Shaving Soap - Choose the Right Type For Your Skin

An important part of hygiene for a man or a woman is shaving. While women require smooth legs and underarms most men maintain clean shaven face. Hair removal for men usually only consists of shaving while there are several techniques for women including shaving, waxing, or expensive procedures providing either lengthy or permanent hair removal.

However, most people tend to lean toward the traditional method of applying some sort of shaving soap and then shaving themselves. All shaving products consist of ingredients to soften the hair for easier removal. Others contain moisturizing agents to help soften the skin and prevent the ever dreaded and unattractive razor burn.

Technique

One should thoroughly wet the area to be shaven before applying a shaving soap in order to soften the hair and make it easier to remove. When shaving one should always shave with strokes of the razor going upward or in the opposite direction of the hair growth, this also makes hair removal much easier.

After completion of the shaving one should apply some lotion to the skin unless the shaving soap already contains some sort of moisturizing agent and even then some additional moisturizing may be beneficial.

Shaving sometimes produces a rash of sorts termed razor burn especially if the skin is not kept well hydrated between shavings. Most men apply aftershave lotions and crèmes of some sort as this is usually the only time their skin receives any sort of applied hydration.

Available Types

There are many different brands of shaving soap available onthe market today. Most name brands as well as retail store or off brands are virtually the same. Some contain more of one ingredient than the other and therefore may be more drying to the skin.

Many of the variations produced exclusively for women have a more feminine fragrance while those for men tend to be more masculine in smell. Basically other than the scent a shaving soap, there are no actual differences between them. Many cost very little as some are more expensive due to added moisturizers and fragrances but the ingredients are all closely similar.

Any one of these soaps can be found in the health and beautysection of retail stores or are offered in most drug stores. The product an individual chooses should be specific to their individual taste and the condition of the skin. Maintaining healthy skin will allow for a smoother shave and lessen the occurrence of razor burn.