How to prepare for hot towel shave ?

Applying a hot towel on your face before a shave, in addition to offering more relaxation and comfort, has several other advantages as well.

The following are typically the steps to follow for a hot towel shave:

Select your barber towels – Barber shaving towels are specially designed to hold more water and retain the heat for longer. They come in a range of colors from white barber towels, blue stripe barber towels to absolutely anything else that you prefer; they can be customized with your logo or brand name as well.

The 100% cotton towels are easy to maintain and are often considered the best barber towels for personal grooming as they provide breathability.

Add essential oils to the dry towel – You can skip this step; however, adding essential oils to the dry towel before steaming it gives you an even further luxurious and relaxing experience while also giving you the added benefit of the oil. You can select from an array of essential oils to be added - Lavender, Sandalwood, Tea Tree, and Eucalyptus are just some of the most widely used oils.

Heat the towels – There are various ways to heat a barber towel

• Run the towel under hot water – either under the tap, or you can use a kettle.
• One can also run it through regular water and then microwave the towel for about half a minute.

Place the towel on your face - Once the towel is hot, you can leave the towel on your face before proceeding with a shave. Please be mindful that the towel is not scalding hot. As the face is more sensitive than your hands, to check if the towel is of the perfect temperature, you can first place it on your chin to gauge sensitivity and then proceed to wrap your face with the towel.

Also, make sure that all the face parts that need to be shaved should be covered with the towel – the beard area, the mustache, the sideburns, and the neck area.

You can leave the hot towel on your face for about 30 seconds to a minute. To reap maximum benefits, you might have to repeat this process a couple of times so that the hair can absorb maximum water.

There are several advantages of placing a hot towel on your face:

• Aids in better blood circulation and relaxes the facial muscles.
• The heat helps in opening the pores and facilitates in dislodging any dirt or sebum on the surface.
• The heat from the towel softens up your beard, and a barber can give you a comfortable, closer, and more effortless shave with minor irritation.

When the towel starts to cool down, more of the hair follicles are exposed; this allows for a smoother shave, also reducing razor burn.

Once you remove the barber towel from your face the barber proceeds with the normal shaving routine. Applying a cold washcloth after the shaving routine helps in relaxation and in closing the pores. Post shaving, you should apply aftershave to reduce irritation.