Step 3 - Finishing With The Cryo'd Schick Xtreme3 Razor

In my last post I took you through the process of shaving your head with The Total Shaving Solution and Panasonic Linear shaver, which will remove about 99% of the stubble on your head. In many circumstances 99% is plenty good enough, but for those times that you want 100% smoothness you'll want to use a Cryogenically Treated Schick Xtreme3 disposable razor to remove that last 1%.

The Cryo'd Schick Xtreme3 disposable razor is my choice as the ultimate head shaving finishing tool. It is really perfectly designed for that particular task, even though I'm sure that wasn't Schick's intention when they developed it. For more details about why I like it please see my earlier post THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB.

To finish off your shave with the Cryo'd Xtreme3 start by once again wetting your head and massaging in a bit more of The Total Shaving Solution, about 2 or 3 drops is really all you'll need. Like before make sure you get good coverage all over your head, being careful to not miss any spots.

You'll be shaving ONLY against the grain now. Wet your Xtreme3 and start shaving the top of your head from the front and center of your forehead back. Do the top right half first, then do the right side, starting just above the sideburn area, by shaving up against the grain. With each successive pass you'll be moving gradually toward the rear of your head. Once the right side is done you can then start on the right backside, again shaving against the grain from the base of the neck up and all the while feeling for stubble with your free hand.

Within a very short time you'll have the entire right half of your head done. Rinse out your blade and do the same to the left side, again starting with the top from the front to the rear, moving left as you go. Then do the left side same as you did the right, then the back left, and you're finished! Piece of cake. Lightly rinse off your head and again feel with your fingertips for any remaining stubble that might have eluded you, if you find any shave it off by once again shaving against the grain.

At this point your head will be as ridiculously soft and smooth as the proverbial baby's butt - and without a trace of stubble remaining. You're now ready for your date, your job interview, dinner at Mom's, or just another day with the most super smooth, clean shaven head imaginable!

And now my friends a few words about aftershave products. Aftershave is a perfect example of a product that is made to be sold rather than made to be used. Don't waste your money, you don't need it. In fact I'll take it one step further and state unequivocably for the record that not only are aftershave products unnecessary but most of them are truly crap. More often than not the ingredients consist mostly of synthetic chemical additives, dyes and some form of alcohol.

Be particularly suspicious of any company that makes a shaving lubricant and then tries to also sell you an aftershave. If their shaving lube was any good it wouldn't be necessary for you to use an aftershave, and they wouldn't be in a position to sell you a product you shouldn't need in the first place.

All you really need to use is The Total Shaving Solution. After shaving with The Total Shaving Solution your skin will feel terrific, not dried out, itchy or irritated like it will with foams, gels and shaving creams. At most the only post-shave step you might want to take is to massage an additional drop or two and some water into your skin. And that's only if you're shaving under some particularly harsh conditions, for most people when you're done shaving with The Total Shaving Solution you're simply done, PERIOD.


Step 4 - Cleaning Up

So now that you're done shaving and your head is as soft and smooth as it can possibly be you might think that you're all finished. Almost but not quite Ace, there's one more step - and it's an important one. That's right, it's cleanup time! Like my dad taught me when I was a kid, the job's not finished until you clean up your work area. But not to worry, this can be done quickly and easily right there in the shower before you dry off.

The first thing you need to do is clean your Panasonic Linear shaver and Cryo'd Schick Xtreme3 razor of any shaving slag that has no doubt built up during your shave. For both hygenic and performance reasons you're going to definitely want to start with clean blades the next time you shave, so don't be lazy and blow this off. A dirty shaver and razor can be a breeding ground for bacteria and they also won't shave very well when clogged up with slag from your last shave.

Depending on the model Panasonic shaver you own you may have one or two choices when cleaning your shaver. If you have an ES8077S Vortex that model comes with a cleaning and charging stand, so all you have to do is pop it into the stand and run the clean function. But if you just shaved off 2 or 3 days worth of growth it wouldn't be a bad idea to first flush it out a bit under running water.

Your other option is to clean the shaver without the cleaning stand by using what Panasonic calls "turbo mode." Wet the shaver and then apply some liquid soap to the foil. (Personally I like to use Dawn dishwashing liquid, I fill an empty Total Shaving Solution bottle with it and keep it in the shower.) Then hold the on/off button for 2 seconds to activate turbo mode and the blades will move at an astounding 17,000 RPM for about 20 seconds, sudsing up the soap and cleaning the foil and blades. You can hear the difference in pitch when the motor changes speed, for you musical types it goes up a perfect 4th.

After 20 seconds the shaver will automatically stop. Pop off the outer foil and rinse it out, then flush out the exposed blades as well. You can run the shaver in turbo mode again when you do that if you feel it's necessary but that's optional. Put the foil back on and your shaver is clean and ready for your next shave.

If you own an ES8043SC your shaver didn't come with the cleaning and charging stand so your only cleaning option is to run turbo mode.

For your Cryo'd Schick Xtreme3 razor simply rinse it out under the shower. If you don't have the greatest water pressure it's helpful to take an old toothbrush, which you can conveniently store in your Handy Cup, and use it to brush out the shaving slag from the blades under the running water. Again this takes very little time to do and is important to properly maintain the hygiene, edge and sharpness of your razor.

Now that your shaver and razor are clean you're also going to want to wipe down the shower area while the water is still running. I keep a scrub brush in the shower for just that purpose, it's got an open ended handle on it so rather than bend down and do it by hand I just slip my foot into it and do a quick pass over the floor before I shut off the water. Really easy, keeps the shower clean and just as importantly keeps you from getting into trouble with whoever else in your abode uses the shower.

There's more to come, so to be kept up-to-date on future posts to this or any other category on the Definitive Guide To Shaving blog please subscribe to our RSS feed.