The Next Review is a little special to me. For years men have been shaving with razors that are no good, get gunked up easily, and use canned foam. In the past they did it right there are things called double edged safety razors. I used to shave with a mach 3 and I was prone to occasional irritation and bumps on my neck. Since switching to my DE I no longer have this issue. A while back, I had to use a mach 3 again in a pinch, and bam, bumps / irritation.

I recall reading something on this a while back. Something about having several blades is too agressive for your face.

I've found using a bath towel to work best. It retains enough hot water to last 3-5 minutes without having to make hot again. The hand towel is probably the worst, but still effective. I find myself having to run hot water several times over the towel to keep it hot for good prep. I have no experience using a barber towel but I like the idea of having a larger towel that isn't as thick as a bath towel. I usually add a couple drops of Trumpers West Indian Limes Skin Food to my face or Proraso's Pre/Post Shave Cream to my face before adding the hot towel. My wife recently introduced me to the following which works well but is time consuming: Bring water to almost boiling, add some cloves, lemon peel or anything else or nothing to the water, put the pot of water on a heat resistant surface, put your head over the water and cover both your head and the pot with a large bath towel. Making sure no steam escapes. Come up for air when you need to. You just made a mini homemade steamer for your face. It feels damn good and after 5 minutes your face is more than ready, better than a shower IMO.

Run brush and soap tin under hot water in sink.
Remove both...create lather.
Lather face in quick stabby motions.
Shave north to south.
Lather again.
Shave outside in.
Lather again.
Shave south to north.
Lather again.
Touch up ..usually chin and jawline.
Rinse face well with lukewarm water.
Apply alum to face.
Rinse brush and razor with piping hot water.
Shake out brush, hang to dry.
Rinse razor head in small cup of alcohol/aqua velva mix.
Dry razor.
Put on deodorent, powders, etc.
Rinse face again, this time dry with towel.
Heavily apply witch hazel.
Get dressed, add cologne.
Apply after shave lotion.
Drink coffee.
Go to work.
Sleep.
Repeat.

Here is the DE I use, I highly recommend you check it out!