Gillette

Product Overview

Gillette Sensitive Skin Shaving Foam in a 200ml can, original scent, with aloe vera in the formula. It builds a rich creamy lather that gives the blade a proper cushion to glide on.

The Sensitive formulation exists for the same reason every brand has one: most shaving discomfort is friction, and a thicker, more slippery lather is the direct answer to it.

What the Aloe Is Doing

Aloe vera is genuinely soothing on irritated skin — it is not a token ingredient here. It will not undo damage from a blunt blade or a bad technique, but on skin that gets red after shaving it takes some of the edge off.

How to Shave Without Wrecking Your Face

1. Soften the beard first. Shave after a shower, or hold a warm damp towel to your face for a minute. Dry hair is about as tough as copper wire of the same thickness; wet hair is far easier to cut.
2. Apply the cream, foam or gel and give it a minute to work before you start. Most people start too soon.
3. Shave with the grain, in the direction the hair grows, using short light strokes. Let the blade do the work.
4. Do not press. Pressure is what causes nicks and irritation, not a blunt blade.
5. Rinse the blade every few strokes so it does not clog.
6. Rinse your face with cool water at the end to close things down, and pat dry — do not rub.
7. Moisturise or apply a balm while the skin is still slightly damp.

Change the blade often. A blunt blade drags and tears rather than cutting, and that is what leaves you sore. Most people get five to seven comfortable shaves from a cartridge.

Razor Bumps and Ingrown Hairs

Those small red, sometimes painful bumps after shaving are ingrown hairs — a hair that has curled back and grown into the skin instead of out of it. They are not an infection and they are not dirt.

Coarse or curly beard hair is far more prone to it, which is why this is such a common complaint here and much rarer for men with fine straight hair. What actually helps:

• Stop shaving against the grain. Going against the grain cuts the hair below the skin surface, which is exactly how it ends up trapped. A slightly less close shave with no bumps is a better shave.
• Do not stretch the skin tight while shaving, for the same reason.
• Use a fresh blade, and fewer passes.
• Exfoliate gently a couple of times a week to keep the hair from being trapped under dead skin.
• Never dig a hair out with a needle or tweezers. That is how a bump becomes an infection and then a scar.
• Give the skin a rest. A few days of not shaving lets trapped hairs work their way out.

If bumps are widespread, painful, filled with pus or leaving dark marks, see a doctor — there are treatments for it, and it is worth not living with.

Patch Test First

Before the first full use, put a small amount on the inside of your forearm or behind the ear and leave it for 24 hours. If there is redness, itching, burning or a rash, do not use it on your face.

This matters more than it sounds for grooming products. Freshly shaved skin has had its top layer scraped off, and a fragranced product that is fine on an arm can sting badly on a face that was shaved five minutes ago.

Keep it out of your eyes. If it gets in, rinse with plenty of cool water.

Hygiene

• Do not share razors, blades or trimmer heads. They break the skin, and anything that breaks skin can pass on infection.
• Rinse and dry a razor after every use and stand it somewhere it can air. A wet blade in a closed bathroom cabinet blunts and grows bacteria.
• Clean a trimmer head between users if it is shared inside a household.
• Do not shave over a spot, a mole or broken skin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it only work with Gillette razors?

No. The can says “compatible with Gillette razors” because it is a Gillette product; the foam works with any razor.

Foam or gel for sensitive skin?

Both work. Gel cushions slightly more and lets you see the line you are shaving; foam is faster and easier to rinse off the blade. Personal preference more than anything.

How long does a can last?

Roughly one to two months of daily shaving.

I have sensitive skin. Is it suitable?

Patch test it first and see. Fragrance and alcohol are the two most common causes of a reaction in grooming products, so check the ingredient list for both if your skin is reactive.

How should I store it?

Cool, dry, closed and out of direct sunlight. Not on a sunny windowsill and not in the hottest corner of the bathroom — heat degrades fragrance and active ingredients faster than anything else.