Calling all men: How to shave

The average man will spend over 3,000 hours of his life shaving. A couple of minutes spent reading this article should make those hours a little more bearable - and more effective.

The average face has 25,000 whiskers, as hard as copper wire of the same thickness, and they grow an average of up to 15 centimetres a year. 97 men in every 100 don't want to have a beard (and the other three should have a long, hard look in the mirror).As a result, they probably shave every day of the week.

And the average man, having learned how to shave by watching either his dad or the movies, may have picked up the odd mistake. So what is the best way to shave

Before you start
Wash the face thoroughly first to open the pores in your skin - best of all shave straight after taking a hot bath or shower, as the steam will help to moisten and prepare your skin. (For the very best preparation wrap your face tightly in hot, damp towels to steam open the pores).

Don't use an electric razor

The 'T' razor is best

They may be more expensive, but that doesn't make them best. Because they work best on dry skin, the hair is tougher and the skin's not ready. Also, electric razors work by tugging at both skin and hairs, which can lead to soreness. The 'T' shaped razor is best: with the blade at right-angles to the handle, it is far easier to manipulate than the old-fashioned cut-throat razor.

Shaving foam or shaving gel
Neither! Shaving oil is best for your skin - it acts as a moisturiser while softening the hairs before they are cut - and you can also see where you're shaving!

Foams and gels are better than they were and most contain vitamins to help revitalise damaged skin, but they also contain detergents that react badly with sensitive skin. (Don't believe me Many women have long since replaced soap with moisturising cleansers. If they can, why can't you )

Use a sharp blade
Blunt blades are bad news: you'll find yourself re-shaving the same patch of skin, or shaving 'against the grain'. Either way, razor burn or rashes are likely. Painful and unsightly.

Shave in the direction of hair growth
See above. It may feel like you're having more effect, but what you're actually doing is disturbing and harming the skin.

Keep the blade clean and wet
Freshly shaved whiskers trapped on the edge of the blade will get in the way if they aren't washed off, but there's another good reason for rinsing. Wet hair and a wet blade make shaving much easier and the blade will stay sharper for longer - meaning you don't have to change the blade every day. (Modern razors should be good for a week's shaving each). Shave using a basin full of warm-to-hot water or rinse under a running tap.

Nice'n'easy
Use short, gentle strokes of the razor. There's no need to scrape and remember: you and your skin are on the same side!

Rinse
Restore the moisture levels to your face by rinsing in warm (not hot) water after you've shaved. As well as cleaning off the residue of oil, foam or gel, the water also helps to close the pores in your skin.

Don't 'splash it all over'
Aftershave is a mixture of alcohol and scent. Whether or not the scent leaves you irresistible, the alcohol will be hard at work stripping your skin of its natural lubricant, sebum. In other words, attacking the skin at its most vulnerable, straight after it has been attacked with a razor! Use a shaving balm or moisturiser instead.

And while you contemplate a happily beardless future, ponder the highlights of a history of shaving:

• Archaeologists have uncovered stone razors from the Neolithic Period. Their cave paintings depict clean-shaven hunters.
• Iron, bronze and even gold razors appear during... the Iron and Bronze Ages!
• Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar are history's early celebrity beardless wonders.
• In the 1770s Jean-Jacques Perret publishes La Pogonotomie (The Art of Learning to Shave Oneself) and proposes the first 'safety' razor.
• In 1903, King Camp Gillette patents the single-use, disposable blade.
• U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Jacob Schick invents the electric razor in the 1920s. Why Schick believes that a man could live to 120 by correct, everyday shaving.
• Innovations come faster and faster in the last 50 years - stainless steel blades, twin-blade safety razors, disposable plastic razors - until...
• In 1978, Victor Kiam likes his Remington Electric Shaver so much, he buys the company.