How to shave off a full beard

All trends have a lifespan, or clients may make a personal choice to revert to a clean-shaven look. Here, Parsa Rad, of esteemed Mayfair male grooming salon The Refinery and winner of the Bluebeard’s Revenge Best Wet Shaver title, offers advice on removing a full beard. • Before you shave your client’s beard, it’s best to mow it down as closely as possible with a beard trimmer or a set of clippers. • Invest in a decent hotel towel machine and some shaving towels. The heat and moisture from a hot towel softens the beard hairs and hydrates the skin, making it more supple and resistant to injury. If your client happens to have sensitive skin, a good pre-shave cream or oil will help keep things hydrated longer and add an extra layer of protection. A pre-shave oil also helps the razor to glide across the skin, which eliminates those nasty nicks and bumps. To use, massage a splash of oil into the beard until it is barely visible as just a sheen. • Prepare your shaving brush by soaking it in hot water, then gently shake the majority of the water out. Gently press the tips of the brush into the shave cream or soap, gathering enough material to shave with. Lather the cream or soap in a bowl using a whipping motion and adding water as needed to create a thick lather that resembles whipped cream or meringue. • Hold the razor with your dominant hand. Your thumb should be on the underside of the shank against the shoulder. Your index, middle and ring fingers should be on the opposite side (top) of the shank. The handle should be between your ring and little finger, with the little finger resting on the crescent-shaped tang. Some barbers prefer to have the ring finger on the tang also, but this is a matter of choice. • With your other hand, stretch the client’s skin as tight as you can get it. When shaving with a shavette razor you want to keep the angle of the blade between 20-30 degrees. Use very little pressure and apply even strokes with the razor in the direction of the hair growth. If your client suffers from tough beard growth then you might need to shave across the grain and finally against the grain to obtain an extremely close shave. • Post-shave, rinse the client off with warm water, finishing with a cold water rinse. The cold water finish closes the pores and refreshes the skin. A good quality aftershave balm will also help close the pores and refresh, but will also heal the skin from any damage.