Achieve The Perfect Shave and Facial At Home In 5 Easy Steps

There are few more relaxing ways to spend an hour outside of your hectic schedule than a trip to your local men’s grooming salon for a professional shave and facial.  However, if your work’s piling up or you’re struggling to find some time, the good news is, you can enjoy a little at home superior skin restoration with a few steps in the right direction.

If you find that your skin’s in need of immediate attention, perhaps after a heavy weekend or a long week burning the midnight oil, you can boost its recovery with a carefully selected range of products.  By following a very strict yet simple men’s facial regime, you can effortlessly put your grooming woes on the back burner and achieve a champion complexion in next to no time.

Exfoliating, cleansing, toning and moisturising are the foundations to achieving a long-lasting healthy look, that can be built upon each day. By investing in the right products and working them into your at home facial, a blemish-free and supple appearance has never been easier to conquer.

Prepare Your Path

As with every success that comes in the bathroom, preparation is vital. Before you begin, ensure that you wash your hands and tie your hair back – if you have a longer style.  Mix your chosen facial exfoliator in a shaving bowl with a brush, which will lather it up nicely prior to application.  Finally, before you get to the good stuff, take two flannels and rinse them in the hottest water you can handle, before wrapping them in cling film and microwaving them for about twenty seconds. If you’re new to exfoliators, MMUK MAN’s Anti-Acne Facial Polish will do the job just nicely.

Let Off Some Steam

Begin by placing the two hot flannels over your face.  The first can be rested over the lower part of your face ending at your nostrils and the second can cover the rest of your face and end at your nose’s tip. A few minutes later, massage both of the hot towels over your face until your skin is damp.

‘This first step ensures that you face is steamed correctly for a few minutes, by opening up your skin’s pores and making your epidermis soft and soothed‘ says Peter Joannou – who leads a four-man strong team at his male grooming salon nestled in the south laines of Brighton.

Exfoliation Is Key

Next, take your bowl of lathered up exfoliator and apply it evenly across your face with a soft bristled brush – paying extra attention to those creases and crevices that sometimes get overlooked.  The truth is gentlemen, that exfoliating your skin at this stage, in gentle circular movements, will draw dirt, grime, dead skin cells and excess oil right to the surface of your skin – making them all the easier to remove completely just a few minutes later.

Finish this step by rinsing your two flannels under hot water and gently buffering them over your entire face to slough away any remnants of facial scrub, as well as all those surface nasties, that all too often lead to confidence crippling spots, blemishes and blackheads. You’ll find that after this step your skin appears brighter, fresher and has a healthy glow to it.

Go In For The Kill

Now’s the time to cut your facial forest down to size or bag yourself that designer stubble you’ve always craved.  Right now, your beard bristles will be softer than ever before, making razor glide and stubble styling effortless.

Choose a good quality shaving cream, our pick of the bunch being Billy Jealousy’s Hydroplane Shave Cream, which generates a rich and thick lather when mixed with a badger brush.  Remembering to apply evenly across your facial hair, complete short and smooth strokes towards your chin, whilst holding your skin taut.

That’s A Wrap Gentlemen

Once you’ve finished shaving, take your two flannels for the final time and run them this time under cold water, before placing them in the same position as before for about a minute.  This cold wrapping of your face will not only give a nice cooling sensation to your post-shaved skin, but will also close your skin’s pores and complete your D.I.Y facial in serious style.

When your skin has had a couple of moments to dry off, apply a good quality post-shave balm or gel to calm and soothe, before massaging in two or three large drops of moisturiser.  With your eye contours more absorbent at this time, you may also wish to invest in a good quality eye balm, helping you significantly in your battle against dark circles, tiredness and fatigue.