If you want to get a close shave, grabbing the razor on the way out of bed is not the solution. First thing in the morning your skin is still a bit puffy from sleep. So give it 20-30 minutes for your skin to tighten back up to normal. You’ll get a closer shave because more of the hair follicle is exposed.

2. Prepare Your Skin

If you want a quick and guaranteed way to butcher your skin, just slap on some shaving cream on your dry, room temperature skin and take a razor to it. You will exfoliate your skin the wrong way, get more nicks, and oh yeah- it hurts like hell. Take a nice hot shower or wrap a hot moist towel around your face and neck for a few minutes before you shave. It softens the follicles, opens the pores, and give you a smoother surface to work with.

3. Moisture Matters

This one gets overlooked a lot. Your skin craves moisture, and I can almost guarantee you aren’t moisturizing enough. So, before you shave, take a few minutes and moisturize. Get in there and really let your skin soak it up. And don’t forget to moisturize after shaving. A great after-shave lotion should contain aloe vera.

4. EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!

You should be exfoliating anyway, just because it makes your skin look better. But, it also helps reduce redness, razor bumps, and ingrown hairs. It does this by eliminating dead skin cells and giving you a closer shave and a cleaner surface that won’t trap hairs or get irritated.

5. Slow Down the Growth

There are thankfully some really good shaving cream products out there that help to slow hair growth. One is Aveeno’s Positively Smooth Shave Gel. Another is Dollar Shave Club’s Dr. Carver’s Pillowy Shave Lather. Both work to slow hair growth and give a much smoother finish.
[amazonjs asin=”B00LO2PD3M” locale=”US” title=”Aveeno Positively Smooth Shave Gel – 7 oz”]

6. TECHNIQUE!

This is one that often gets overlooked. When it comes to the face, you might have seen the approach of all downstrokes on the face, and up strokes on the neck. The truth is, that isn’t going to give you the closest shave. You want to give your hair one to two passes (only one if your skin is sensitive) going with the “grain” or hair growth direction, and one that goes against it. Just gently rub your face and you will quickly be able to tell what direction that is.

7. All Shave and No Replacement Makes Jack a Dull Razor

It is a universal truth that the most dangerous blade, of any kind, is a dull one. You have to use more passes and more force to exert the same effort. It’s a losing game. So replace that blade every 2-3 times you shave. I know it gets more expensive, but if you want results and you don’t want to butcher yourself- it’s a necessary evil.

8. Choose Your Weapon

A good razor is core to a good shave. You want something that follows along your contours and glides easily on the skin. Many in the transgender community swear by the Gillette Sensor- which does work well. However I am also a fan of the “Venus” line of razors. I feel like they follow contours better.
[amazonjs asin=”B010D4X86K” locale=”US” title=”Gillette Sensor Excel Razor – Men – 100% New – With One Pre-loaded Cartridge”]
[amazonjs asin=”B001JQLNFA” locale=”US” title=”Gillette Venus Spa Women’s Razor, 1 Razor Handle and 2 Razor Blade Refills”]

Now that you are on hormones, everything switches. You probably already have stopped shaving your body but now you have to contend with your facial hair. Of course for trans men, like cis boys going through puberty, seeing that hair come in is exciting and a huge checkpoint in growing into manhood. That doesn’t mean you aren’t going to want to keep it looking good.

Perhaps want to keep it shaved down until it comes in less patchy. Or once it’s coming in fully, you might want to shave the neck and the edges to keep it neat looking. Of course that is IF that’s what you want. As we all know there are no real rules to transition and how you present. Shave half of it if you like. Live your life player.

While there are tricks and tips to shaving your body, there are also tricks to shaving your face and skin care for men. So here is Skin Care with Ross checking in with a great video on everything you need to know about face shaving.

He covers skin prep, technique and aftercare that you were tragically not introduced to.

Let us know in the comments about your experience shaving. What mistakes did you make?

*I want to make clear that I know it would be preferable to have a video from a trans man demonstrating shaving. However, there aren’t many very good options for that out there. Most I found were poor technique, or poor quality. And most videos were less about how to shave as they were about the experience of shaving for a trans man. If you have any suggestions on videos with trans men, I will be happy to post them. Let me know in the comments.

Checkout Ross’ YouTube channel or his blog.