How To Shave Your Face: Top Tips For Men

Lea Liu
2025-12-22T10:56:14+08:00

Learn how to shave your face, men. Our expert guide covers wet and dry shaving, prep tips, and tools for a smooth, irritation-free finish.

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Shaving is one of those care routines that seems incredibly simple. You glide the razor across your skin, and hair gets removed. And while that’s technically true, there are a lot of other things to keep in mind to achieve the best results possible.

From prep work to finishing touches, there’s more to the ritual than the actual shave. Below, we’re teaching men how to shave your face in the most effective way, whether you opt for a classic wet shave or a dry shave with an electric razor.

How To Wet Shave Your Face: The Prep Work

Preparation sets the tone for a great shave. Skipping these steps makes the actual shave harder, so it’s well worth it to take the extra time to get your skin ready.

Step 1: Wash Your Face

Don’t pull out your shaving tools immediately. Wash your face with a cleanser first to ensure you’re working with a clean slate—this step removes dirt, oil, and dead skin that may hinder the effectiveness of your razor.

Pro tip: Stick to gentle cleansers; harsh scrubs and exfoliators can irritate the skin. If you really want to buff your skin and leave it as smooth as possible before your shave, you can exfoliate the night before.

Step 2: Hydrate With Water

Allow your skin to stay a little bit moist after cleansing instead of fully drying it. Skin and hair are softer when they’re wet, which makes the razor’s job easier. This minimizes the risk of nicks, cuts, and general irritation.

Step 3: Apply Shaving Product

Now that your skin is clean, you can begin to apply your shaving product of choice (cream, gel, foam, mousse, etc). Lather it up, and spread it over all the areas you want to shave. You won’t want to skip this step if you’re wet shaving, as shaving cream keeps the skin hydrated, allows for an easier razor glide, and prevents irritation.

Step 4: Check Your Razor

Ensure your razor is in good shape before you start shaving. It’s best not to shave with dull, rusty blades, so look for signs of wear and discoloration. You can also choose to do this step first—just make sure you’re doing it at some point before you actually take blade to skin.

The Shave

This part is quite straightforward: you glide the razor across your skin until all the desired hair is removed. However, there are certain techniques and strategies you can implement to make the process easier.

Keep your strokes short and soft. Trust that your razor is doing the heavy lifting. You really don’t have to press hard when your blades are sharp enough.

Rinse your blade throughout the shave. Don’t let shaving product or hairs build up between the blades. You’ll want to rinse often and thoroughly.

Shave along the grain(s). This means shaving in the direction that your hair grows, as it will come off more easily. However, it’s important to note that hair can grow in different directions, so you might need to shave accordingly.

Avoid shaving the same area multiple times. It’s fine to go over a spot that you initially missed, but there’s no need to shave over the same area once the hair has been removed. Excess shaving can cause irritation.

Use special tools if necessary. Whether you’re trying to create a specific beard or moustache style or you simply have hair that grows in hard to reach places, you may need more than just a regular razor. Tools like precision trimmers will help you out.

The Finishing Touches

You’re still not quite done after all the hair is gone. The finishing touches make all the difference.

Step 1: Rinse Off

Splash your face with some water to make sure all the shaving product is gone, and any loose hairs are washed away.

Step 2: Moisturize

Keep your skin healthy and hydrated with some moisturizer or aftershave lotion. Simply massage a coin-sized amount into your skin until it’s well-absorbed.

Step 3: Clean Up

Shaving can be a messy act, so be sure to tidy up your sink area before heading into your day.

How To Dry Shave Your Face: The Prep Work

Prefer the convenience of an electric shaver? Here’s how to dry shave your face instead.

Step 1: Ensure Your Skin Is Dry

As the name suggests, dry shaving works best when skin is dry. You can still wash your face to remove impurities before your shave, but make sure you thoroughly dry it before getting your shaver out.

Step 2: Apply Electric Pre-Shave Lotion

Having dry skin is important, but this product adds just the right amount of lubrication so the shave can be smoother. It absorbs moisture and helps hairs stand up straighter.

Step 3: Check Your Shaver

Make sure your shaver is charged, clean, and ready to go.

The Shave

Just like with a manual razor, all you have to do is glide the razor against your skin until you achieve your desired results. However, the technique is different, which might take some getting used to.

Use short, gentle strokes. Like with manual razors, you don’t need to apply too much pressure.

Shave against the grain. Due to the different structure and position of razorblades, you’ll want to go against the direction your hair naturally grows for best results.

Hold the razor at a 90 degree angle. This will help you achieve a closer shave, however it does depend on the shape of the shaver; with a contemporary square shape, like the Laifen P3, the angle won’t matter.

Stretch the skin for a closer shave. If you’re looking for a close shave rather than a beard trim, use your free hand to stretch your skin out so that the shaver can get as close to the hair follicle as possible.

Flip the shaver as needed. You might find it helpful to flip the shaver upside down in certain places, like the narrow space right underneath the nose. Again, this depends on the shape of the shaver.

The Finishing Touches

Follow the same steps as with a dry shave: rinse your face off, moisturize, and clean up.

Final Words: How To Shave Your Face (For Men)

From the initial prep to the post-shave moisturization, every step and tool in the shaving ritual is important. Make sure you’re getting the best shave possible by following all the tips we’ve shared above!