Men's Grooming: 5 Shaving Tips For Better Skin

We've officially reached 'peak beard', meaning that almost every man who could grow a lustrous chin full of ultra hip facial hair has probably attempted it in the last 12 months. However, along with the 'man bun' or top knot, we seem to have reached hair saturation, with bloggers everywhere exclaiming 'the beard is dead' it looks like this hairy trend is set to disappear as quickly as it started.

If you're a beard owner who's keen to return to baby faced glory, here's a quick guide to shaving that will help reduce the potential soreness, and ensure your skin is glowing. 

1. Make sure your beard is wet! 

Obviously you're not going to be dragging a dry razor over your stubble, but it's important to ensure that your face is truly saturated with water before you even begin to shave. Your hair absorbs a fair amount of water, and when it's wet the integrity is compromised. It becomes weaker and therefore much easier to cut meaning your shave is more effortless. 

2. Use a shaving brush

Often forgotten, this once permanent fixture in men's bathrooms is slowly making a comeback. A shaving brush means you can distribute your shaving cream evenly around your face, creating a rich foam as a base. It also helps exfoliate the skin, which means there's less risk of developing ingrowing hairs and bumpy skin when you're finished. As an added bonus, a good shaving brush just looks chic and harks back to the grooming days of yesteryear. Keeping one on your bathroom shelf guarantees you look like you know what you're doing, and that you take your face seriously. This shaving set from Czech and Speake features a stylish travel sized shaving brush, beautifully packaged with some shaving soap and a mini cologne that takes classic grooming and gives it a modern twist. 

3. Use a good shaving lotion

A good shaving lotion should create a barrier between the razor and the skin that will ensure the shave is as smooth as possible. Look out for natural ingredients that will nourish and smooth the skin and reduce any soreness that comes with shaving. Aloe vera is great as it has healing and cooling, along with Witch Hazel, which has astringent properties. This shaving lotion from Miller Harris has both and is scented with a rich woody fragrance, add a small amount of cream onto your palms and apply onto slightly wet skin in preparation for shaving.

4. Use the blade properly 

Throw out any razors you have lying around that are blunt and make sure your blades are sharp. Blunt blades just catch the hair and drag it out of our face, which is not a good look. Also shave in the direction the hair grows, not against the grain to make sure you don't get razor burn and rashes. 

5. Moisturise when you're finished

Shaving can strip your skin of vital moisture and leave feeling very vulnerable, so a good moisturiser is a MUST. Aroma Works have a great after shave balm enriched with high quality essential oils such as Eucalyptus, Cedarwood and Bergamot which delivers a cooling, calming effect. For even more nourishment for the skin, finish off your routine with a good day cream. We recommend this super hydrating anti ageing skin cream for men (also from Aroma Works) which will improve skin elasticity and make for smoother, younger looking skin. 

What are your best shaving tips? Let us know in the comments below.