A good shave starts with a good preparation
After 5 blog-posts dedicated to the maths of shaving, I propose now a series of 5 blog-posts about the PLEASURE of shaving. Believe me: I am now really an expert in shaving. Maybe BigRazCo or another shaving brand will once knock at the door to hire me for getting that knowledge.
I read all large share of all key patents regarding shaving.. and continue to study the remaining one. I went back to old biochemistry books to understand saponification reaction (A chemical process that produces soap from fatty acid derivatives)to be sure Raz*War produces the best shaving soap for you. I studied rheology and lubricating mechanism to be sure we produce the best shaving oil. I read hundred of blogs and articles about shaving. I am so expert in shaving that I have to admit that, as Socrates, I know...nothing (...As I realize the large amount of knowledge I still need to master).
But, be sure of one thing, Raz*War is a brand which is really wanting to produce qualitative products for you, and really dedicated to improve its products in the future. There IS an actual R&D in Raz*War (And you take part in it, as we already explained). There IS a commitment to put reality behind "the PLEASURE of shaving" baseline...
Also, for two years, nearly all of my shaving acts have become scientific experiments: "What does happen If I take shower before shaving?" "And If I use a peeling cream before?" "How many days can I shave with my 5 blades razor head if I use oil?" "What happen if I start shaving again with one day without shave" "Do my wife recognizes a shave WITH shaving oil and shave WITHOUT shaving oil" .."How many ingrown hairs do I get if I do this, etc... ". I, even, prepared specific documents for helping me rate my shave: (You will find them on http://www.rateyourshave.com)
Hence, it is clear that I feel confident to share with you some good shaving tips to help you getting towards the "perfect shave". Today, we will discuss about how to prepare the shave... I suggest you follow the following two steps:
(1)Firstly: Wash and rinse your face with hot water:
By washing and rinsing your face with hot water, you will help clean up your faces of all impurities (including death skin, etc..), you remove the bacteria (use 50°C hot water) -which often cause redness, irritation or even infection- and you allow the opening of the pores (allowing a more comfortable shave). But hot water also plays a role by somewhat "softening" the hair itself by direct action on the hair itself and also through action on the hair follicles (the base of the hair).
In the quest for the "perfect shave", although I personally do not do it every day, I recommend to use some soap, to remove the oily constituents from the surface of the air, that would prevent water from soaking the whiskers and/or the hair to be removed (remember, as I just wrote, that water plays a role in softening the air. Hence, water need to "reach" the hair...). If you use soap, then rinse your face, with hot water too. Do certainly wash your face with soap for the next shave if you have given your face on day "free of shave".
(2)Then, apply the Raz*War shaving oil :
Apply one to two drops of your Raz*War shaving oil on the top of 4 fingers (discard the thumb) and then gently massage the face still wet with the oil so that it is evenly distributed throughout the to-be-shaved areas. Shaving oil allows easier sliding of the razor head on the skin, avoiding cuts and reducing redness and irritation.
The oil also allows the blades to "better get into the hair" thus avoiding "pull and tug" on the hair. "Tug and pull" problems are often generated by last generation of multi-blades razors. "Ingrown hairs" appear often... But, the usage of oil prevents ingrown hairs by allowing a more even distribution of hair cuts. According to me, this is already enough to strongly recommend shaving oil. Personally, since I use shaving oil (as pre-shave method), I got..only one episode of ingrown hair (obtained using an oil of a competitor...). I never get, in two years time, an episode of ingrown hair using our Raz*War shaving oil! (Before Raz*War, I get up to 10 episodes a year).
The oil will also help the action of soap, ensuring proper hydration of the skin and leave a pleasant sensation post-shave. A little more difficult to understand, but key: The oil prevent water to evaporate or to be absorbed by the foam of the soap. What happen, is that the oil, put immediately on the face after rinsing, creates a very thin layer or film on the hair itself, "blocking" the water or preventing the foam to "suck" the water from the soaked hair. Just observe yourself what happen if you use only a typical foam, to be obtained from any retailer, and you wait a little (2 minutes?) before shaving: the foam will have made your hair dry, and the razor blades will gradually be more and more noisy (because hairs dried). The day after, make the same experiment, but use shaving oil (and shaving soap instead of foam). Strange, no?
Finally, oil extends the life of the blades. Indeed, as a mineral oil would allow a chainsaw to enter in wood, the shaving oil enters in the hair. And as the chainsaw would be less rapidly worn out by using oil, your razor blades will also last longer by using shaving oil. (See also my blog "The MATHS of shaving (5)" about economic impact of using oil).
Did you correctly prepared you shave? Yes? Sure? All steps carefully respected? Then, you have already accomplished a major part of you "perfect shave". In the next blog post, I will explain you how to lather the skin using a shaving soap or a shaving cream. Make sure you empty your last bottles of gels and foams: you will no use them anymore after reading the advantages of soap and creams...
Enjoy the PLEASURE of shaving...
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