The Art of the Perfect Shave

Beards are popular these days, but I love to shave.  Facial hair might make some young guys look mature, but a clean shave makes a grown man look younger.  It makes my face feel clean—I rarely go a day without shaving.  When done well, you can not only get a baby-smooth face, but also moisturize otherwise dry skin. I’ve almost always shaved using a brush and foaming shave-cream for the best shave. I’ve tried many of the bigger commercial brands of shave products out there, but recently I’ve found that using JustUs products gives me a Perfect Shave. 

 A good shave has five steps: cleaning your face, applying a pre-shave, applying a shave cream, shaving, and applying an after-shave. I add 3 more steps and get a Perfect Shave.  Here’s what I do, step-by-step:

1. Cleanse your face in the shower or over the sink. I use JustUs Supreme Clean cleansing balm for both this step and step 3!
2. Apply a few squirts of JustUs Smooth Glow oil spray to your hand and spread it smoothly over your beard. This not only hydrates your skin but also smooths it for a comfortable shave and helps prep the beard hairs for the razor.  I’ve found commercial pre-shave oils a little heavy, but Smooth Glow is nice and light.
3. Spread a thin layer of Supreme Clean over your stubbly face and neck.
4. Foam it up! I like to use a beaver hair brush.  They hold a lot of water and help exfoliate your skin while you’re at it.  (For my vegan friends, there are also brushes using synthetic fibers.)   You don’t need to spend a lot of money for an excellent brush.  Get the brush nice and wet with hot water.  Circle and swish to aerate the foaming cleanser into a nice even foam.  If you don’t have a brush, you can foam up Supreme Clean with wet fingers, but the brush works much better, and—bonus—you can use the foamed-up brush for the second shave…So set that brush aside all foamy and save it for step 6.
5. Shave the first time with the grain of your facial hair. This means moving up your neck, and down your face.  Shaving with the grain doesn’t give you the perfect close shave, but it helps reduce ingrown hairs and other irritations.  Rinse the blade every few strokes in cold water.
6. Re-foam your face with the already-foamy brush (or re-apply Supreme Clean and use your wet fingers to foam it up). This time, shave against the grain, meaning down your neck and up on your face.  Try not to shave off your sideburns :>)
7. After rinsing and drying, give your whole face (including the parts you didn’t shave—but close your eyes) a nice spray of JustUs Tighten and Glow. It’s a refining mist that feels and smells great!
8. Apply JustUs Meta as a final balm and hydrating day-cream, again to your whole face and neck.

Bam, you’re done, you’re groomed and your face feels great!  You look as fabulous as you can, and your skin has had breakfast and is hydrated—the Perfect JustUs Shave!  By the way, as an extra bonus, if you do miss a day to shave, when you’ve done the Perfect JustUs Shave, you will barely have a stubble on day two…