Beginners Corner

How to get the best shave from a safety razor and reduce skin irritation

Wet Shaving for
        Beginners

Whether you are new to wet shaving, simply want to improve your technique or want to try some different shaving products the Executive Shaving Team are here to help you.

If you want to speak directly with one of our team, please feel free to contact us on 0141 880 3040 , or email us here info@executive-shaving.co.uk .

You can also visit our Help & Advice blog for regular tips and advice on all things shaving and grooming.

Where to begin wet
        shaving

Where to Begin?

There are so many different wet shaving products available on the marketplace today; it can be a bit bewildering to know where to begin. Just where do you start and what should you really be buying?

In this section of our website we have stripped out a lot of the marketing blurb to focus instead on the basics of what you need to get a comfortable, close, smooth shave.

So what do you really need?

To get a close, smooth, irritation free shave all you need are a shaving brush, a good quality shaving cream or soap, a razor and an aftershave balm.

Below we will find out a little bit more about each of these items. However, if you want to start shopping now visit our For Beginners collection.

Medium Jock
            Black Synthetic Shaving Brush

The Shaving Brush

Regardless of whether you shave with a Gillette, Wilkinson Sword, Feather cartridge razor, a double edged safety razor, or a straight cut throat razor, you should always use a shaving brush to apply your lather.

A good quality shaving brush is an absolute essential component of any wet shavers kit. It will help create a rich, creamy lather, that will protect your skin as you shave, the brush will also soften and lift the beard hairs in preparation for shaving.

We now recommend buying a synthetic fibre shaving brush rather than a traditional badger hair shaving brush. Synthetic brushes are super soft, have great backbone, don’t smell, dry quickly and are better value for money. They are more ethical too.
You can browse our recommended selection of Synthetic Shaving Brushes for Beginners to use at Executive Shaving.

Check out our videos below which feature our Large Synthetic shaving brushes, Muhle travel shaving brushes and most importantly How to Care for your shaving brush.

Browse our Shaving Brushes For Beginners category to find at good quality, inexpensive brush to start with.

Pre Shave

To protect your skin and soften your beard hairs in preparation for shaving it is important that you use a good quality pre shave before you apply your shaving lather. We recommend using our own Pre Shave Oil, which has received great feedback from shavers of all abilities.

You can view our Pre Shave Oil here.

Shaving Cream

To create a rich, thick, cushioning lather, we recommend you use a good quality shaving cream, such as our own rnage of Natural Shaving Creams, a shaving cream is much easier to use than a shaving soap, as it lathers up quickly and easily.

Check out our suggested range of Shaving Creams for Beginners.

The Razor

What type of razor should you use?

For those shavers who are just beginning to wet shave we always recommend the use of a double edged (DE) safety razor ahead of a cartridge type razor such as a Gillette, Wilkinson Sword or other.

There are several reasons for this:

1. Using just one, single blade to cut your stubble is far better for your skin than using a cartridge that can have up to six sharp blades scraping across your face.

2. You do not need to force, or push, a safety razor into the skin on your face when you are shaving to get a smooth finish. You simply hold the razor gently and let the weight of the razor do the cutting.

3. The single blade is easier to keep clean, and doesn’t clog up like a cartridge does.

4. A single blade will last for anything between four to five good shaves before needing replaced. A cartridge loses its edged after two shaves at best.

5. Single edge razor blades are much, much cheaper than any cartridge razor blades. You can by a good quality pack of 10 DE razor blades for only a few pounds, and depending on how often you shave one pack will last up to two months.

Check out one of our the razor blade packs we recommend to start off with in our Best Razor Blades for Beginners Collection to see just how much you can save.

So which type of Double Edged safety razor to use?

For beginners we would recommend using a mild razor such as the Muhle R89 Black, Giesen & Forsthoff Timor Pure or Merkur 34C (sometimes known as the 34HD) safety razors.

These razors are cheap, easy to use and durable so they will not break after just a few uses, with care these razors should last 10 years or more. Once you have gained a bit of experience using these razors you could start to think about upgrading them to a more aggressive razor, such as our own Outlaw Razor.

Check out our suggested range of safety razors for beginners to find the right one for you.

How Do I Use A Double Edged Safety Razor?

Using a double edged safety razor is very simple, once you have taken a few minutes to master the basic technique of using this type of razor.

Below is our own video tutorial on how to shave with a safety razor, Brian explains in this video the basic technique you need to use with a double edged safety razor.

Post Shave Essentials

Once you have completed shaving with your razor, it is essential that you apply a post shave balm or moisturiser to your skin. This will help to rehydrate the skin and will protect it during the day.

We always recommend using an aftershave balm, view our complete range of recommended post shave balms for beginners to find the best one for you.

If you suffer from sensitive skin, or dry skin, use our Intensive Moisturiser after shaving to soothe and hydrate your skin.

So that's it!

It doesn’t take much time to learn how to shave properly. Once you have picked up the basics you can go on to explore the many different shaving products available today.

Remember proper wet shaving is not only good for your face and skin, but also for your wallet. Over the course of a year a double edged safety razor will save you £100’s compared to using cartridge razors and shaving foam.

If you have any questions you want answers to, or would like some help choosing the right products for your skin, we are here to help.

Simply call us on 0141 880 3040 , or email us at info@executive-shaving.co.uk where our team will be able to help you.

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