Thread: Shaving someone else's face - tips?

My friend has decided that tomorrow is the day he is going to get rid of his mop of hair and his scruffy beard he's been growing for a while. Knowing I use a straight, he's asked me if I'd shave his beard off. Having never shaved someone else, I was wondering if anyone else had any tips for me regarding shaving another person - I know a lot of people shave their wife/girlfriend's legs, I've read those threads, but am after more face-specific tips. I'm confident shaving myself with a straight now, and have my angles and pressure down fine for me, so am going to try to do the whole face. Obviously, if the shave's not going well I'll stop and go for his Mach 12.4 to complete it, rather than ploughing ahead.

So far, I've decided on the best soap (Tabac soap or TOBS SC, depending on which scent he prefers) and aftershave (GFT Limes skin food) for the shave, as well as the razors I'll use (Lynn-honed Dovo, Kraut & Donal "Regina", and hoglahoo-honed Harris Bros 559 wedge). The reason I'm using multiple razors is so I can switch to another one if the shave doesn't go as well as I'd like with a certain razor. All of them have had a quick polish on my touch-up hone tonight, and are in extremely good condition. I've also got a brand new styptic in case I do nick him (fingers crossed).

So far, these are the tips I'll be keeping in mind:
- Make sure I'm using a very light touch and low pressure, and ensure that my angles are correct
- Make sure I'm still skin stretching
- Make sure I've looked at the hair direction so my WTG/XTG/ATG passes are actually WTG/XTG/ATG
- Beard prep - I'll be telling him how to prep his beard properly, and if it starts to pull I'll make him tell me so I don't hurt him.
- Touch, pressure, angles again - these are obviously the biggest ones to remember.

Here's the scenario as I see it: he'll have a long hot shower pre-shave, and use shampoo and hair conditioner on the beard to clean and soften it. During the shower, I'll be stropping all three razors and making sure they're all sharp enough. After he's dressed, I'll put a hot towel on his face to keep that beard soft while I whip up the lather. I'll then lather him up and while my razor is still at its sharpest I'll shave his moustache area. I'll then do a WTG pass on the cheeks and sideburns. After that pass, wipe the lather off him, hot towel, re-strop the razor, then re-lather. WTG on his neck and chin, and XTG on the cheeks. Wipe off lather, hot towel, re-strop, re-lather. ATG cheeks, neck, chin. Final wipe-off. Hot towel, cold towel. Styptic for any stubborn weepers that he may have, then AS.

Please gents, any tips for me that may help me deliver a smoother and better shave would be much appreciated. And thanks for actually reading this massive spiel, I think I may have gotten a little carried away while writing it and put in every little detail of my plan.

Make sure that you stretch the skin before you make the passes. This will help stop the razor getting caught on any stubble and possibly cutting his face!

To really soften the beard after the shower, slather on a load of skin food then put on a hot towel. Leave that for five minutes or so, then remove. Then lather up and stick another hot towel over the lather. After five or so minutes remove that, then re-lather. Only then start shaving. Trumpers barbers did that to me when I had a shave with them and it worked really well!

When you're doing the top lip, lift the nose up (the pigs nostrils look, always a favourite!) to stretch the skin there and dont be afraid to push his nose from side to side to get it out the way.

Ask him to turn his head from side to side to get the best neck angles and, as I said before, make sure you stretch the skin! This will also help lift the hairs up and get a really close shave.

If his beard is a ZZ Top number, it will probably help to cut it shorter with some scissors or clippers before hand, to a 1/4 - 1/2 length.

Get someone to take some pics while you're doing it as well, and let us know how you got on..!

Good luck!

I must admit that I'd avoid the ATG pass. God luck and keep us posted. I think you're a brave man (he is too).

Before you do anything, ask him if his insurance is up to date.

I am nowhere near able to shave another person, good luck.

nate

+1 on all above comments. Here's few more.

I've seen and heard that a blown balloon can be used to practice the actual shaving. Lather it up and practice until you get it right. Blowing it up is a no-no.

There's instructional barber video here http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...tml#post424186

Mach 3.14 will choke on the longer hairs. Open comb DE might be better.

You could also dress as barber for experience .

Hope everything goes ok.

Originally Posted by ursus

You could also dress as barber for experience .

+1 on that for sure.

On a more serious note, if you decide to go with a DE, be sure to trim the hair short first. I tried shaving a week of growth with a DE one time and it felt like I was trying to rip the hair out.

Straights are much better.

Barber straight razor demonstration / tutorial shave