How to Shave Your Face

Learn how to properly shave your face with clear steps on prep, lubrication, razor choice, technique, and post‑shave care.

Source: Pexels

It seems that most of us learn to shave our faces by watching the men in our households; for me it was my father and older brother. At 13 I felt ready to try it myself, and it worked well enough.

Since then, changes in the market and to my skin condition have caused me to sample a plethora of shaving products. It also helps that my barber has always been there to offer his expert guidance.

Whether you’re a practiced shaver encountering irritation for the first time, a young man eager to get his first shave right, or a veteran checking that he’s still up to date before advising a novice, this post consolidates that guidance and experience in order that you can enjoy the perfect shave while avoiding trial and error.

How to Shave Step-by-Step

When to Shave: Morning or Evening? This post looks at how to execute each step depending on your preferences, routine, and skin type.

1. Wet Your Beard

The purpose of saturating the beard is to soften the whiskers and provide an absorbent surface for your shaving lubricant. It’s best done with your hands rather than a washcloth or shaving brush.

If you’re wondering about temperature, most guides agree the water should be warm. But cold offers some advantages, as I discuss in this post.

You don’t need to wash your face before shaving. In fact, keeping the skin’s natural barrier intact helps prevent irritations.

2. Apply Lubricant

Massage one of the following into your wet beard:

Shaving Oil

For men with dry, sensitive, or acne-prone skin, shaving oil can act as a barrier between the skin and a soap-based lubricant. As such, it’s referred to as “pre-shave oil.”

If you’re using a multi-blade cartridge razor, oil suffices as a stand-alone lubricant. Because it’s transparent, it allows you to see what you’re doing, which is ideal for body and head shaving.

Leaving you more prone to cuts and nicks, it doesn’t work as a stand-alone with a safety razor.

There’s no need for a product labeled “shaving oil” or “pre-shave oil.” The sunflower oil on your kitchen shelf provides a good consistency while being non-comedogenic.

Brushless Lubricants

Back in the 1930s when brushless lubricants first became available, they were thick and pasty enough to give safety razors the necessary grip to prevent cutting the skin. The gels and foams of today are much lighter and do little more than keep the whiskers moist, making them suitable primarily for multi-blade cartridges.

But they do remain fast and convenient: simply squirt from the can and distribute over your wet beard using your fingers.

Creams, Soaps, and Brushes

My first shave had to be with a brush. It was non-negotiable, even if it was my father’s.

I’ve dedicated an entire post to the shaving brush, but here’s a shortened explanation.

A brush picks up soap or cream and works it up into a thick lather. Providing a dense layer between the skin and the blade, it’s beneficial if you’re using a straight or safety razor.

If your shaving soap is part of a mug set, it will be puck-shaped. To use, swirl a wet brush over its surface to build a lather, then work it into your beard in circular motions. I always start at the neck. If applying to the mustache area, squeeze your lips together.

If using a shaving stick, swipe it directly to your wet face and neck before whipping it up with a wet brush. Shaving cream, available in tubes or tubs, is applied in the same way.

In the below photo, I’ve formed a lather in my shaving bowl before applying to my face—this is another possibility with either soap or cream.

3. Shave Your Face

A Cartridge or Safety Razor?

Use a multi-blade cartridge razor when applying shaving oil as a stand-alone product or if you don’t have a shaving brush.

The first blade of a cartridge lifts the whiskers, allowing the others to cut below the skin’s surface. This gives a closer shave in fewer passes and allows for less stretching—more on that in a moment.

Use a safety razor in conjunction with a shaving brush. This cuts at the skin’s surface, giving a gentler shave.

Blade

Before you begin to shave, make sure the blade is new; as a rule of thumb, replace after every three or four uses. You’ll notice that a dull blade tugs and can be painful.

For most men, blade angle is intuitive, but at 30–45° you’ll feel it engage the hair without scraping the skin.

Keep your blade wet throughout the shave. Dry blades result in razor burn.

Shaving Order

Always shave according to the order of beard coarseness. Start at the neck where the whiskers are softest, followed by the cheeks and sideburns, then the upper lip, and finally the chin. This gives the hairs you shave last more time to soften.

Passes and Direction

Depending on how tough your beard is, you may want to shave in more than one pass. The first should be in the direction of growth (with the grain) to prevent irritations and ingrown hairs. The second can be across the grain, especially at the cheeks and chin. If a third is necessary, go against the grain.

Pressure

Any pressure required for shaving is provided by the weight of the handle. Adding more pressure causes irritation.

Stretching

Stretching the face for a closer shave results in even a safety razor cutting below the skin’s surface, which can lead to ingrown hairs. For a smoother chin and upper lip, contorting works better than stretching.

The Adam’s Apple

If you have a prominent Adam’s apple, swallow hard to push it aside.

Source: The Neat and Tidy Man

4. Rinse Your Face

Rinse your face at best with cold water. While doing so, feel for missed whiskers. These you can remove with a wet razor; there’s no need to add more lubricant.

5. Cleanse

To remove shaving debris thoroughly, either take a shower or use a cleansing product like micellar water. Applied with a cotton pad, this absorbs impurities found in dirt, sweat, and cosmetics.

Follow up with an alcohol-free balm, moisturizer, or your usual skin treatment.

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I was lucky to grow up in a household where shaving gear was as plentiful as the men who didn’t mind me studying them while they used it. If that’s not the case for you, I hope this post has helped.

© 2026 J. Richardson