Shaving Bowl in Purpleheart

Safety Razor and Shaving Brush Usage and Maintenance

Face stubble generally grows in a downwards direction, however, areas like the neck and chin can sometimes grow sideways, or even in spiral patterns. Before shaving, take a moment to understand the direction of your own hair growth patterns.

Apply a quality shaving oil, cream or soap. Shaving creams, oils or soaps play an important role in helping the razor glide across the skin, as well as helping to soften the stubble for a smoother shave. Having a good quality lather or a light shave oil means a more comfortable shave with less irritation and redness.

Safety Razor Instructions:

Hold the Razor horizontally against your skin initially and increase the angle till you feel the blade cutting the hair. This angle will increase as the blade wears. As their name implies, safety razors have a built-in safety mechanism to avoid accidental nicks and cuts. That is, the razor head protrudes out past the blade’s edge, preventing the blade from making direct contact with the skin.

When the razor is held at about a 30° angle to the skin, this protective bar is angled out of the way, exposing the blade to the stubble and allowing the razor to work effectively. Much of the learning curve when learning to use a safety razor is in getting used to keeping the razor at the correct angle while shaving.

Rather than long, sweeping strokes of the razor, it’s best to use short strokes of around 1-3cm in length. Doing so will help to prevent nicks and cuts, while also preventing tugging of the hairs and clogging of the razor.

Safety razor blades are very sharp, and don’t require effort or force on your part to easily slice through stubble. When using a safety razor, it’s important to let the weight of the razor do most of the work, and only using gentle pressure to keep the razor head against the skin.

Shaving against the grain, or against the direction of hair growth is one of the leading causes of irritation from shaving. Shaving with the direction of hair growth greatly reduces the chances of irritation while still providing a close shave.

After shaving with the direction of hair growth, some people like to complete a second pass for an even closer shave. This second pass should be across the direction of hair growth, and a fresh layer of lather should be applied.

After rinsing the face clean of shaving lather, pat dry with a towel. You can either finish here or apply our Bay Rum Cologne to soothe and moisturise the skin.

It may take a few shaves before you’re comfortable shaving with your safety razor, so be patient, and you’ll be rewarded with great shaves for years to come.

Safety Razor Maintenance:

One of the benefits of double edge safety razors is that there are two sides to the razor. That means you can use your razor in two separate ways. 1) Less frequent rinsing under the tap while shaving, as you can simply flip the razor over and continue with a fresh blade or 2) Use the same side consistently till it is blunt then start using the second side.

If you want your razor to last, you need to take care of it. The basic steps are:

• Rinse the razor after the shave with warm water and shake off any excess water.
• Place the razor used side down or on a shave stand  so water drops down and does not stay in the razor head.
• Keep on the counter, not in a cupboard, so the razor can “breathe.” 

Shaving Brush Instructions:

The first step to a great shave of course, is to make sure your skin is clean and moist via hot water. Clean skin means no infections, and hot, moist skin means softer dermis and open pores. From there, here’s what you need to do:

• Wet the shaving brush with warm water and shake off any excess water.
• Apply our Shave Oil or a little Shave Soap… you don’t need much.
• Lather the soap or, if using oil, apply it on your face using a circular motion with the brush. 
• Shave using a clean razor going with the grain. Finish by rinsing your face with warm water to remove excess oil or soap then cold water to close those pores and apply our Bay Rum Cologne liberally to heal and soothe.

Shaving Brush Maintenance:

If you want your brush to stay high quality and look good, you need to take care of it. The basic steps are:

• Rinse the brush after the shave with warm water and “flick” brush hairs to shake off any excess water.
• Place the brush face down (or hair down) on a shave stand (our brush includes one free) so water drops down and not into the brush.
• Keep on the counter, not in a cupboard, so the brush can “breathe.” 
• Don’t pull or tug the hair as that will weaken the hair knot and the brush will shed more. Remember, brushes do shed a bit early on.