Our Shaving Guide

Steve offers men’s wet shaving, as one of a bundle of men's grooming services that also includes trimming, waxing, facials, manicures and pedicures. How does he consider creating the best shave? He uses a traditional wet shave with a shaving brush, cut-throat blade, hot and cold flannels and an array of products to create a perfect close shave without irritation.

Here, he looks at some of the common problems with men’s shaving, then explores options for avoiding them.

Side Effects

Shaving can have numerous side effects, including cuts, abrasions, and irritation. Some people with curly hair have an adverse response to shaving called pseudofolliculitis barbae, or "razor bumps" due to ingrown hairs.

Many side effects can be minimized by using a fresh blade, plenty of lubrication, and avoiding pressing down with the razor, a shaving brush will also help. There are many products on the market to get rid of them, they commonly dry the affected area and some help to lift out the trapped hair(s).

Many people traditionally believed that shaving would cause the hair shaved to become thicker and darker. However, this bit of conventional wisdom has been disproven.

The resulting stubble only makes the hairs seem to be thicker, as a shaved hair has a blunt end as opposed to the tapered end of an unshaven hair, and because hair is often darker in colour near the root. Clinical studies have demonstrated that shaving does not have an effect on hair growth rates or density.

What are the basic tools you need for wet shaving?

•The perfect shave has three ingredients: a good razor, a good brush, and quality shaving products. But the biggest difference between wet shaving and the way most guys shave today is the use of a shaving brush. A good shaving brush is the single most important ingredient in getting the perfect shave.

•A good brush –and the best brushes are made of synthetic hair and start at approx £17 –absorbs hot water and then, after you dip the tip of the brush into your basin the brush releases and mixes the hot water with the shaving cream as you skim the brush back and forth across your face and neck in and up-down motion.

•The combination of hot water mixing with the cream and getting beaten by the brush all over your face delivers a thicker, richer, more emollient lather that‘s impossible to get with your fingers alone. A shaving brush also gently exfoliates, or removes the dead skin, from your face before shaving, which gets rid of anything coming between the blade and your whiskers.

SHAVING TRIVIA

There are about 30,000 beard hairs on the face of the average man—the greatest concentration on the chin and upper lip.

•Hair grows an average of half a millimetre a day.

•Hair grows faster during waking hours than during sleeping hours.

•The ideal shave angle (razor blade meeting the face) is 28-32 degrees.

•Hair on the neck grows parallel to the skin.

•90% of men report that they prefer to be clean shaven.

•49% say they have a moustache, sideburns and a goatee, 6% have a full beard.

•The average man will have spent 900 hours shaving (the equivalent of 37 1/2 days) between ages 15 and 75.

•The majority of men, 84%, shave at the sink. Another 15% of men shave in the shower.

•Men between the ages of 18 and 29 shave an average of four times a week.

•Men over the age of 30 shave an average of six times a week.

Please contact Steve for more information about his male grooming services, including men’s wet shaving, trimming, waxing, facials, manicures and pedicures.