razors which tend to be safety cautious and are built not to irritate the skin.
A quality selection for a straight razor can be found at TheArtOfShaving.com
For any of the methods mentioned here, the key factor to remember is that you have to be in the best possible setting for shaving. This means making sure to wet your face with warm water to hydrate it. Rough, dry skin is harder to shave. It is advisable to shave after showering. Be sure to use shaving cream to further soften the hair follicles. Be liberal and use a lot of the cream if you have coarser hair!
Shave in the direction of the hair growth, not against it. Shaving against the hair growth causes pain and irritation. Last but not least, clean all your equipment by running it under hot water! Bacteria can grow on your tools and when they make contact with your skin you can get irritated, have pimples and cuts – this is all bad!
Good luck on your shaving endeavors and remembers, like many other things, the higher the quality of your shaving tools, the better the shaving experience will be! It doesn’t hurt to splurge on a good quality straight razor – you’ll have great shaves for years.
Writer Biography
This is a guest post by Kate Simmons. Her interests are education, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers.