Seeking quickshave advice

I think many of us have been there--for one reason or another, it has become apparent that you have to shave, but you have only a few minutes to do it. Skipping the shave is not an option, but if you don't leave in 15 minutes, there's going to be real trouble.

What would you do?

Let's assume you had 5 - 10 minutes to shave, including all your prep and cleanup. You can have any reasonable tools, creams, oils, etc. at your disposal (Superman shaving with laser vision is an example of an UNreasonable tool).

For instance, I have found that using my adjustable safety razor and a can-o-goo (Gillette Mach 3 gel) gets me a reasonable shave (though definitely lower quality) that I can do in the shower to save some prep and cleanup time. I have some burning with it, but it's better than being unshaven.

I also use one of QED's shaving sticks in the shower with no brush--just rub it on between each pass. Not as nice as with a brush, but it's a shave.

How do you handle a quickshave? (Going back to bed is NOT an option )

Skip the preshave prep, run your brush under running water for a few seconds to get it wet, dab some cream in the center of the brush, quickly build lather on your face, do 1 pass WTG. rinse and you're done. Shouldn't take too long this way...not ideal, but it will have you looking presentable.

to me it doesn't seem to take much longer to quickly build lather on your face versus using canned goo (might add a minute or so), and doing just one pass doesn't take very long.

YMMV, however...people shave at different speeds.

10 minutes shave for me:

Hot shower, soak face thoroughly
Fill sink w/ hot water
Soak small scrubby brush
load brush on puck 'o soap (why not the humble Williams mug soap?)
lather on beard
1st pass
rinse, relather quickly
2nd pass
CW rinse
splash on Aqua Velva

Dash off, feeling Awake, Clean and Manly!

quick shave--shower ,king of shaves gel and a disposable single blade razor.if showering is not an option a quick run with a quality rotary electric will keep me presentable for 4-5 hours.

I can pretty easily shave in five. This assumes I shower first, which leaves my stubble all warm and wet. Then, take brush, either dip in pot or smear a little cream out of a tube on my face, and work up the lather on my face. Take about 30-45 seconds. Shave WTG. About 1 minute. Re-lather. Another 30 seconds. Second pass across/against the grain, with a little touch-up mixed it. 1.5 minutes. Rinse and splash with Aqua Velva (or similar). Another 45 seconds. Works best with an open comb, or a fairly opened up Futur (big gap), as I find you get more reduction on the first pass that way, without the safety bar riding on the stubble.

And yes, I do move the blade around on my face pretty fast. I am quite sure that the times for the shaving passes are inflated somewhat.

-Mo

I'm also assuming fresh out of the shower here, and that the blade is still good...

My quick routine would involve running to the shave den and not bothering to wait for the water to heat up. Basically, once it's warmer than room temperature hold the brush under the tap and wet the face while the sink fills. Quickly rub the brush in a tub of cream, lather directly on the face, wet the blade and go at it. One WTG pass, rinse the blade, brush, and face, pat dry, apply a/s and get out of there. I'd say that would probably be somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes assuming I don't trip on one of the cats.

I find that I can "shave" a minute or two by leaving the brush and soap alone, and reach for the Proraso cream. I use the same DE razor. I squeeze some cream from the tube into my wet hands and start a lather that I finish on my face. I give my face that first pass resorting to minor touch-ups on chin, etc. if needed.

It won't be the closest shave, but I will look neat, No brush to prep, no brush to clean.

And, if it is a less than nice shave, at least the Proraso will leave your face feeling like you really took the time to care about it that morning.

Here is what I do when I am in turbo mode:

0. the evening before, lay out clothes and make a mis-en-place for the shave in the morning. I do have shave gel and lotions in pump dispensers for easy access already.

1. beard prep: when I do shower in the morning, I put on Proraso Pre/Post or some shaving cream. When I don't, I splash hot water in my face, then rub shaving cream on beard area

2. put on socks, underpants, etc., clean out ears, tend to my hair, pack lunch, i.e., I do something else while the cream softens my beard

3. I either proceed to build lather right on my face, potentially with some soap in my brush (superlather) or, more commonly, I rinse off the cream and use a gel for the shaving process (that will save some time by not having to cleans the brush afterwards)

4. shave, shave, shave.

5. Apply some ASB, then get dressed some more, brush teeth

6. Apply lotion all over my face, finish getting dressed.

Out the house I am!

Best - MM

My leisurely shaves with hot towels twice, a good mug lather and a comfortable razor (NEW, Tech, Super Speed, Krona, Gillette adjustable) take about eight minutes at the most. The way I shaved for over 30 years with canned aerosol foam and a Super Speed takes 2-3 minutes. Shaving with a Norelco takes me about 60-90 seconds. These times include splashing on some after shave but not shower time. I can get as close a shave with canned foam as I do with the full hot towel prep and brush lather — no nicks, no burning, no irritation. My wife says an electric shave FEELS closer but it's absolutely not a closer shave. My shaves never take over ten minutes even when I'm fiddling with a new razor or brush.

Richard

My "quick shave" routine consists of:

Merkur Classic
Vulfix Pure Badger
QED Shave Stick
2 WTG passes
ASB

I can get a comfortable and presentable shave in about 6 minutes.