Shaving is one such activity in our life that keeps coming back to us one way or another, for some it’s a daily duty and for others it’s part of monthly maintenance. Regardless of your frequency, one thing that has become synonymous with shaving is shaving cream of any category. It helps you moisten your hair and allows for a smooth procedure.
But there have been some cases when you find out you’re out of shaving cream, or your skin is allergic to the ingredients foams contain. In such situations, we’ve received this question a huge number of times: can you shave without shaving cream? The short answer is, YES! You can!
Since the answer is yes, then how to shave without shaving cream? Is it harmful for the skin or leave any form of damage behind? What can you use as substitutes for shaving creams? Our article today answers all of these questions thoroughly so that you can run your shaving operations without using any kind of shaving cream!
Contents
Alternatives To Shaving Cream
Before we go deeper into the shaving procedures that don’t use shaving creams, you must know what other alternatives you can use to remove shaving cream from the equation.
Most of these products can be found in your home, so don’t worry about rushing out to the store to buy them!
Soap
Soap is the most common substitute element for shaving without cream. Rubbing soap with water on your intended skin surface produces a certain level of foam that is often able to get the job done. You can use body wash instead of soap as well and it’ll generate similar results. If your hair is coarse, make sure to take the time to have your hair soften up for your blades.
Shampoo
Shampoo is a great element that can be used in such regard, as it has the necessary properties that removes characteristics from your hair rendering into something lighter. You’ll find great ease running your shaver over such a soft & slippery surface, but for the same reasons some of the hair follicles might remain unshaved. So you’ll need to run over a couple times more to ensure a smooth shave.
Conditioner
Conditioner serves in similar ways to applying shampoo for shaving. It’s better in one way that it doesn’t create tons of residue like shampoo would do and demands less rinses under the tap. But the takeaway for this material is that it doesn’t produce any foam, making the shaving inconvenient at times.
Shea Butter
Shea Butter makes your skin slimy like no other element. It’s a great shaving cream alternative at home and lets you shave most of your body parts generating smooth skin surfaces.
Aloe Vera Gel
Aloe Vera gel is one of the most underrated substances that people fail to take full advantage of. There have been cases where people used Aloe Vera gel to produce homemade shaving cream that works just as good as regular shaving creams! Even if you don’t want to go to the extent of making shaving cream with it, you can still apply it and run your shaver over for a fine shave!
Oil
If you didn’t know already, oils are a great substitute to using shaving cream in this matter. Oils like coconut, olive or baby oil have the necessary ingredients to make your hair soft and allow your shaver to smoothly pass over. As an added feature that stands oils out from the rest of the alternatives is the antibacterial nature.
So, applying oil doesn’t make the surface smooth or hair shaveable, but also protects you from any sort of infection during the shaving process. Because it’s very common to cut yourself during shaving any of your body parts, and in such cases your oil will come to your rescue!
Powder
Powder is one of the most unorthodox items in this list, but it has its own moments during mostly trimming with a trimmer. If you have very short hair that needs shaving, you can apply some powder to make the surface slippery enough for shaving. Note that it works the best if you shave your head as the skin there is tougher than the rest of your body.
How To Shave Without Shaving Cream?
This question comes right after finding out that you indeed can shave without shaving cream. The procedure will include the alternate elements that we’ve mentioned previously and the shaving process will slightly vary from one body part to another for obvious reasons. Follow us along to learn precisely how you can shave without using shaving cream!
Step 1: Trim
You should always begin with trimming your hair down as much as possible. No matter how you see it, shaving cream is a specialized item and not all the alternatives are going to work as good if you start scrubbing your blades on a hair-dense surface. Trimming down longer hair makes the density into a tolerable one which can further be shaved cleanly with the substitutes.
Step 2: Apply Water
Most of the alternate materials work better on a wet surface. You can consider taking a shower beforehand if you’re shaving your body, or simply apply some water with your hands to make the parts wet & damp. No need to use water for oil, butter or powder since they work differently than the rest of the lot.
Step 3: Apply Alternate Elements
Now comes the time for you to put any of the alternate elements on your skin based on which part you are shaving and the nature of your hair. For dense hair, you should settle for soaps or shampoos and for less dense hair, go for Aloe Vera gel or hair conditioner. Trimmed down hair is shaved off nicely with application of oil – be that liquid or solid.
Step 4: Shave
It’s time for you to see the magic first hand. Take your razor out and run it along the skin where you’ve applied the shaving cream substitute. Keep your tap running because you might need to rinse frequently to get the residue off your blades. This is a shortcoming that shaving cream doesn’t suffer with since it’s specially made to work with blades.
Also, follow your natural grains and don’t go against them as it can peel off your skin or create ingrown hair. You might require multiple passes to get all of the hair body nicely removed. Once everything is done neatly, wash off all the residue hair and elements with soap & running water.
Step 5: Moisturize
Apply moisturizer on your skin in the end to spare you from inflammation or any other shaver induced discomfort. Remember, leaving your skin dry after a shaving session done with any sort of cream can leave your skin vulnerable to ingrown hair and similar issues. A fine moisturizing will ensure your skin’s smoothness in the long run as well.
Shaving Tricks For Different Areas With Our Method
With our alternatives and shaving techniques, find out below how to treat separate parts of your body while shaving without shaving cream.
Face
For your face, soap, body wash and shampoo generate the best shaving outcomes since the facial hair is the toughest of the lot. You can make it work with the rest of the elements too, as there are many people who shave only using water, but it’s still going to be a difficult process whatsoever.
Body
Your body can utilize almost all of our substitute elements. You can try oils for a fine result and have everything mopped with a warm towel afterward. Aloe Vera gel too is a great ingredient for shaving your body hair as it has natural properties that helps your skin out big time.
Pubes
Pubes require extra caution while shaving, and without shaving cream it can be done surprisingly well which we never really give any degree of consideration. Avoid oils for this area since they make things slippery, and slippery fingers only invite accidents. Use soap or shampoo for your precious parts and keep all of your concentration in the procedure.
Verdict
As you’ve reached the concluding mark of this article, you’ve gained quite a handsome amount of knowledge after asking the question: can you shave without shaving cream? Our experts have not only answered it, but also went on to explain elaborately how you can shave with different alternatives.
Now we are going to put a verdict as it’s already a very complex scenario. First, we must concede that shaving cream is actually an integral part of shaving since it’s specifically made for such purpose. So, you should only use alternate techniques if you’re out of shaving creams and not make it a regular practice for the sake of your skin.
Additionally, if you go on to shaving with any of our substitute products in our given way, please be extra careful and gentle with your motions as any reckless act can damage your skin. Lastly, use a sharp shaver that’s suited to your skin and complete a convenient shaving journey!