Thread: What's Your Shave Routine

What's your shaving routine today, from unshaven to clean shaven. SR or DR. Very simple process, or it might be fairly involved. It could be full of pampering, or fairly spartan. I'm curious to know the specifics of your routine. Not just the what you do, but why you do it. Is it a necessity, a luxury, or just habit.

Here's mine

Preshave:
I usually wash my face with a mint soap by C.O. Bigellow that I like a lot. It has a mild scent and feel of mint that I really enjoy. After the face wash I apply Noxema to my entire face. I've had an on again off again relationship with Noxema. For now it's on again. Just like the mint soap, I like the menthol feel of Noxema. Additionally over the past month of me using it, I have seen a definite change in the complexion of my skin, which surprised me a bit.

I leave the Noxema on while I get everything else ready. I place my G20 scuttle under running hot water running in the bowl, with my Best Badger brush, and the scuttle stopper off. Once the water is as hot as it can get, I fill up the reservoir with hot water and replace the stopper, allowing the brush to soak in the bowl. I also put a few drops of hot water on the soap puck I'll be using, to prep the soap.

Sitting that to the side, I strop my Dovo Best Quality razor. 60 passes on leather. The strop I have has a secondary webbing strop that I previously did 20 passes on prior to the 60 passes on leather, but I have since coated one side of the webbing with Chromium Oxide paste, and the other side with Iron Oxide paste, for refreshing and polishing. After the leather stropping, I use a piece of toilet paper to wipe away any residue from the strop.

I sit the razor to the side and finish prepping my face with a hot towel over the Noxema. I do this two or three times, leaving the towel over my face until it has cooled noticeably. On the last hot towel, I wipe the remaining Noxema off and put the towel up. The hot towel sort of wakes up the menthol, and leaves my face feeling very cool and nice.

Next is the lather prep. I'm currently using Ogalala Bay Rum Cedar & Sage. Ogalala soap was my number two soap, but it holds up better in a heated scuttle, so it has become my number one soap in the winter months, when a warm brush and lather is important to me. Not sure If I'll keep a warm scuttle in the summer months. I wring all the water out of my brush an pour out any water left on top of the soap, then load my brush for about 20-30 seconds. At this point, I previously built the lather in my scuttle, but this takes too long for me. I was stuck on bowl lathering for a while because I believed that this was the only way I could obtain a warm lather, but have since switched to a face lather. After loading the brush, I pour out the water in the bowl of the scuttle and sit the loaded brush in the bowl. The heated water in the reservoir of the scuttle thoroughly warms the lather in the brush, so building the lather in the bowl is not necessary any longer. While the brush is in the bowl I rinse my face in hot water and leave it wet. I then start the face lather. The warm brush and lather always feels awesome! I usually need to apply a few drops of hot water to the top of the brush before the lather on my face is ready. At that point I put the brush back in the scuttle to rewarm, and grab my razor.

The Shave:
For pass one I start with the grain (WTG) on my cheeks, from side burn, about mid ear, down to the edge of my jaw, making several small, overlapping downward swipes. I don't stretch my face during this section, only because I do a three pass shave, and by the middle of pass 2, my cheeks are always very smooth. Then there's the mustache lineup, and I finish pass one going straight down on my neck.

Pass two is an across the grain (XTG) starting with holding the razor in a diagonal line from where my mustache ends, down to where my goatee ends at my chin, and swiping up and across my cheek towards my ear. I do both cheeks and then start my neck. Up to now I use my right hand for my right side and my left hand for my left side, but for my neck XTG I use my right had for the left side of my neck and swipe diagonally down from under my jaw to the center of my neck below the a adams apple, making several small, SLOW, overlapping swipes. I've recently started doing this and it gets me an extremely close shave on my neck with no irritation, but it's a bit awkward. I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with it after a few tries.

Pass three is against the grain (ATG) also using my left hand to do the right side. Starting at the neck and moving up. This also serves as a cleanup pass for my cheeks, which are mostly as close as possible already. The portion of my goatee under my chin ends in a point above my adams apple. I use pass three to line that up as well.

I sometimes do a cleanup, but usually it's just to line up my goatee and mustache. I rarely need to touch up missed spots, but if I do I take care of it by applying a bit of lather using my finger tips to the spot, and getting whatever I missed.

Post Shave:
My post shave is pretty much like my preshave with the Noxema and 3 hot towels. I let my face air dry, and then apply whatever aftershave I'm using that day. Pinaud Clubman is a scent that I avoided in the beginning, but am now very fond of. I also like Masters Blue a lot, which has the menthol feel that I like.

Summary:
I think I have a fairly high mix of pampering in my routine, which from looking over this post, takes a majority of the time it takes me to shave. The mint soap, heated scuttle, the Noxema, hot towel, even a scented oil burner that I occasionally light, just to enhance the experience (hey, it's the only pampering that I get, so I guess I take it as far as I can). The Dovo is a great razor for me. I'm at the point where a shave takes about 40 minutes, and I mostly get an extremely smooth comfortable shave every time, with no nicks or weepers. Ogalala shaving soap creates an awesome slick, dense lather, and smells great. If you are accustomed to stretching your skin with your hand, Ogalala may be too slick for you though. I currently have a puck of Ogalala Bay Rum & Orange and a puck of Bay Rum Limes & Peppercorns in the mail as I write. The G20 scuttle is amazing. I struggled a bit with the best way to use it, but switching to face lathering has helped that greatly. I'm mostly proficient with the actual shave with the exception of the XTG on the neck which is still a bit awkward, but effective. The post shave is mostly more pampering, although it seems to lessen any irritation that might occurre, and the Noxema seems to have some positive benefits as well.

Please let me know what your routine is. Be as detailed as you like.
Thanks

Simple routine here.

Strop the razor the night before and set out the soap/cream/brush of choice for the next day.

In the morning fill sink with cold tap water, splash face with water, dip brush tip in water and load brush if using soap or with cream put a dollop/snurdle of it on the brush tips then lather face and shave. Four passes later shave is finished, face rinsed with cold water and alum applied. The razor is cleaned under running water, wiped dry and stropped on felt for 10 strokes. Razor is then laid out open to dry for several hours before being put away. The alum gets rinsed with cold water and face patted dry before the AS gets put on. Done like turkey.

Bob

1) Put hot water in scuttle, and drop the bush in. GP G12 and Simpsons 55.

2) Wash my face in hot water... usually with Dove +Men's Moisturising

3) Apply Proaso White Pre

4) Stop razor: Lately its been 20 linen, 50 leather, and I go between a SRD 3" Bridal and a TM 3" Heirloom #2 Artesian

5) Dump water from scuttle, and refil with hot water. Leave some water in bowl for lathering.

6) Add cream, and start whipping! (these days, its almost always La Toja)

7) Apply to cheeks (I have a full beard so I do my face in two sections)

8) Shave checks WTG

9) Apply cheeks again.

10) Shave XTG.

11) Apply to neck.

12) Shave W/XTG

13) Re apply lather

14) Shave A/XTG

15) Re apply lather

16) Shave A/XTG again to get any missed spots.

17) Rinse face with cold water

18) Dry razor

19) Dry face

20) Splash on some Spieck

21) Strop blade: 10 on linen, 20 on leather

22) Rub in some RR AS Wax (King Louis at the moment)

23) Rinse out brush, and hang dry

24) Rinse out scuttle

And, if its the morning (I usually shave at night), then I was start working the handlebar... waxing the shaping.

1. put hot water in scuttle and drop brush in. whipped dog silver tip

2. bathe!-)

3. dump water out of scuttle, and depending on season, fill scuttle up with hot water.

4. take shaving brush and dip into my can of castle forbes lime and make lather.

5. apply lather to face

6. strop my whipped dog 6/8th razor on my TM "3 premium horse hide leather strop. 40 laps and I always count out loud

7. shave WTG

8. reapply lather

9. shave XTG

10. apply lather where needed

11. touch up

12. rinse off face with water

13. dry face

14 apply Spieck

15. rinse out scuttle and brush and set brush on counter handle up

16. wipe off razor with small washcloth. I put my blade on a small washcloth during shaving so I don't ding it. been there and done that!

17 completed!

I've got a fairly simple routine. Noxema on my face, strop the razor, run a small dish of hot water, dip the brush then load with soap, lather on my face, against the grain pass, relather, mustache and chin with the grain, relather, ears to chin except lower neck, lower neckadams apple out cross grain, mustache from the edge to the middle cross grain, cold water rinse and a after shave balm. That routine gives me a close comfortable shave, not completely smooth but very close to BBS. It takes 15 to 20 minutes entry to exit.

Cold water make lather
Choose and strop razor
Cold water splash
Apply pre shave - Cremo
Lather
Shave neck ATG
Shave neck WTG
Shave sideburns - both sides ATG & XTG
Shave jawline - both sides WTG
Shave cheeks combination of XTG and WTG
Check and do a ATG where needed
Cold water cloth rub
Styptic when/where needed (mild Rosacea causes a few weepers)
AS Balm
Witch Hazel, Aloe Vera, glycerin and essential oil mix
Admire the results and get on with the day

Hot shower,get out, face lather, shave (two pass) done

Originally Posted by RezDog

I've got a fairly simple routine. Noxema on my face, strop the razor, run a small dish of hot water, dip the brush then load with soap, lather on my face, against the grain pass, relather, mustache and chin with the grain, relather, ears to chin except lower neck, lower neckadams apple out cross grain, mustache from the edge to the middle cross grain, cold water rinse and a after shave balm. That routine gives me a close comfortable shave, not completely smooth but very close to BBS. It takes 15 to 20 minutes entry to exit.

Wow that's lightning fast! I wonder if that will be me in a year, once I tire of all the Pomp & Circumstance I currently go through.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Hot shower,get out, face lather, shave (two pass) done

How long does that take you?

Originally Posted by Slurryer

How long does that take you?

10 minutes max.