Wet Shaving - What I learned so far.

It's been 8 months since I started my odyssey of wet shaving. It's safe to say I learned a lot and come a long way. It has been an eye opening experience for me for not only wet shaving but the whole grooming experience. Here are some of the methods, highlights and tips I have learned for my personal wet shaving experience.

The Shower:
Use a gentle shampoo. Shampoo twice if needed. Use a conditioner for dry hair conditions.
Use a facial scrub twice a week
Use a facial wash the rest of the time
Natural hand made soaps are best. Olive Oil, buttermilk and Shea Butter are good choices. Super fatted soaps are great for really dry skin.
Don't dry face with towel. The trick is to have a face as hydrated as possible with open pores just before shaving.

Pre-Shave:
Rinse face with hot water to keep hydrated. A couple of drops of oil or glycerin is OK.
Don't be in a hurry to make lather. I have found with both soaps and creams it does not pay to be stingy or too quick. There are different methods I use for creams versus soaps. I like a boar brush for soaps and a badger brush for creams. Check shave equipment. I use a DE blade no more than 3 times and then dispose of it safely.

Lather Making:
Like I said, it does not pay to be stingy. Creams and soaps are lathered in a shave bowl. For creams, I start off with a moist badger brush, swirling about a quarter size amount of cream in the bowl and adding hot water a couple of drops at a time to the mix until I get the lather I want. I might have the brush pre charged with a little shave soap if I am looking for a super lather. Once the lather is done, I make sure my face is rinsed with hot water one more time. For soaps, I put some hot water in the soap bowl for about a minute to soften it up. Then I dump about 2 tbsp of the soap water into a shave bowl and either reserve or dump the rest. Next, I will make some lather right in the soap bowl starting with a moist brush. I then create my final lather in the shave bowl adding water or reserved shave soap water as needed similar to a cream. If I want extra lather, I will gently squeeze the lather out of the brush and recharge the brush with soap. Since the lather has been curing and drying in the bowl, I will add a few drops of water to "freshen" it. Slow swirling and pumping the brush a little usually gets me the lather I want.

The Shave:
It doesn't matter what the equipment is. It's pretty much the same. Very light pressure, make sure of your angles and know the contours of your face and the direction(s) your beard grows. I use a 3 or 4 pass stubble reduction method. The first is with the grain (WTG), the second is across the grain (XTG) at a 45° angle, the third is across the grain the opposite direction (XTG) at a 45° angle and the fourth is against the grain (ATG). I may skip the ATG if my face is feeling a little abused. The final step is cleanup of stubble patches with some light quick blade buffing or J-hooking. I splash my face with hot water between passes and spread the leftover shave cream around before applying the new cream. I swirl the new lather on my face and then do a "painting" to cover the lather patches.

Post Shave:
For me with my very sensitive skin, this last step is very important. I rinse all the lather off my face thoroughly with warm water. I then do a quick rinse with cold water. I have not had to use a styptic pencil in a long time to stop any bleeding. I then run an alum block over my face to close the pores and cut back any irritation. I then rinse any alum residue off with cold water and apply some witch hazel toner. At this point my shave and face care are done. All that is left is waiting a little bit for the pores to finish closing and checking my face for any final irritation or dryness. I don't use colognes except for special occasions. I might use witch hazel aftershave instead of just a toner. If my face is dry or has further irritation, I will use an after shave balm with a little aloe vera and a couple of drops of oil mixed with water on my hands. A little goes a long way. The reason I talk about irritation so much is that I have very sensitive skin. Water will give me a rash. The shave brush bristles will give me rash and most certainly, passing a blade over my face will give me a rash if I'm not careful. The one place I will always have some irritation is the hollows of my neck just on either side of my esophagus. My most stubborn spots are just above these hollows and certain spots on my jawline especially the hollow just below my chin. My chin is not smooth and tends protect stubble in the little pocks.

Other care:
Due to the nature of my skin, I try not to put to much stuff on it. However, I do have some very dry patches on my shins and abdomen. I will use a moisturizer on those patches during the day. My face is usually OK for the rest of the day unless I have been out in the elements for a long time. A few drops of ASB (after shave balm) works well. My final step is to use a little ASB and aloe vera just before going to bed. It keeps my face hydrated overnight and helps with the shave the next day. If I happen to get an ingrown hair I use icthamol to help draw the hair out.