How many shaving products do you really need? Surely you need some sort of shaving gel or similar to apply to your face during the acual shave. But how about preshave and aftershave? The amount of products is immense, and it can be hard to find your way through this consumer jungle. But at the Real Shaving Co, they try to make your life easier.

1, 2, 3 – shave

You can divide your daily shave into three steps.

The preshave, in which you prepare your face to the upcoming encounter with your razor. The preshave should clean your face as well as moisten the skin and your beard.

The actual shave – the war zone – when you let a sharp steel blade glide across your skin and through your bristles. The key is to keep your beard soft, moist and vigilant, while still getting the razor close to your face.

After the shave, when your skin is more vulnerable than usual, you probably need to add some moisture to your face again. A good aftershave will help protect your skin and give you a fantastic glow for the rest of the day.

This three part way of thinking is the basic concept of all products from The Real Shaving Co. All products are clearly marked as preshave, shave or aftershave products with a simple three-step system.

Part of my daily shave

I'm currently testing a few products, and among these are two products from The Real Shaving Co.

For the last two months, I have been using the Step 2 – Super Slide Shave Gel and Step 3 – Sooting Balm every now and then. I am testing several products, so I don't use them every day – and not always at the same time.

But I must say that I have been very satisfied with both products so far.

Super Slide Shave Gel

I had a few concerns about the Super Slide Shave Gel, as it is absolutely transparent. If you're used to the classic white foam on your face, it's actually a strange feeling to shave while you still see all of your vulnerable skin. It took me a few days before I had the guts to try the Super Slide Shave Gel with my Double Edge razors.

For some reason, I didn't have any concerns using the Wilkinson Hydro 5 (Schick Hydro 5) with the transparent gel. But I have just recently begun using my DE razors with the gel. In fact, I still feel that the transparency of the Super Slide Shave Gel fits the “safe” cartridge type razors better than it fits Double Edge or straight razors.

So if you're using the Wilkinson / Schick / Gillette Fusion / Azor type of razor – and want to try a nice, gentle, paraben free shave gel – I suggest you give the Real Shaving Co Super Slide Shave Gel a try… (hmm – that is a long name, isn't it?)

You will have to apply the gel to your face by hand – it doesn't work well with a brush. Just make sure to massage it good around your entire face and neck and make sure you're not missing any spots.

Soothing aftershave
The aftershave balm – or “Post Shave Daily Soothing Balm” as it's called – contains Aloe Vera to help moisten and reduce irritation of your skin. The list of ingredients is a long one, but there are no parabens or sodium laureth sulfates, so that's a plus to me.

The post shave balm has a very distinct scent. I haven't quite figured out what it is yet, but probably a combination of the Aloe, coconut oil, rooibus extract and a few more things. But to me, it is just the scent of “having just stepped out of the shower and feeling clean”.

Note on the scent: After having pondered about this for hours, I asked my wife as she said goodnight… “Oh, that's easy… It's apples, dear!”

Do you use any of the Real Shaving products? Which is your favorite? And what does the post shave balm actually smell of? Join the discussions by adding your comments below.

Visit Real Shaving Co on http://www.realshaving.com