Growing a beard is what everyone focuses on, but learning how to maintain and line up your beard with a straight razor is just as important.
Every now and then your beard will need a line-up, and you don't need to visit the barbershop every time you need a touch-up.
You can use a straight razor at home to line-up your beard within a few minutes.
The benefits of using a straight razor at home is:
- lining up your beard
- maintain a stubble
- maintaining your beard shape and style
When it comes to trimming, a pair of small beard or hair scissors are best.
In this article, we are going to walk through how to use a Straight Razor to line up your beard.
Steps to lining up your beard with a straight razor
Before we get started with lining up your beard, its important you make sure you have a few things ready.
Prepare your straight razor, a shaving lubricant, gel or oil, and a hot moist towel.
1. Prepare your skin and beard
The most important step before shaving is to prepare your skin.
You can either use a hot moist towel on your face for two minutes before shaving, or start shaving right after a hot shower.
The hair will be easier to cut, and your skin will be less affected by the razor. This means no razor burns!
Lather soap to prepare a watery foam that cushions your face while you shave.
2. Holding your Straight Razor
While standing in front of a mirror, pick up your straight razor with your dominant hand.
When you hold your straight razor, the method isn't as important as how comfortable you are.
Most people hold straight razors like pens, so their hand is steady. You will need a steady hand and surgical precision while shaving with a straight razor.
Once you have a comfortable grip and a steady hand, you are ready to start lining up your beard.
3. Line-up your beard with the straight razor
Before we start shaving, make sure that your straight razor is sharp and ready to perform.
You will need to make smooth, confident and short strokes with the straight razor.
Locate with you need to line your beard up and hold the razor blade at a 30-degree angle.
The shape of everyone's face and beard is different, so it will be up to you to decide where to line up your beard.
Don't shave with a steep angle as it will cut right into your skin.
Line up the edges of your beard and in the first pass, follow the hair growth grain. Then find angles and spots you have missed, then make diagonal strokes.
Each stroke should be short and sweet. This way, you can fix any mistakes that you make.
4. Calm your skin
After a successful shave and lining up your beard with the straight razor, you need to calm your skin down.
Shaving balm is amazing and will soothe any irritable areas after shaving.
Alternatively, you can get a cold, moist towel and place this over your face for two minutes.
After, make sure to moisturise as this helps rejuvenate and soothe your skin, so you don't have any rashes pop up later.
Conclusion: How to use a straight razor to line up your beard
Using a Straight Razor at home to maintain and line your beard up is great skill to learn. It saves you time and money, and leaves the Barbershop visits to haircuts and beard trims.
You will need a straight razor, shaving cream and soap (lather it up!), and a go get'em attitude to line up your beard at home!
After you go through this once, you get the general idea as all about short smooth strokes while you shave. The hardest part is deciding where to line up your beard,and everyone's face is different, so that decision is up to you.
Make sure you straight razor is sharp and clean, your skin is ready with a hot moist towel, and you can start shaving.
Let us know your experiences with using a straight razor to line up your beard at home! Would you use a double edge safety razor or a straight razor?
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