Everything You Should Know About Giving Your Kid His First Shave
As a parent, juggling time between work and family can be crazy at times. Missing your children’s baseball games or getting home past dinner time, before you know it, the children have grown up content to live their own lives.
But that doesn't have to be always the case.
Family bonding isn’t always about the big Hallmark childhood moments like Father’s Day. Sometimes, it’s about connecting during quiet moments during the most ordinary of days. It’s about finding common ground with your kid even in the smallest routine.
Like for instance, during your shaving time in the morning.
Here's how to give your child his first shave.
Getting to Know Wet Shaving
Know Your Kid's Skin
Pick the Right Razor
Use an All Natural Soap instead of Cream
How to Prevent Cuts
Getting to Know Wet Shaving
Some of our fondest memories of childhood often include watching our grandfathers shave in front of the mirror each morning.
If you’ve got a teenager on the brink of puberty, now would be an excellent time to introduce him to the joys of wet shaving. At adolescence, the hormones kick in, changing your kid in a variety of ways. These include the growth of facial hair.
If you see your kid having enough hair on his face to shave it off, then it’s the right time to teach him how to shave.
Be aware though that shaving an adult and a kid are two different cases. What works for an adult may not work for a child so it helps to spend more time preparing for his first shave than the actual shaving itself. Here are some things that you should look out for when preparing to induct your kid to the world of wet shaving.
Know Your Kid’s Skin
During the teenager phase, your kid’s skin is very sensitive. It’s also prone to acne break-outs. The last thing you want to do is to introduce him into shaving and getting horrible results: like having the reddest razor burn after the shave, or experiencing an apocalyptic eruption of zits.
We guarantee you it will make him miserable and traumatized enough to hate shaving for life.
This is why when assembling a wet shaving starter kit for your kid, you need to pick the best tools and products that will make the entire experience memorable and fun for him.
Pick the Right Razor
We’d like to think of this as our cardinal rule in every shaving experience. In order to get the best shaving results, you need to use a manual razor instead of electric ones. If you’re using an electric razor now, we’re sorry dude, but you can’t use that on your kid.
Electric razors are convenient but they don’t provide the best close shaves. Granted that your kid’s facial hair at this point may only consist of a few scraggly strands of baby hair masquerading as whiskers, but electric razors are also prone to making nicks and cuts which cause acne afterward.
In our opinion, the best razor to do the job is the safety razor. A safety razor is safe enough for a kid to use since it has safety grilles that prevent the blade from touching the skin. This minimizes the chances a kid would get cut by the blade. Like a straight razor, it can give a close shave but given his thin hairs at this point, that won’t be really be an issue.
The kid won’t need to learn stropping or honing either. A safety razor blade is easily replaceable and would not require any maintenance. This would be a perfect tool for a kid who easily gets impatient, because he won’t need to spend more time maintaining it.
Overall, there’s a shorter learning curve; your kid can easily get the hang of it.
Use an All Natural Soap instead of Cream
A high quality natural soap will ensure that your kid’s sensitive skin will get the luxurious and healthy treatment it deserves. Shaving creams, especially ones that come from compressed cans, can have synthetic chemicals that might dry and irritate the skin.
Pick the shaving soap that’s best for his skin type. Natural shaving soaps usually include some natural essential oils in their formulation to provide added benefits to the skin. If he has oily skin or is prone to blemishes, pick something that has soothing properties, like lavender or aloe vera.
You can teach him how to lather his soap or do the lathering for him. Personally, we feel that bonding over a scuttle and a shaving brush is one of the best ways to create a cherished childhood memory.
The kid has to learn how to shave himself. It’s just like learning to drive on a stick shift; he may not be able to use the skill regularly but at least he knows.
— D'Rock, Naked Armor Founder
How to Prevent Cuts
There are two ways of dealing with this. First, you can shave him yourself.
If you’ve been using a safety razor all your shaving life, then this should be an easy job. Your kid will have a fun and easy time with you shaving his baby fuzz off without getting the accidental cuts and nicks. But if this is your first time to use a safety razor, well, you better learn how to use it first.
Like we said earlier, using a safety razor has a shorter learning curve. So we’re very sure you won’t flunk at this. Just to be sure though, you can check this out for some tips or view this tutorial.
The second option is coaching him on how to do it himself.
Now this is a more sensible advice because at some point the kid has to learn how to shave himself. It’s just like learning to drive on a stick shift; he may not be able to use the skill regularly but at least he knows. You never know, he might find it handy in the future.
Before you go about teaching him, though, we’re giving you some tips that you can use so that the overall learning experience will be fun for the kid.
• Do the shaving tutorial after he takes a warm bath or shower to make his skin clear and soft.
• Teach him how to splash warm water on his face to stimulate the skin and make his baby facial hairs stand up.
• Show him how to use his shaving soap with your scuttle. With the right volume and froth, the lather will produce enough lubrication to protect the skin while the razor cuts his baby beard.
• Show him how to hold the safety razor gently. And then teach him to always shave along the grain of their hair, not against. Later on, when he grows up, he’ll learn that it will be okay to shave against the grain. By that time, his skin will be tough enough to handle the blade friction.
At present though, his sensitive skin won’t be able to tolerate shaving against the grain. Doing so would only cause rashes and acne.
• Shave step by step. The fun part here is that you can help him map out the shaving areas on his lather-filled face by using his fingers to trace the areas on his chin. Don’t rush; show him that shaving gently and slowly is an exercise in mindful patience.
• After showing him how to shave, teach him how to apply an aftershave product. There are lots of aftershave products with natural essential oils that are best for a specific type of skin. Choose one which is best for him.
Spartacus Safety Razor Kit
Now if you don’t have time to shop around for shaving products in order to assemble your starter kit for your kid, you don’t have to look any further.
Here at Naked Armor, we’ve assembled a fine selection of shaving products that can be used as a starter kit for anyone looking for a luxurious shaving experience.
We’ve named it the Spartacus Safety Razor Kit after the Thracian gladiator turned military leader. It’s a courageous name fit for a kid brave enough to enter the world of wet shaving.
It comes with a safety razor, with a head made from high grade stainless steel, and a handle made of valuable sandalwood. It also has our own organically produced natural shaving soap, plus an animal-cruelty free shaving brush that’s guaranteed to make your lather even more luxurious.
The best part of it is that it comes out of an elegantly designed box ready for shaving. It’s hassle-free!
Check us out now. Or Click Add to Cart to purchase.
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