What is a wet shave?  What is a dry shave?  Isn’t it all just cutting whiskers?

Well, yes.  A dry shave typically uses an electric razor (hence the lack of water), and a wet shave uses any number of razor blades with a lubricating agent and water.  Either way, you get your whiskers cut, and if you try both, you’ll find a way you like.  You do want to give each method a fair shake though, so make sure you’re doing it right.  I don’t have anything to do with electric razors, so I’ll just tell you about wet shaving here.

Like most things, there are experts that will make it a lot more complicated, but the basics of a good wet shave are just that, basic.  Each step is important though, and most can be seen in our video, even though we don’t highlight all of them.  Skimp on a step and you are much more likely to end up with that irritating sting we know as razor burn.

If you shaved before you read this, and are already dealing with razor burn, try to take a break from shaving to let your skin heal, and help it along with some of our tea tree lotion.  This is also suitable as an aftershave lotion if you find you need it from time to time.  When you are healed up, follow these basic steps to wet shave without razor burn.

1. Wet Start: You want to get the hairs good and moist.  You can do that with a shower, or by holding a warm, moist washcloth or towel over the area to be shaved for a few minutes.  This will make the hairs wet through and through and not as strong.  This will lead to less irritation.

2. Product matters: Use our shave brush, mug, and soap.  The unique blend of ingredients will give you a rich, creamy lather that will moisturize and lubricate the skin, lessening friction.  The brush gives you a tool to work that lather into your hairs and help lift them off of your skin, making them easier to shave with fewer passes.  Also, whatever your razor of choice is, don’t use the same blade for more than about 5 shaves, even if you are cheap extremely thrifty like I am.  They get dull and the performance rapidly deteriorates.  You’ll feel it.

3. Technique: As you shave, use SHORT strokes that go in the SAME direction your hairs grow, with SOFT pressure.  How much pressure is soft?  If you get razor burn, it probably wasn’t soft.  In the video, Emery uses strokes that are a bit longer than I recommend, but he does a good job following the direction of the hair growth.  Quick review: Short, Same, Soft… basic right?

4. Wet Middle: Rinse the razor frequently (every 2-3 strokes) using hot water to clean the razor, and warm the lubricants in the lather, making them more effective.  If there are any areas that need more touchup, use more lather.  Don’t keep going over those difficult areas without providing more lubricant.

5. Wet Finish: When you’re all done, rinse with cool water.  This will help close pores and minor incidents of self-abuse.  For major cuts, please seek the advice of a qualified medical professional.  Seriously.  Our video doesn’t show Emery doing any rinsing, but you would’ve been overcome by boredom if it had; you know what rinsing is.  It does, however, show him towel drying my face by patting it dry after he repeatedly rinsed me with a cool washcloth.

Did you notice that three of the five steps were about water?  See, wet shaving without razor burn really is pretty basic.  By following these steps you should be able to avoid razor burn and get a clean, classic, old-school shave.

How about you, do you wet shave?  What tips do you have for us?