Shaving your face can be difficult, especially for sensitive skins.
As a proud owner of dry, dehydration-prone skin, I treat shaving like an unpleasant necessity. My first derm visit was because of intense irritation I used to get after shaving. I used to use „normal”aftershave cosmetics, obviously labeled „for men”. I wish it had been better explained to me how to properly shave my face, take care of my skin and prevent irritation. Instead, I was given samples of Cetaphil lotion, and I struggled with irritation for years to come. I feel that the stigmatisation of men caring for their skin absolutely is to blame for this – soothing, barrier-caring cosmetics usually stand on other shelves, not those that feature aftershaves. Those who want to use those cosmetics that the marketers sell to men are doomed to eternally smell like irritating menthol and feel an uncomfortable lack of hydration. So, if you know any people who want to step up their shaving game – send them this post.
Part one – skin prep.
Preparing the face for shaving is notoriously overlooked and not nearly enough time is spent doing it. If we do not prepare the skin adequately – we can expect irritation and an increased chance of developing ingrowns. How to do it then?
Step 1 – cleanse
The skin and beard should be freshly washed. For cleansing, I would use something slightly foaming so that we can massage the product into the beard properly – non-foaming lotion cleansers often have a hard time going deeper into the beard. Then, after washing it off, the skin should not squeak, and there shouldn’t be any feeling of skin tightness present. My favorite products for this step are: Kate Somerville Goat Milk, Pacifica Wake Up Beautiful, DM Balea Med (linked in favorites).
Step 2 – optional – exfoliate
This step is most important for those prone to ingrown hairs. A gentle exfoliation before shaving can reduce their occurrence, but be careful not to overly irritate the face. We only want to perform a very superficial exfoliation, “unclogging” any hair follicles that could turn into ingrowns, and we don’t want to burn our face off, so very sensitive skins can totally skip it. I do not recommend leave-on products, so that there are no acids, enzymes or physically exfoliating particles on our skin at the time of shaving. Low-potency wash-off products – masks, powders or even cleansers with gentle exfoliators – are best. If we choose a product that exfoliates physically (by rubbing and polishing the skin), we should massage the skin as gently and briefly as possible. For me, the ideal product for this purpose turned out to be the Dermalogica Milkfoliant exfoliating powder – it is a super gentle, effective physical exfoliant with enzymes and soothing ingredients. You can also wash your face with the Cerave SA gel, leaving it on your face for 30 seconds up to a minute as a flash mask.
Step 3 – hot towel.
This is a step you may have seen at barber shops. Place a clean, hot, damp face towel on the face and wait a while. This „relaxes” the hair follicles and helps them “let go” of the hair which in the end makes shaving much easier. If you have a tendency to flush on contact with heat – you can skip this step or put the towel only on the shaved area.
Part two – shaving.
Step 1 – protect the rest of the face.
Another overlooked step – to protect the rest of the face from drying out. After all, when shaving the lower half of the face, the upper half can experience moisture loss. Simply apply a thin layer of the cream you use after shaving.
Step 2 – apply products that provide slip.
This step doesn’t need much description. The only advice I have here is to apply shaving foams/gels/creams/soaps to damp skin. If the skin has had time to dry – use a mist or even some water to make it damp again. My favorites – from drugstore products – the Seinz gel for sensitive skin I get from DM, and at a little higher price point – pre-shave cream and shaving soap from Proraso – review & how-to-use here.
Step 3 – shave.
For shaving, I use both a traditional razor (the more blades the better, my favorite is the Gilette Fusion5 ProShield) and the Philips OneBlade 360. I don’t change any other steps depending on the type of razor I use, as I also use products that provide slip with the OneBlade (in its case, the shaving products make it catch the hair better). OneBlade is a better choice for people with sensitive skin, especially if you don’t need a very close shave.
Advice that I see repeated everywhere is to shave only with the grain/direction of hair growth (that usually means from top to bottom). This actually helps reduce skin irritation, but if I did it that way, I would never shave – my facial hair likes to lay flat on my skin, and the razor just glides over it. This makes me shave against the grain, but I apply VERY little pressure to the razor (the lighter you press, the easier it is to shave, it may sound paradoxical, but I recommend trying it), rinse the razor head after every time I move it away from the skin, and try to swipe them over each area of skin as few times as possible.
Step 4 – take off the residue.
You can rinse it off with cold water, but (and it’s my preferred method) you can also put the damp towel you used a moment ago to your face and use a patting motion (not rubbing) to pick up any remaining product from the skin.
Part three – after shaving.
Here our goal is to regenerate the skin as quickly as possible. If you have an at-home LED therapy mask with red/infrared light – do a session before applying products. The mask definitely helped me to reduce the problem of irritation and strengthen my skin in the long term.
All sorts of soothing wash-off masks are a good idea after shaving – my favorites include: Dermalogica Power Recovery Masque, Bielenda Microbiome rescue mask and La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ applied as a mask (a how-to Reel is here).
In terms of strictly aftershave products – personally, I haven’t found a ’for men’ product that could moisturise my dry face on its own, even on no-shave days, let alone a freshly shaved and sensitized one. I suggest directing your attention to the regular skin care shelf and searching for things with moisturizing, soothing, barrier-supporting properties – with ceramides, lipids, emollients, even calming plant extracts like Centella Asiatica or colloidal oatmeal. My favorite products are in my faves – soothing and barrier repair sections.
Don’t forget about sun protection! If you leave the house after shaving, you should not do so without a sunscreen with a protection factor of at least SPF30 (SPF50 is always best), applied in an adequate amount. After shaving I found the EVY technology Daily Face Mousse to be unbeatable (apply a golf ball of foam to your face). You can find a post about sunscreen application here.
If you have a tendency to get ingrown hairs, introduce some salicylic acid into your daily routine. Even low percentage products can really make a difference here. Just be sure to leave a 24 hour break between applying it and shaving, and vice versa.
That’s it! If you have any questions – don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section!
