Shaving 301 - Or Things I Wish My Dad Told Me

I've had an urge to share this for some time now. After shaving every day for the better part of forty years, I think I finally have it figured out.

This is more than you need

I buy these on sale in bags of 20

Every man has his own ritual with shaving, but I'm going to guess you do it the way you always did it - regardless of how inefficient it might be.

As shaving is such a regular, repeated process, it's no wonder that there's a huge advertising budget spent on influencing it. Whether it's the newest five-blade, ultra smooth, high tech safety razor or the German engineered, electric razor you can use in the shower, you know that their target is half the population.

I know it's strange, but I've thought about this. I've spent time researching it and time experimenting with it. Here's what I've discovered.

• You know your own face. After a few hundred times, the need for a mirror when shaving is nothing but habit. Once a week or so I'll bring a small metal mirror into the shower with me to trim up those sideburns, otherwise I don't need one. Neither do you.
• If you use a safety razor, you use far more shaving cream than you actually need. You've been influenced by advertising. Really, using conditioner, shampoo or soap works just as well. Try shaving with 1/3 the amount you use now and see that it makes no difference.
• Again with the safety razor, you should shave in the shower after your beard has softened. I shave at the very  end. If you don't shave in the shower, you probably cut yourself a lot, you make an incredible mess, and you take way too much time. 
• If you use an electric razor, you waste time. A safety razor gives you a closer shave in less than a quarter the time.
• I don't spend money on expensive name brand refillable razors. Disposable razors last longer and are significantly less expensive (I use name brand disposable razors because they tend to hold up better).
• You use a new razor blade too often. The enemy of a sharp blade isn't your beard - it's moisture. If it gets wet and stays wet it degrades quickly. I put my razor up where it will dry out every day, and one blade will regularly last me three months or more.

Here's my morning routine. I would guess shaving take about three minutes start to finish.

1. When I'm done showering, I'll get a small amount of shaving cream in my hand and lather it into my face.
2. If I'm in a shower, I'll face away from the shower head - and shave my entire face in one go. If I'm showering in a bathtub, I'll turn off the shower and have water come out of the bath faucet. Then shave my entire face at one time.
3. Then I'll rinse off the blade, avoiding any water on my face.
4. I'll shave a second time in the opposite direction, getting any spot I may have missed.
5. One final rinse of the blade, my face and my body.
6. I put the razor somewhere where it will dry quickly.
7. Done.

Men never talk about this stuff.

PS: 11/18/2015:  Hard to believe that this was the most viewed post in the last couple of years! As much as I've been harassed about it, the numbers speak for themselves....  I'm back into a shower for more than a year now (we moved into the condo with a separate shower stall), but the strategy is still the same. Shave at the end, use a little gel, and use disposable razors. Note that I ran out of razors the other day and had to buy another eighteen (cost me about $15 at Costco).