How to Use Shave Maps

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© Real Men Real Style 2016 The author asserts his moral rights in the work.

First published 2016 Written by Antonio Centeno

How To Use Shave Maps – 1st Edition 2016 – Copyright Real Men Real Style

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Contents How to Use a Shaving Map ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 Using the Shaving Map ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Sections of the Face ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

How To Use Shave Maps – 1st Edition 2016 – Copyright Real Men Real Style

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How to Use a Shaving Map Don't panic! Yeah, this looks complicated. Like we're way overthinking things, here. Who needs a diagram just to shave his face? People have been doing it since before the written word, for crying out loud. But just trust us for ten minutes here. Go out on a limb with us. Try using a "shaving map" diagram -just once! -- and see how much of a difference it makes. Because as much as it seems like overkill, it turns out that one of the most-asked questions about shaving is "which direction do I shave my face in?" (Check Google's list of auto-completes if you don't believe us.) And a shaving map answers that question.

Using the Shaving Map There's a couple ways to shave your face. One is to guess -- just drag the blade across your face however it feels comfortable and hope for the best. (That's not actually a terrible strategy. You'll figure out pretty quickly which directions glide smoothly and which directions tug painfully. But the trial-and-error period can really hurt.)

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Another is to follow traditional patterns. Most fathers will teach their sons a specific technique, or you'll pick one up from some other male role model somewhere along the way. Even shaving cream advertisements usually show men holding and pulling their razors in a fairly standard pattern -- it doesn't change much from brand to brand. The shaving map is more systematic than either of those options. To use it, you spend five minutes with a mirror figuring out which ways the hairs on your face grow. Then you note the direction down on each section of the shaving map, and use that to guide your shave. The goal is to keep yourself always shaving in the same direction that your hairs grow. Not everyone's leave the skin and immediately angle downward. Some curl, some grow diagonally, and some bristle outward in a wide spray. The more you can shave with the direction of growth, the closer you'll cut to the root of the hair (giving you a closer shave), and the less you'll have to tug on the hairs (reducing irritation and the chance of slipping and cutting yourself). To do it, just get up close to a mirror, spread the hairs of your beard until you can see them right down at the skin level, where they emerge, and note down the direction of growth. Repeat this for each section of your face and presto -- you've got a road map for where to draw the blade. It sounds goofy. You'll feel goofy doing it. But once you've done it, you can follow those directions for your next shave -- and unless you already had a perfect system down, you'll feel a distinct improvement.

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Sections of the Face Hair direction can change abruptly. Particularly common places where the direction might shift on you include: 

The Jawline - Hairs that angle slightly inward (toward the point of your chin) on the planes of your cheeks often switch to angling outward (toward the corners of your jaw) as you switch from above the jawline to below it.

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The Jowls - Most men have a diagonal crease angling out from each corner of the mouth and running down to the jawline -- the dividing line between the jowl/cheek and the chin. Hairs often switch directions here, with the hairs on the cheek growing one way and hairs inside the line on the chin growing another.

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The Philtrum - The small groove under your nose, running vertically down to the upper lip, is called your philtrum. Hair growth usually divides there, with hairs on the left side angling outward to the left, and hairs on the right outward to the right.

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The Cheeks - Hairs high up on the cheek often grow more vertically than hairs lower on the cheek. Down near the jawline you may need to be moving the razor almost horizontally.

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The Neck - Hairs down on the neck usually angle in opposite directions on each side. This can run either way -- some men have hairs that angle in to meet at the center, while other men have theirs growing out away from the center. In either case the razor will generally be going at an angle most of the time.

If you look at the shaving map, it tends to divide along common "fault lines" like these to make small regions where you'll always be moving the razor in the same direction. Give it a try and see -- it might just change how you think about shaving forever!

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Try It Yourself! Print Off This Page and the Next Page and Fill in Your Own Shave Map

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