The 10 Minute Shave

I had been thinking that I might use cartridges when I have to leave home really early.

Being fairly new to wet shaving, it usually takes me 25-40 minutes.

I was able to do a 10 minute shave this past week and got a decent shave, though I don't want to do this all the time.

Here's what I did:

1. Quick shower.
2. Quick pre-shave oil
3. Synthetic brush that didn't need to soak, got it wet.
4. Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving cream.
5. I didn't pursue perfect lather, though did get good lather.
6. Gillette Tech and Swede blade. A Feather blade would have been ugly.
6. Two passes and touch up, focusing more on no zero blood and irritation than closeness of the shave

The yield was a good shave. Certainly not a damn good shave, but quite passable.

From experience I can assure you that it gets easier with time. I can do my normal 3 pass shave in about 10 minutes now after 1 1/2 years DE and SE shaving, it used to take around 20 minutes. I shave 90% of the time with 1912s or a 1914, so my slim or other DE are even easier.

It does get easier with practice and time.
As mentioned above, I can also get a decent 3-pass shave in 10 minutes or less with my Weber DLC, any of my badger brushes, and a good soap.
Nonetheless, I am glad I very rarely have to do this as I enjoy taking my time every morning.

I can shave in under 4 minutes if I need to. Cleaning up the mess I made in the bathroom takes a hell of a lot longer though. lol

My 3 pass shave with touch up lasts around 5 minutes, I have no desire shaving close to 40 min but to each its own, do what suits you the most

I think you are looking at this all wrong. Why would you want to rush something so enjoyable into a short timeframe where you have to skip steps and accept the substandard shave as "passable"?

Having completed on 22 years of active duty, it is a time honored tradition of the military to "recall" their forces and require them to report in lass than 20 minuted of the phone call. In the 90s it wasnt so bad as the recall notification usually had you show up within half an hour of your normal report time anyway. But that just wasnt fun enough for them. They tried to scheme and plot to make it ever harder for us to show up in that 20 minute time frame. Basically they just tried to call us at ever earlier times in the morning. By the time I retired in 2013 the recalls were happening at 0330 and 0400 on Fridays and Mondays. It goes without saying that you have to arrive in inspection order. Looking like Bruce Willis ready to defend your skyscraper doesnt earn you any cool points.
To be honest I would much rather be chugging down my mandatory half gallon of coffee while throwing my crap together to get there on time rather than shaving with one eye open, picking crust out of the other.

Hence the purpose of night shaving. This allows you plenty of time to chug coffee and do the flight of the bumblebee and arrive in time looking like a million bucks. If you hit the rack by 2200 and rise by 0500 you will have almost zero stubble in that timeframe. In fact, the shave is so fresh that a re-application of aftershave will still give you that same burn as 5-7 hours previously.

The one caveat are the fair skin men with dark facial hair ie Greek and Middle Eastern. Although they may be clean shaven, even if it "looks" like they havent. I was a kind and generous NCO that understood this and never sanctioned them during open ranks inspections. But I could always tell the guys who hadnt shaved in 12 hours. I would call them out every time. I've seen your picture so I know this doesnt apply to you Pete.

My point is, dont short yourself the enjoyment of an awesome shave without a time limit for something that is "passable". If you shave at night during your shower time, you will still be presentable the following day.

With time and practice you shouldn't have an issue getting it done within 10 minutes. I am able to get a great 3 pass shave and clean up the area and brush within 10-12 minutes. On the weekend I enjoy taking a little extra time.


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I think you are looking at this all wrong. Why would you want to rush something so enjoyable into a short timeframe where you have to skip steps and accept the substandard shave as "passable"?

Having completed on 22 years of active duty, it is a time honored tradition of the military to "recall" their forces and require them to report in lass than 20 minuted of the phone call. In the 90s it wasnt so bad as the recall notification usually had you show up within half an hour of your normal report time anyway. But that just wasnt fun enough for them. They tried to scheme and plot to make it ever harder for us to show up in that 20 minute time frame. Basically they just tried to call us at ever earlier times in the morning. By the time I retired in 2013 the recalls were happening at 0330 and 0400 on Fridays and Mondays. It goes without saying that you have to arrive in inspection order. Looking like Bruce Willis ready to defend your skyscraper doesnt earn you any cool points.
To be honest I would much rather be chugging down my mandatory half gallon of coffee while throwing my crap together to get there on time rather than shaving with one eye open, picking crust out of the other.

Hence the purpose of night shaving. This allows you plenty of time to chug coffee and do the flight of the bumblebee and arrive in time looking like a million bucks. If you hit the rack by 2200 and rise by 0500 you will have almost zero stubble in that timeframe. In fact, the shave is so fresh that a re-application of aftershave will still give you that same burn as 5-7 hours previously.

The one caveat are the fair skin men with dark facial hair ie Greek and Middle Eastern. Although they may be clean shaven, even if it "looks" like they havent. I was a kind and generous NCO that understood this and never sanctioned them during open ranks inspections. But I could always tell the guys who hadnt shaved in 12 hours. I would call them out every time. I've seen your picture so I know this doesnt apply to you Pete.

My point is, dont short yourself the enjoyment of an awesome shave without a time limit for something that is "passable". If you shave at night during your shower time, you will still be presentable the following day.

I was active duty too and tried getting away with shaving at night. Unfortunately I have the lighter complexion and darker beard that grows fast so I got called out on my stubble a lot. It depended who was checking and how strict there were. In basic training there was no way I could get away with it, so there I stood every morning on the line getting inspected and my butt chewed out for either bleeding or having toilet paper on my face to stop the bleeding. They didn't care that I have sensitive skin, but I didn't complain about it either. This is why when I got out I wore a beard for 7 years and only shaved my neck. Then I discovered DE razors and the brush and soap routine and have enjoyed great shaves ever since.

Yea, in basic, nobody gets a pass on anything. The butt chewing was like grape jelly, nobody likes it but its everywhere!

With practice you'll find that with a DE razor or even a straight razor you can get a good shave just as fast as you can with one of those plastic things. When I started straight razor shaving again after a long absence, I was pretty slow, but now I can shave with a straight about as fast as I can with a DE razor, assuming we don't count stropping time. After a while muscle memory and improved technique take over and it becomes more or less rote. At that point, you can decide whether your want to linger and enjoy it or just get it done and get moving. You'll get a great shave either way.