Shaving on the go: The travel shaver's guide.

You love your beard, but when you have to hit the road, it can complicate things. It requires constant maintenance, and taking care of it when you’re out of the home can be tough. 

As always, MANSCAPED® is here to the rescue. If you want some help with shaving and beard maintenance on the road, we have you covered. It really comes down to planning, packing, and practice. We’ll cover all three today. 

The challenge. 

Then again, what exactly is so hard about shaving on the go? Just pack a razor and shave in your hotel bathroom, right? 

The thing is, travel usually comes with a lot of unexpected circumstances, and that’s what we’re trying to help you overcome today. You might have a bathroom with no mirror. That certainly makes things tough.  

What if you’re roughing it and don’t have running water?  

There are a thousand little (and sometimes major) things that can get in the way, but with a good plan, you can overcome pretty much all of them. 

Solutions.  

That brings us to the simple solutions. With a little planning, you can easily pack everything you need for beard maintenance. Add to that some practice and preparation, and you can shave even in the weirdest circumstances without butchering your face or looking rougher for wear.    

A good Dopp kit.  

This is really it. When you need to shave on the go, arrange yourself a Dopp kit, and it’ll make it easy to take all of your essentials with you. If you aren’t already familiar with Dopp kits, here’s the rundown. 

You want to start with a nice travel bag that can hold all of your shaving and toiletry essentials. We make The Shed for this exact purpose. 

Then, you hand-pick what should go into the kit so that you have everything conveniently arranged while you’re away from home. Here’s a quick list of things you definitely, for sure, absolutely want to remember: 

• Toothbrush 
• Toothpaste 
• Floss 
• Deodorant 
• Shower goodies (like body wash and shampoo) 
• Beard goodies (like your razor, shaving gel, etc.) 

There are plenty of other things you can choose to include or not include in your kit, but those are the things you’re likely to need on any trip, no matter where you’re going or what you’re planning to do. 

As for shaving, there are some specific items that probably should go in your kit, and we have some recommendations listed in the next several sections. 

The Beard Hedger™  

To begin with, electric razors/trimmers make travel shaving a lot easier. You can use them without shaving gel. They have a much lower risk of cutting you or causing razor burn. They basically reduce the burden of shaving across the board. 

When your electric trimmer is The Beard Hedger™, things are that much easier. While this is an excellent at-home grooming tool, it’s also made with travel in mind. It’s convenient to use, cordless, easy to maintain, and relatively compact.  

It also has the Zoom Wheel. This nifty feature lets you pick your grooming length without the need for a whole bunch of attachments. That alone makes this a top-tier travel tool. 

So if you want shaving to be easy, just take The Beard Hedger™ and let it work hard for you. 

The Plow® 

If you prefer a razor blade, or if an electric trimmer isn’t the right solution for any reason, then you need a good razor. For that, we have The Plow® 2.0. 

This thing is simplicity perfected. It’s a two-edge safety razor, and that comes with a few advantages. First, you don’t need to take as many replacement blades with you. The double edge means that you get twice as much shaving out of each single blade. That makes packing easier. It can also help you get through airport restrictions and similar complications. 

Also, the lack of unneeded extras on this razor means that it takes up very little space in your kit. It gets the job done with excellent safety and it doesn’t complicate your life. It’s a clear winner when choosing a travel razor. 

Beard scissors 

Another trimming tool that might prove useful when you travel is a pair of beard scissors. These allow you to keep a full beard under control, and in a lot of cases, you can ditch the trimmer and the razor and just rely on the scissors. 

There are a lot of options available for scissors. We include a pair with The Beard Hedger™ Pro Kit. Regardless of which scissors you take, the plan is simple. 

Your small scissors allow you to trim your beard on the road. You don’t need any shaving cream or special extra products to make the scissors work. Just trim as needed. 

Keep one thing in mind, though. Certain types of travel may restrict how you’re allowed to carry scissors. Airport security, for instance, is constantly changing the rules, so make sure you double-check before you pack scissors in your carry on. 

Shampoo and conditioner 

If you keep your face smooth, or if you have a very short beard, this one probably doesn’t need to be in your kit. 

But if you have a thick, full beard of awesomeness, then you need beard shampoo and conditioner to take care of it. 

Now, we’re kind of assuming that you intend to shower on this trip. If you’re backpacking the Appalachian Trail or something, then maybe you won’t bring your beard shampoo and conditioner. You still want a Dopp kit for camping, but when showering isn’t a thing, beard wash becomes superfluous. You could still use a leave-in beard conditioner, but honestly, for that kind of rugged trip, leave them both at home. 

All of that said, if you're going to shower, then your beard shampoo and conditioner are important. If you use them before or after you groom, they can help reduce the risk of razor burn and any other fallout that tends to come with grooming your face. Also, they’ll keep your beard super pretty and wonderful. That’s always nice. 

Best of all, we make these bottles in a convenient size that easily fits in your Dopp kit. 

Other essentials 

Those are the most important essentials, but there are a few more things to consider as you customize your kit. If you’re sticking with a razor blade, shaving cream/gel certainly goes a long way. You can get those in travel-sized packages. 

Some beard balm or beard oil can also help. We’ll talk about styling in a minute and touch on how it can actually make grooming easier. Regardless, if you aren’t keeping your face completely smooth, then you want one of these things to keep your face moisturized underneath the beard. That helps control dandruff, and again, they’re easy products to take with you. 

One other thing to keep in mind is a travel mirror. If you’re staying in standard hotels, it isn’t necessary. But if your travel conditions are unknown—and especially if you know you won’t always have access to a hotel—then a mirror lets you control your own destiny as far as grooming goes. 

Last of all, you can put whatever you want in the kit. It’s your kit. We’re just making recommendations to try to help you cover your bases.

A little technical advice. 

Clearly, planning and stocking your Dopp kit accordingly is the key to success, but there are a few other things to consider that have nothing to do with which products you prefer. There are plenty of scenarios where you have to shave in awkward or uncommon settings, and to deal with that, you can either avoid the need to shave or practice shaving under bad conditions. 

Styling 

Something to keep in mind is that styling your beard can significantly lower the need to trim or shave. Just take some beard oil and spruce up your beard while you’re on the road. You can save meticulous grooming for when you get home. 

This might not prove ideal for all guys in all situations, but seriously consider if you can style your way out of the need to groom. Even if you still need to trim a little, styling could prevent the need to shave every day or any other hassle while you’re away from home. It’s worth considering. 

Practice makes perfect.

If shaving is absolutely going to be necessary, then there are some things you can do to make your life easier. Namely, practice. It might sound silly, but practicing shaving in suboptimal conditions can help you figure out a few things and get you ready for life on the road. 

There are three things to consider: reflections, lighting, and space. 

Start by shaving at home with your small travel mirror. If you can work that out, you’ve already solved some of the biggest problems. Then figure out how to do it in low light. Sure, a standard hotel has a bathroom with a big mirror and good lighting, but what about when you aren’t staying at a nice hotel? 

Third, practice shaving under cramped conditions. What if you need to get it done on a train or airplane? What if you’re trying to shave while camped out in a one-man tent? There are a lot of possibilities, so if you can get comfortable shaving when these three issues are present, then you can shave just about anywhere in the world.