Now that you've chosen the right tools for the job you're just about ready to start shaving. All that's left is to decide where you're going to do it - in the shower or in front of the bathroom sink. As I stated in my last post I HIGHLY recommend doing your head shaving in the shower whenever possible. Unlike gels and foams The Total Shaving Solution is ideally suited for the steamy environment of the shower, plus as an added bonus you don't have to worry about making a mess. If you can't or won't shave your head in the shower it's not a deal-breaker, you can still use the same tools, minus the Fog Free Mirror & Handy Cup which obviously wouldn't be necessary, but be advised your shave will be messier and may possibly take longer to achieve optimum results.

I'll cover both scenarios, shaving your head in the shower or in front of the bathroom sink. I'm already assuming that you've got your hair trimmed down to a very low stubble, ideally one or two days growth and at most you shouldn't let it grow out for more than about a week. If you do you might need to use a pair of clippers to get it back down to a shaveable level.

 
Shaving Your Head In The Shower

OK, you've got everything in your shower that you'll need for the best ever head shaving experience - your bottle of The Total Shaving Solution, a Panasonic Linear Wet/Dry Shaver, a Cryo'd Schick Xtreme3 disposable razor and you've mounted your Fog Free Mirror & Handy Cup on the flat, smooth surface of the shower wall or door. It's best to mount them so either your back or non-shaving hand is facing the water flow while you shave, but you want to be close enough to easily wet your head, reach the valves, rinse your shaver etc. You don't want to mount them on the same wall that has the shower head, that will make your shave much more difficult. FYI the suction cups on your mirror and cup will easily adhere to any flat and smooth tile, glass and fiberglass but if the surface is rough or bumpy, like with some decorative tile, they won't stick at all and you'll have to do without.

Assuming that you're incorporating your shave into your morning shower rather than only using the shower as a place to shave you can either wash up first and then shave, or shave first and then wash up. Either way is fine, personally I prefer to wash up first and then shave because I like to give my skin and hair a chance to get a little saturated before I start shaving. Try it both ways, you'll figure out which you prefer soon enough.


Step 1 - Apply The Total Shaving Solution To Your Head

The first thing you want to do is make sure your head is good and wet, and once that's done it's time to apply The Total Shaving Solution to your stubbly bean. Squeeze an appropriate amount of The Total Shaving Solution into your wet palm, rub your hands together and massage the oil into your scalp. Make sure you get good coverage, massage it into the top, back, sides and especially don't miss right above your ears, that's a tender spot. The amount of oil you should use mainly depends on the hardness of your water and to a lesser extent on the amount and thickness of your stubble. Where I live the water is pretty hard, not the worst ever but hard enough. I use about 8 to 10 drops of The Total Shaving Solution, that seems to be the right amount for me under my particular water conditions. I might use a bit more on the very rare occasions that I don't shave for 3 or more days but for me that almost never happens. I tend to shave my head just about every day or on average at least five days out of every seven.

The softer the water the less shaving oil you'll need to use. I'll never forget one time shaving in New Haven, Connecticut - the water was just incredibly soft and I think I only used about 3 or 4 drops and got a rockin' shave. So let it be known far and wide - there's good shavin' in New Haven! And for what it's worth New Haven water is renowned as the key ingredient for making the best thin crust pizza on the planet, but that's a topic for somebody else's blog.

Optional but recommended: It's also a good idea to apply a single drop of The Total Shaving Solution to your finger and rub it into the foil of your Panasonic Linear Shaver (with the shaver off, obviously). This will help reduce drag and improve your shaver's performance.


Step 2 - Shaving Your Head With The Panasonic Linear Shaver

There's a switch on the right side of the Panasonic that toggles between Soft and Lock. Make sure the switch is in the Soft position, this allows the head assembly to pivot left and right so it will better hug the contours of your head while you shave. In the Lock position the head assembly remains rigid, it's definitely better to use the Soft mode when shaving your head.

Now you're ready to commence shaving! It's a good idea to follow the same pattern every time you shave, that way you'll develop good shaving habits around a consistent routine. I'm going to recommend the routine that I follow, you can copy me or do whatever feels right to you, but regardless you should always shave the same way every time. That's how you'll most easily get the hang of it and within a short time you'll be able to shave your head quickly and efficiently with the best possible results.

You should start on the right hand side at the top of where your sideburns are if you have them. With the shaver in your right hand and your left hand holding the top of your ear down and out of the way turn the shaver on with your thumb and begin shaving. Steadily move up and past where your head curves toward the top, then back down again, then repeat while simultaneously moving the shaver toward the back of your head.

Continue going up and down, all the while slowly but surely advancing further back until ultimately you'll find yourself working behind your ear. You'll take longer strokes as you reach that point and you're shaving the side of your neck, going back up to the top of your head and then down again. Occasionally you can let go of your ear and use your free hand to feel for stubble. Once you're past the ear you can let it go for good and exclusively use the fingertips of your free hand as your eyes - i.e. the Braille Method - all the while feeling for stubble and then shaving it off. Ultimately it's a lot like mowing your lawn but with less effort and far fewer obstacles in your way. No bushes, trees or fire hydrants, at least I hope not for your sake.

Once you get to the back of your head and neck you'll need to change your grip on the shaver to a more comfortable position. Grasp the shaver with your thumb in the front just above the on/off button and your four fingers in the rear, with your first two fingers below the trimmer section and last two right on it. In this position you'll have easy access to the right rear side of your head behind your ear all the way to the left rear area.

Continuing on with the up and down motion you'll now be making the longest strokes - from the base of your neck all the way up and over the top to the front edge of your forehead. The fingers of your free hand should be directly in front of the foil, leading it forward and then trailing behind it on the way back down, always feeling for stubble along the way. Like I said before, your fingertips are your eyes and for this purpose they can "see" stubble far better than your eyeballs can.

At this point you've done the right side, back and top of your head. Now you're going to do the left side, starting in the same spot where you began on the right side, just above the sideburns. You can do this in one of two ways - you can either keep the shaver in your right hand and reach across the front of your face, or you can switch hands so now you're wielding the shaver in your left hand and using your right hand to feel for stubble.

I prefer switching hands for two reasons. First of all I feel it's easier and more comfortable, and you can manuever the shaver at the same perfect angle on the left side as you did on the right. Secondly it's a good excercise for your brain! There's a phenomena called neuroplasticity, which is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences. When you learn something new, in this case teaching your non-dominant hand to do something you normally do with your dominant hand, new synapses are created in your brain. As you learn new things throughout your life the wiring diagram of the brain continues to be reorganized, and it is believed that this helps keep the brain in good working order and can even help prevent brain diseases like Alzheimer's. So give that a try - it's a great shaving technique and is good for your brain as well.

After finishing off your left side there's one spot remaining that needs to be shaved - the area behind your left ear and curving back along the left rear side of your head. Chances are you didn't quite nail it when you were doing the back or the left side. The best way to reach this section is to wield the shaver once again in your right hand but upside down, gripping it with your index finger placed firmly on the bottom of the shaver, your thumb on the side of the Soft switch and your remaining three fingers on the other side.

Reach over the top of your head and start shaving behind and below your left ear, moving steadily up and down and using your free hand to feel for stubble, as always. It may also help to tilt your head a bit to the right while you're shaving. Continue on until you no longer feel any stubble in the area.

Now your entire head has been shaved and you're just about done using the shaver. Take a look in the mirror, looks pretty good doesn't it?! Stubble's all gone and you're nice and smooth. You can take a minute to feel around with your free hand and see if you've blatantly missed a spot, if you did it will feel very obvious under your fingertips. If you missed an area just go over it a bit more until it's smooth.

So now your head is completely shaved and for many guys in many cases that would be it. But let's say you've got a date tonight with a really hot babe and you want to look and feel your absolute best. In that case I highly recommend going over your entire head with my favorite head shaving finishing tool - our very own Cryogenically Treated Schick Xtreme3 disposable razor.

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