TraderJoe
03-02-2007, 01:52 AM
A post by David (Smedley) brought to light a very important concept of the wetshave, and probably one of the most important for me (besides angle, and other basics)
First thing in the A.M., our facial skin is swollen, so its best to allow your skin to "wake up" a little before shaving. But a good prep-job is of paramount importance to the perfect wetshave.
When you prep your beard, be it with a hot shower and/or a hot towel, you do this in order to make the whiskers (1) swell with water and (2) expose the whisker from the skin. This obviously allows for a more efficient and effective mow-down.
Why is this important and why am I bringing this up?
The fact that the whisker is swollen and exposed means that when you shave, its O.K. to have slight stubble immediately after shaving as the whiskers will retract back into your skin.. So it is completely un-necessary and actually deleterious to make the goal of your shave total elimination of the complete whisker.
After the shave, you'll most likely follow with cold water splash, maybe some witch hazel and/or a aftershave splash and/or balm - whatever it may be. This begins the process of the "retraction" of the whisker back into face. Depending on your skin type/beard growth/etc, the amount of time in which the "retraction" phase will last may vary. But you should find that within an hour at the most your skin is BBS.
First thing in the A.M., our facial skin is swollen, so its best to allow your skin to "wake up" a little before shaving. But a good prep-job is of paramount importance to the perfect wetshave.
When you prep your beard, be it with a hot shower and/or a hot towel, you do this in order to make the whiskers (1) swell with water and (2) expose the whisker from the skin. This obviously allows for a more efficient and effective mow-down.
Why is this important and why am I bringing this up?
The fact that the whisker is swollen and exposed means that when you shave, its O.K. to have slight stubble immediately after shaving as the whiskers will retract back into your skin.. So it is completely un-necessary and actually deleterious to make the goal of your shave total elimination of the complete whisker.
After the shave, you'll most likely follow with cold water splash, maybe some witch hazel and/or a aftershave splash and/or balm - whatever it may be. This begins the process of the "retraction" of the whisker back into face. Depending on your skin type/beard growth/etc, the amount of time in which the "retraction" phase will last may vary. But you should find that within an hour at the most your skin is BBS.