Ever since I started shaving at around 14 or 15, I’ve had trouble with nasty razor burn / razor bumps. No tips I read anywhere helped, and I had just given up on it.

Well, my wife read something the other day, and since using this new method, I have gotten the closest shaves of my life, with no irritation at all.

The key is baking soda! Don’t bother with shaving cream/gel, you won’t need it. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Get about 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda in your hand (faces are all different, so the amount will vary), and add enough water to it to make it into a thick paste.
2. Rub the paste into your face on all the areas that you will be shaving. Don’t rub too much. The baking soda will also exfoliate your skin, but since it’s abrasive can also irritate your skin if you overdo it. You’ll get the hang of how much you need to rub it in.
3. Rinse all the baking soda off of your face. Be careful to get it all– if you DO cut yourself you definitely don’t want baking soda getting into the cut.
4. Shave! Don’t bother with cream or gel. The baking soda makes your hairs stick out a little more and softens them up. You can barely even hear the razor cutting the hairs. I prefer one pass with the grain, one pass against the grain, but YMMV.

Like I said before, this greatly reduces redness and irritation, and you’ll have closer shaves. Plus, the exfoliation caused by the baking soda will leave your skin clearer and softer.

EDIT: The only reason I added “(updated)” at the end and the “-2″ to the URL was to change this post. For some reason all my Akismet spam is hitting this post.