Besides Toilet Paper on Your Face...

No matter how careful I may be, shaving nicks and cuts are bound to happen.  The first thing guys do, is reach for the toilet paper.  Yes, we apply those small pieces of toilet paper to our little wounds and wait for them to clot up.  Its effective, but it takes some time for the bleeding to stop and its easy to forget that you have those little papers on your face but now they are little pieces of bloody tissue paper on your face.

Here are some alternative remedies that go beyond toilet paper.

Styptic pencils. A styptic pencil is a small stick made of mineral astringents like anhydrous aluminum sulfate, potassium alum, or titanium dioxide… don't ask me what all that is, I don't know, but I know it works to stop the bleeding.

Alum block. This is a bar-of-soap-sized block of potassium alum that you wet, and rub on your face after shaving. It works pretty much the same way as a styptic pencil – shrinking the skin’s tissues and stymying the flow of blood. The only difference is that while the styptic pencil is for spot-treatments, alum blocks are for treating your entire face… and if thats the case, you need to be more careful while shaving.

Aftershaves.  The alcohol in many aftershaves acts as an astringent, and so can help slow bleeding a bit. If your aftershave has witch hazel in it as well, even better!  And alcohol also acts as an antiseptic, which can help prevent skin infections like razor burn. To top it all off, aftershaves leave you smelling awesomely manly. I know guys that don’t like the sting of aftershaves, but I personally enjoy it. Wakes me up a bit!

Sometimes cold water can be all you need, and you’re almost sure to have it on hand. It will cause your blood vessels to constrict, causing the flow of blood to slow and eventually clot. I've heard that rubbing an ice cube on the cut, you get faster results…burr!

Anti-Perspirant, Lip balm,Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline), and Listerine. That’s right. The stuff you use to make your mouth feel all fresh and clean can also be applied to your shaving nicks. After all, it did actually start out as a surgical antiseptic and was used to clean wounds on the battlefields of WWI.

     See, you have plenty of choices besides little pieces of toilet paper… which I know will always be the first thing you'll reach for.