Should You Shave Before or After a Shower?

For most guys, shaving is an everyday part of life. Even if you’re not clean shaven, you likely spend at least some time each week trimming and maintaining your facial hair.

Men have been debating for a long time now - when’s the best time to shave? Before or after a shower?

Something that’s such a critical part of your everyday life is important! So it matters how and when you shave. Here’s how to decide which is best for you.

Should You Shave Before a Shower?

Shaving before a shower is most convenient if you use an electric razor since they don’t work well on damp or wet facial hair. Shaving before a shower also tends to be quick and easy. Instead of having to spend a lot of time cleaning up, you just shave, hop in the shower, and cleanup is part of the showering process.

A note on dry shaving - it’s not great for sensitive skin. Guys who tend to experience a lot of shave irritation would benefit from waiting until after showering.

Concerned about nicks and cuts that need to be cleaned up after shaving? If so, shaving before a shower might be best - although it would be preferable to improve your shave technique and stop hurting yourself unnecessarily.

What About Trimming Facial Hair Before a Shower?

Shaving before a shower is also convenient if you’re trimming your facial hair instead of completely shaving it. Trimming with scissors or clippers is best done on dry hair. It can be hard to clean all of the little bits of whiskers out of your beard after - but it’s much easier to brush everything out with the help of warm running water.

Should You Shave After a Shower?

After is by far the most common answer to the question - “should I shave before or after a shower?” That’s because cleaning your face and spending several minutes in the steamy shower prepares your skin for a smooth shave. Your pores are open, your whiskers are softened, and your skin is clean. So you have less risk of irritating your skin and can get closer if you shave after a shower.

Showering is also a nice opportunity to exfoliate your skin before shaving. This deep cleans your pores, removes dead skin cells, and softens your rough facial hair - all allowing for an ideal shave. You can use our Renewing Face Scrub in the shower, then shave right after and enjoy the benefits.

Does It Take Longer to Shave After a Shower?

One potential con to shaving after a shower is that it tends to take longer. When you shave before a shower, you can incorporate some of the cleanup time into your shower.

But when you shave afterwards, you have to dry off from your shower, then apply your shaving products to your face, shave, rinse, dry off again, and clean up. So if you’re strapped for time, this might not be your best choice.

What About Shaving During a Shower?

For a lot of guys, shaving during a shower combines the best of both worlds. You’re already in the shower getting clean. So all you have to do is bring your razor with you, install a suction cup or hanging mirror in your shower, and shave while you’re in there.

Shaving during your shower means you get the efficiency of shaving beforehand with the skin soothing benefits of shaving after. Just wash your face, exfoliate (if that’s part of your routine), and then rinse off. It couldn’t be easier. But don’t forget to apply your aftershave after you dry off.

How to Get a Great Shave

Regardless of whether you decide to shave before, during, or after a shower, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you get the best shave possible. No one wants to deal with redness, itch, ingrown hairs, and other common irritation.

How to Choose the Right Face Wash

For guys with normal to oily skin, our Clarifying Gel Face Wash is ideal. It leverages geranium and coconut based cleansers to reduce oil and remove bacteria without over-drying your skin.

If you have sensitive or dry skin, we recommend our Purifying Charcoal Face Wash. Its formula is extremely gentle. You’ll notice it doesn’t lather much at all; it’s still working to cleanse your face, but it does so with olive oil, activated charcoal, and other non-irritating ingredients that don’t get all sudsy.

We also have specialized face wash options for guys who struggle with frequent acne breakouts or who want to up their anti-aging efforts.

Never Shave a Dirty Face

Shave irritation can be caused by bacteria invading your pores and causing inflammation. To avoid this, never shave when your face is dirty. It only takes a minute to cleanse your face before you get started - no excuses.

Exfoliation Ensures a Smoother Shave

As mentioned above, exfoliating your skin before shaving softens your whiskers and deep cleans your pores. That means your razor can get closer to the skin and remove more of your facial hair without risking irritation.

One note of caution: don’t over-exfoliate your skin. For most guys, you’ll get the best results from using our Renewing Face Scrub 2-3 times each week. If you have sensitive skin, start with just once a week and slowly increase, being careful to check how your skin reacts.

Use the Right Shave Cream

Most guys are familiar with shaving cream, but associate it with a foaming product. The truth is that foaming creams are mostly made up of tiny air bubbles that don’t do much to protect your skin or lubricate your blade. Our Smooth Brushless Shave Cream is far superior thanks to its rich, lotion-like formula. It hydrates, soothes, and lubricates so that you can enjoy your shave.

Improve Your Shave Technique

Some guys are far too aggressive when it comes to shaving. You shouldn’t be doing anything remotely close to yanking, pulling, or jerking as you shave. Instead, you want to use smooth motions and rinse your blade off after every stroke. Always use a clean, sharp blade - don’t be stingy and try to get a week’s worth of uses out of a cheap disposable razor.

Speaking of cheap razors, consider upgrading to a single blade safety razor for the best shave experience possible. It may take a little while to learn to use it, but once you get the technique down you won’t ever want to go back.

Multiblade cartridge razors are easy to use but are also notoriously expensive - and can trap bacteria between their blades if you don’t take the time to clean them properly after each use.

Don’t Skip the Aftershave

After rinsing your face and cleaning up post shave, don’t forget to apply aftershave. But please avoid anything that contains alcohol - it’s bad news for your skin. Alcohol is an irritant that dries out your skin and works against everything you’ve done to prevent shave irritation.

That’s why you won’t find alcohol in our Instant Relief Aftershave. Instead, its formula is designed to go on like a soothing cream. Its key ingredients include hyaluronic acid, aloe, and coconut.

Shave When It’s Best for You

Should you shave before or after a shower? It all depends on you!

• If you’re in a rush and/or using an electric razor, before is best
• If you have sensitive skin or use a disposable or safety razor, during or after a shower is best

And to ensure a smooth shave every time and prevent irritation, make sure you’re using the best shave products for men. That way you’ll enjoy a smooth, clean shave every single time.