Tips on Shaving Hi Guys, From an M2F who needs 400 more hours of zaps to clear her face and who still has to scrape her face daily, comes these shaving tips: 1. Moisture and a relaxed body are the best preventitives for 'self-inflicted wounds'. A. Sharper Image, and now other outlets, offers an in-shower mirror that works by being installed between the shower arm and the shower head. The mirror has a turncock that diverts a trickle of warm water to circulate behind the mirror surface that prevents the mirror from fogging. The mirror has a handy little gadget that lets you hang your razor right on the mirror's frame. BOTTOM LINE: Shaving in the shower assures maximum moisturizing. 1. This mirror works wonderfully with a detachable hand-held shower-massage: by hanging a wire shower accessory rack on the side wall of your shower enclosure you can detach the shower head and hang it from the wire rack so the stream of water is at your side: this keeps the shower spray from washing the shaving cream off the face while you face the in-shower shaving mirror, and it lets you use the shower spray to clear the razor head following each whisker-accumulating pass of the razor over the face. a. Shower first, making sure you exfoliate and cleanse the face. This also makes sure your whiskers are softened for smoother cutting. b. Before showering, lay the can of shaving cream at the tub drain with the dispensing nozzle closest to the drain: the warm water cascading about it warms the shaving cream before you dispense it: the more warmth the better, because it relaxes the facial muscles, helps open the pores and follicles, and it softens the whiskers for smooth cutting by the razor blade c. The side benefit of shaving in the shower is not having to clean up the sink as is necessary when shaving at the sink AFTER a shower: Using the detachable shower head to rinse the shower enclosure is really neat! If you can't find the in-shower mirror that affixes between the shower head and the nozzle, there's an antifog coated mirror (I use it when travelling!) with suction cups behind it that make it stick to the shower tile. I found this alternative mirror at a deluxe kitchen appliance store in the local mall! Also, determine the "grain" of your whiskers: the direction in which they grow. It's usually best to shave against the grain because shaving with the grain cuts the whisker ends in long diagonal cross-sections that help the shadow bloom more quickly after shaving. Use short strokes, especially about the chin and upper lip, and frequently clear the razor head beneath an energetic stream of RUNNING water: shaking the razor head in standing water fails to remove the buildup of whiskers about the blade and increases the risk of slicing flesh. If cuts happen forget toilet paper: it's comical and removing it, even after soaking it with COLD (not with hot) water often reopens the wound. Cold water contracts the blood vessels at the wound site; hot water expands them and encourages the wound to bleeed. Buy a styptic pencil from the shaving section of the store. Moisten the tip of the pencil and, after dabbing the blood from the cut, dab the pencil on the wound (watch out: for a few, brief moments it stings like hell!). Before storing the pencil, rinse the bloodied tip clean under some running water; store the pencil where it will dry thoroughly and where it will stay dry. Water dissolves styptic pencils with supreme ease, so be ginger in applying water to them. Electric razors: some guys claim these work for them, but the dry sawing or grabbing action of buzzing blades always irritated my face, leaving it raw and red. I'd always found that there's nothing like a warm, wet shave for closeness and sheer comfort. Finally, be gentle. Power strokes are for starting lawn mowers, not for your one and only smiling face. Excessively pressing the razor to the skin guarantees chronic, multiple wounds. Being gentle also means taking your time when you're shaving: rushing causes the facial muscles to tense, presenting a resistant, unwilling cutting surface that slices a lot easier than a relaxed face. Once in while treat yourself to barber shave. You'll be amazed at how terrific this feels! The hot towels plopped over the face to mositurize and relax the skin are heavenly, the barber's straight (!) razor and deft strokes are impressive, the astringents applied following the shave really sting you into a new awareness. Some barbers still have those electric massagers that fit onto their hand: they go all over your scalp and neck and the sensation during and after the massage is indescribably therapeutic! Even Yankees whistle "Dixie" after this treatment! Hope this might have saved someone a few bucks on a shaving video, but I'd be interested to see the video just so I could pretend at the roles of Siskel &Ebert.
	Jordynne Lobo
	[home] - [info.] - [links] - [list] - [e-mail] Arctic Fox DesignEmail: webmaster@ftminfo.net