How to Use a Shaving Brush
If you are new to wet-shaving, you may need to learn how to use a shaving brush. Fortunately, it’s not very difficult. Here are the basic steps to using your brush. First, make sure you wet it thoroughly by soaking it in warm water for several minutes. Simply rinsing the brush under the sink is insufficient to adequately wet it; soaking is best. Next, Shake off the excess water. Now you are ready to move on to the next step, applying product to the bristles.
How to Use Shaving Cream
Once your shaving brush has been adequately moistened, press the tips of the shaving brush into your tub of shaving cream. Use a gentle swirling motion to cover the tips of your bristles with product. With time, you will get a feel for exactly the amount of cream that works best for you. You can build your lather directly on your face with a massaging motion, or you can use a mug to blend cream and water into a consistency that resembles the soft peaks on top of a lemon meringue pie. For the best results, avoid cheap mens shaving cream from a can and choose one of the best shaving creams you can find in the market, like D.H. Harris & Co, instead. Alternatively, you may use shaving soap instead of cream.
How to Use Mug Shaving Soap
Using shaving soap is similar to using shaving cream in the sense that your shaving brush needs to be properly hydrated first by soaking it in hot water for a few minutes. The next step is applying shaving soap from the mug to the tips of the bristles in much the same way as you would apply the shaving cream. If you need to know how to use shaving soap, there are actually many good videos available online that can give you a visual demonstration of how to do it. Many men recommend swirling the tips of the brush along the top of the mug shaving soap anywhere from 15-60 times and adding a small amount of water if the lather is too thick. Apply the shaving soap lather to the face in a massaging motion at first, then in a painting motion until your face is lathered to your liking. Once you have achieved the desired consistency and applied the lather to your face, you may commence the process of wet-shaving.
Image credits: Saturday Shave by mecredis on flickr.
