Morning work day shave routine

[ksblazer]

I’m at the point in life where I prefer a quick morning work day shave. I’m not trying to impress anyone with a BBS face. I go for that on weekends or days off. That said I want a good shave, but I’m limited on time. As I’ve gotten older I value a few extra minutes of sleep, than achieving the best shave possible.

Since I have about 45 min to get cleaned up, let the dog out and feed and water him. Grab my lunch then I’m off to catch the bus. So my time is limited.

I’m no longer using soaps that take an extra minute to lather up. A quick face lather with a shave stick like Arko, Speick or La Toja. My Mugged Vitos works well as does Proraso soap/cream. These are usually my go to work horse soaps. I’m not breaking out the shave bowl anymore on these days.

A quick splash of aftershave and I’m on my way. Rarely to I use a post shave moisturizer anymore. Unless my face is kinda dry afterwards. Which rarely happens.

I’ve cut my passes down from 3 to 2. To save time. I feel like I can get a good enough shave with just 2, if I use a sharp blade and decent technique now days.

I know some here like to get the best shave possible. Some just do a quick 1 pass shave for minimalism. But this just works good enough for me now days. We all don’t have the same skin type or standard’s. So I’m not saying what works for me. Will be what works for you.

Just curious to know, if your work day shave routine is it any different from any other day?

If I was retired and in no hurry. I’d probably try for the best shave I could get everyday, without going to far and beating my face up.

 

[thombrogan]

I’m pokey, so I shave at night. I’m finally down to 17-21 minutes total for walking to the shower and walking back to put away my cleaned shave gear.

 

[Old Hippie]

If I was retired and in no hurry. I’d probably try for the best shave I could get everyday

No, you wouldn't. Trust me on this. After decades of scheduling shaves around my work schedules, shaving in evenings because I had to be on my feet at 3:30 the next morning, now I'm retired. "Every day is Saturday" yes?

You will wonder how you managed to get things done all those years you were working. Now I have to plan two or three days ahead, to be able to have time to get a shave on some days. Gotta roll out early tomorrow morning for instance. The dog has a vet appointment mid-morning, which means I want to not only shave but also get a batch of bread past the autolyze and into bulk fermentation before we have to leave on the hour-long drive that gets us to the vet.

It's always something. Particularly when you're expecting it to be nothing.

O.H.

 

[ksblazer]

I’m around 30 minutes from getting out of bed, shower, shave, and getting cleaned up. Not sure if that is quick? But the alarm goes off at 4:30 and I’m not moving the fastest or thinking the clearest at that time of the day.

 

[Alex Jr]

Just curious to know, if your work day shave routine is it any different from any other day?

Usually no. If it’s too early, I mean before 4am, sometimes I do a single mixed pass of WTG/XTG and hit the road.

But my normal shave is 2 passes, WTG/ATG or XTG if using an aggressive razor and it doesn’t matter if it’s work day or not.

I love shaving, but I like efficiency. I don’t have time or patience for shaving rituals, YouTuber endless 5 minute face lathering (to achieve the same exact crappy pasty lather), or anything that takes longer than 15 min total time.

Shaving is not a “hobby” for me, it’s a daily habit I simply enjoy, no more than that. Like drinking my coffee.

Quick lather, 2 pass, AS, done.

 

[ksblazer]

No, you wouldn't. Trust me on this. After decades of scheduling shaves around my work schedules, shaving in evenings because I had to be on my feet at 3:30 the next morning, now I'm retired. "Every day is Saturday" yes?

You will wonder how you managed to get things done all those years you were working. Now I have to plan two or three days ahead, to be able to have time to get a shave on some days. Gotta roll out early tomorrow morning for instance. The dog has a vet appointment mid-morning, which means I want to not only shave but also get a batch of bread past the autolyze and into bulk fermentation before we have to leave on the hour-long drive that gets us to the vet.

It's always something. Particularly when you're expecting it to be nothing.

O.H.

Thanks for the reply. Since I’ve never been retired. I don’t have the best insight to that lifestyle.

I hear that even though you are retired from working a job. You still need to stay busy with life. I don’t want to be one of those people that wish they hadn’t quit their job, now have nothing to do and expire a couple of years later.

Maybe I should ask this question question in another section about retirement. Don’t want to get side tracked.

I guess I’m curious to know that if I’m not the only one. Who has decided to change up the amount of time they spend shaving. To more or less over the years?

 

[Old Hippie]

You still need to stay busy with life.

Which, fortunately, isn't hard. For me the problem is not staying busy, it's trying to get the stuff done that needs to be done so I can set aside a bit of time for the stuff I want to do.

However; to your original question:

I guess I’m curious to know that if I’m not the only one. Who has decided to change up the amount of time they spend shaving. To more or less over the years?

I've done it. Some razors seem to take longer than others, likewise some blades do as well. So finding that combination of a blade that will render a good shave and a razor that will do it fairly quickly is a good thing. For me, I can blade up my devette and have everything all done in 10 minutes. Or I can blade up one of my shavettes and blaze through the shave in 90 minutes. With one of my better DE or SE razors it seems to average around 25 minutes, and with one of the older, worn, quirky razors it can go a little longer for various reasons.

For a couple of decades I managed my schedule to allow me to shave Monday Wednesday and Friday. After retirement I often find on Friday that I want to skip the shave in favour of getting some other things licked up while Mrs. Hippie is off to the shops. So I've been experimenting with Saturday instead of Friday. Feels weird to shave on "a day off" but also much less rushed.

I like to shave often enough to look mostly presentable most of the time, but aside from that I'm learning to be a little more relaxed about it.

O.H.

 

[MrSpeedy]

I've transitioned to almost exclusively doing a one-pass shave. If we are going to a fancy dinner, the symphony, etc. I'll do a two-pass shave (which used to be my standard). But I can get a SAS with one-pass, it takes less time, and there's far less chance of cutting myself. I don't have to be clean shaven for work, so it just makes sense (for me).

 

[Tomo]

I recently adopted a quick weekday shave routine. I prefer a straight razor shave but that takes a little more time. I save that for the weekends or a work from home day now. Rushing a straight razor shave is not advisable.

Shaving at night did not give me the freshly shaved result I wanted during the day. So I’ve settled for a quick two pass shave with an efficient razor like a Blackland Backbird or Blackland Vector Mon to Fri. I’ll mostly go with a Mühle synthetic brush and a palm lathered cream from a tube like Speick or Palmolive. In and out. Cleanup is minimal and the shave is almost as good as on the weekend.

 

[ksblazer]

I recently adopted a quick weekday shave routine. I prefer a straight razor shave but that takes a little more time. I save that for the weekends or a work from home day now. Rushing a straight razor shave is not advisable.

Shaving at night did not give me the freshly shaved result I wanted during the day. So I’ve settled for a quick two pass shave with an efficient razor like a Blackland Backbird or Blackland Vector Mon to Fri. I’ll mostly go with a Mühle synthetic brush and a palm lathered cream from a tube like Speick or Palmolive. In and out. Cleanup is minimal and the shave is almost as good as on the weekend.

This has been pretty much what I’m doing now too.

I tried doing night shaves. But I prefer to go to work clean shaven. It also gives me a good feeling to start the day off with a clean shaven.

Before I started doing these 2 pass shaves with touch up’s. I thought the quality of shave wouldn’t be nearly as good as my weekend 3 pass shaves with touch up’s. But found out that it isn’t really that big of a difference as long as I’m using a sharp blade.

 

[amateur]

I wake up at 4:30 in the morning to have a quiet shave before going to work. I usually use shaving cream on weekdays to save time on creating foam.I have given up frequent replacement of razors and now use the Merkur 37C. This razor shaves effectively without causing irritation, and I can use it even when I'm half asleep.

 

[cryhavoc]

I've always been a morning shaver and shave the same way every time, a 3 pass shave and any touch ups needed.. I feel best if I have a good shave and I feel like a bum if I have stubble. For me its all a part of my mental game, if I look good I feel good and then perform my best. I can shave, shower and have my first cup of coffee in under 20 minutes. It gives me time collect myself before I hit the door and start the commute.

 

[dotKomo]

So, I timed my morning routine at about 30 minutes today - shower, and shave - 3 passes plus one clean-up. Granted, I used a shave stick (Cremo Coconut & Mango) that saved some lather building time.

That sometimes can go to 40-45 minutes, but I don't feel hurried.

 

[Jer78]

I am with you for sure. Shave sticks, the odd softer tub, and 2 pass.. I make the second pass a combo of ATG on easy spots, XTG on the hard ones. Works great, takes about 10 minutes.

 

[Quaznoid]

The AM pre-work shave was the norm for at least 100 years before the internet. Soap up (canned), one pass, rinse, a splash of aftershave and out the door. If you do it like that, you’re in the the traditional mainstream. Most of our grandfathers wouldn’t understand what many of us do today.

 

[rostern]

I'm a daily shaver, every morning before work. I'm a long-time wet shaver with cartridges but have switched to DE shaves exclusively in the last 3 months. I take 20-25 minutes to shower and shave. I shave right after I shower. I use a cream or shave stick and face lather, and do 2 passes, WTG and XTG. I tend to use milder razors like my Henson AL13 or brass Overlander on workdays. If I am running late, I may just run the High Proof razor for 2 passes. I can shave pretty rapidly and mindlessly with that one since it shaves like a cartridge. I finish with a quick rub of alum and a splash of Tabac or Clubman.