How to Wet Shave: A Beginner's Guide to a Closer, Smoother Shave

Wet shaving is the old-school way, and it's still the one that gets a blade properly close without shredding your skin. The traditional shave, done right, is about the best shave a man can get without sitting in a barber's chair. Warm water to soften the hair. A good lather over the top. Then a sharp razor, taken slow. That's it, more or less. What follows is how to wet shave from scratch. The kit worth buying. The prep nobody bothers with. And the blade technique that keeps your face from flaring up after. Get it right and no cartridge comes close. Get it wrong? You'll feel it by morning.

Why bother with a wet shave?

Cartridge razors drag. Four, five blades all yanking at the same hair before one of them finally cuts it. That's the tugging that leaves you red and blotchy. Swap it for a single sharp blade on a face that's been prepped properly and the whole thing changes. Cleaner cut. Sits lower. Way less for your skin to throw a strop about.

There's a slower side to it as well. Wet shaving isn't meant to be quick. Three, four minutes at the sink rather than a ninety-second scrape. Sounds daft, but that's the bit a lot of blokes end up looking forward to. Longer-lasting too. The closer the cut, the more time before the stubble's back nagging at you.

What you'll need

Less than you'd guess, to be fair. Strip a wet shave right back and it's four things. Prep for the skin. A cream. A brush. A blade. Sort those and you've got a traditional shaving set that does the job. Everything past that is just nice-to-have.

• Pre-Shave Oil, so the bristle softens and the blade's got something to slide on. Doesn't leave you greasy either, which is the thing people fret about.
• A shaving cream that lathers thick. The Classic Shaving Cream froths up in seconds. Sensitive skin? The Deluxe gives you a bit more cushion.
• A brush for building the lather and getting it on the face. The Doubloon Synthetic Brush costs next to nothing and holds a load of cream.
• A blade. Safety razor for most people starting out. Or, if you fancy it, a cut-throat, which gets you the closest shave there is once you've had the practice.
• An Aftershave Balm to bring everything back down after.

The shaving bowl and the alum block are nice to have, not need-to-haves. More on those in a sec.

Prep: the part most men skip

Skip prep and you've lost before you've started. Hair only softens with heat and water. Leave it dry and the bristle's like wire, and that wire is what tears your skin up the second the blade lands.

Straight after a hot shower is ideal. Steam's done half the job already. Can't shower? Soak a flannel, hot as you can stand, wring it out, hold it over your face a minute or two. Then a few drops of pre-shave oil rubbed in. Just a sheen, nothing more. That's what gets the blade gliding instead of scraping.

Brush user? Drop it under the hot tap while you're at it so the bristles go soft too.

Building the lather

Foam out of a can is not lather. Sorry. Real lather is warmer, thicker, and it's carrying the water your skin actually wants while you're dragging metal across it.

Two options. Bowl, or straight on the face. Go the shaving bowl way and you get more control plus a warmer lather, especially after a rinse of hot water. Blob of cream on a damp brush, about a ten pence coin's worth. Swirl it. Keep swirling till it firms up into a glossy peak. Thin and bubbly means too much water, so feed in more cream. Stiff and claggy? Splash of water, back to swirling.

You want it like soft whipped cream. Load it on against the grain so the whiskers stand up off the skin.

The shave itself

Slow down here. It pays. The angle's the thing that matters most, more than any of the gear. Roughly thirty degrees to the skin. Tip it steeper and you'll dig in. Too flat and you're just skating over stubble.

With the grain on the first pass. Not against it, not yet. Have a feel of your stubble first to see which way it's lying, because it never all lies one way. Short strokes. Next to no pressure. The razor's weight is doing the work, so let it and just steer. Rinse the blade off every few strokes or it clogs.

Other hand keeps the skin pulled tight. Neck and jaw are where people nick themselves, every time, so crawl through those bits and follow the shape rather than fighting it.

Want it closer still? Re-lather, second pass, this time across the grain. Across. Not against. Against-the-grain is how ingrown hairs and razor burn start, so leave it well alone till your face is second nature.

After the shave

Finish on cold water. Shuts the pores, clears the last of the cream off. Then pat dry. No rubbing. Rub a fresh-shaved face and the redness comes straight back up.

Bled a bit? Alum block, old barber standby. Wet it, hold it on the nick a few seconds. Quick sting, then it seals and disinfects in one. After that, an aftershave balm. Ours runs on witch hazel and aloe vera to pull the heat out and top the moisture back up. Dab the size of a pea. Plenty.

The wet shave routine at a glance

Step	What to do	What helps
Prep	Hot shower or hot towel, then a few drops of pre-shave oil	Pre-Shave Oil
Lather	Load a damp brush, build a glossy lather in a bowl or on the face	Shaving Cream, Doubloon Brush, Bowl
First pass	Shave with the grain, blade at roughly 30 degrees, light pressure	Cut-throat or safety razor
Second pass	Re-lather and shave across the grain for a closer finish	Shaving Cream
Finish	Cold rinse, pat dry, then soothe the skin	Aftershave Balm, Alum Block

Where it tends to go wrong

Same few bad habits behind nearly every rough shave. Going too quick. Bearing down too hard. Ducking the prep because you slept through the alarm. Sort that lot before you start buying flashier kit.

And then there's the blade nobody changes. Five, six, seven shaves out of a safety razor blade and it's had it. Starts tugging. Chuck it, drop a new one in. Blades are pennies. Your face isn't.

A few common questions

Is wet shaving better than an electric razor?▼

For a close shave, it's not really a contest. Blade takes the hair off flush with the skin. Electric leaves it sitting a touch proud, so it never quite matches up. Electric's faster, no argument. Wet shaving just feels better and looks better once you're done.

How often should you wet shave?▼

Every day's fine if your skin's up to it and you're prepping properly. Sore? Ease off to every other day and let it settle in between. Tougher skin usually wants that rest day.

Should you shave with or against the grain?▼

With it first. Get the bulk off, re-lather, then across the grain if you're chasing closer. Against the grain's one for later, when you've got your own face sussed, because it's the fast lane to ingrown hairs.

Why is my skin still irritated after a wet shave?▼

Comes down to three usual suspects. Prep you rushed, a hand that pressed too hard, or a blade way past its best. Blunt blades tug rather than cut, and tugging's what leaves you sore. Check those before you go blaming your skin.

Do you actually need a shaving brush?▼

Need? No. Want? Yeah. It lifts the hairs, builds a fuller lather, spreads it even. Your fingers can't do any of that. Least you'll spend, most you'll notice.

Can a beginner use a cut-throat razor?▼

You can. Just go careful. Closest, most controlled shave there is once it clicks, but the learning curve's no joke next to a safety razor. Plenty of folk start on a safety razor and work up to it.

What does pre-shave oil actually do?▼

Softens the bristle, drops a slick layer between blade and skin. Sensitive skin feels it instantly. Less drag, fewer nicks, less of that burn afterwards.

How do you stop a shaving nick from bleeding?▼

Alum block. Wet it, press it to the cut a few seconds, it closes the skin and disinfects while it's there. A cold rinse first takes the edge off the bleeding.