I consider shaving to be a necessary evil – here’s how to do it daily without too much hassle.

• Shaving Oil- Shaving oils create a thick yet slippery barrier between your razor blade and your skin. This allows you to get a close shave without grazing too much of the skin underneath. My current favourite is the Close Shave Oil from Neal’s Yard Remedies, it’s thick, provides a very comfortable shave and smells amazing. If you’d like to read more about shaving oils, click here.

• Shaving Cream – Using the correct shaving cream is very important, you need something thick and full of lipids to protect the skin. Don’t bother with the shaving creams that come on a spray can as they contain lots of air so the thick foam that comes out of the can doesn’t actually provide much cushioning between your skin and blade. To read more about shaving creams, click here!

• Sharp razors - This is a pretty simple point but it’s very important, shaving with a dull razor means you’ll be going over the same areas of skin more often in order to get a decent skin so make sure to always use fresh and sharp razors. If you want to shave yourself some cash, buy a razorpit!

• Shaving Technique – Try to prevent any uneccesary damage to your skin by only shaving with the grain and try not to pull at your skin as you shave. You might not get the cloest shave possible this way but it’ll still look smooth and clean and this method will prevent a lot of irritation.

• BHA treatment – BHA treatments are an excellent way to soothe and calm the skin post-shave. Use a BHA treatment once or twice daily in order to calm the skin and reduce the likelihood of breakouts and ingrown hairs post-shave. This will – in turn – make sure that your next shave will be close as smooth as you won’t be gliding your blade over any bumps or ingrowns. My tried and true favourites are the Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid and Clearasil Ultra pads.

• Growth inhibitor – I’ve written a post about these questionable products before, some work slightly and some don’t work at all. However if you do shave every day, working one of these into your routine may be worth looking into – just in case it works for you. For specific recommendations, click here.

• Niacinamide treatment - This step is very important and helps a lot if you shave daily. Niacinamide, among other things, is a fantastic barrier-repair treatment. This means that a treatment containing niacinamide will actively soothe and rebuild the surface of your skin – thickening that outer layer that has been hacked away by your razor blade. Apply this every day, twice a day to get its full benefits. There are a number of products on the market containing niacinamide at the moment, my favourite low-end buy is the Cerave PM moisturiser, for mid-end try the Olay Regenerist Fragrance-Free Serum and if you’re willing to spend a bit more – the best product on the market containing niacinamide is the NIA 24 Skin Strengthening Concentrate. I’ll be writing further posts on the Cerave and NIA 24 products soon, the Olay one is something that i’ve raved about a few times on this blog.

• No exfoliants! – The last thing you want to do to tender skin is exfoliate it furhter. If you’re shaving daily, avoid using any face scrubs and AHA products until your skin has has a few days without shaving to heal. If you feel like you have to srub you skin a little before shaving to raise the hairs up, try using a shaving brush or facial brush instead of a traditional face scrub.

• Tinted moisturisers and Per-fekt Skin- This is a bit of a cheat but it’s effective nontheless. Tinted moisturisers add a slight tint of colour to your face – not enough to be noticeable – which should partially conceal your five o’clock shadow. If you don’t want to shave for a day or can’t achieve a particularly close shave because your skin feels raw, simply smooth some of this on in the morning in place of moisturiser to make your skin look clean and shaved. Per-fekt skin is a great option as it’s a silicone gel that adds a slight tint of colour while looking completely seamless and natural – it’s walk in the park to apply and great if you’re nervous about using a tinted moisturiser.