i shave after i shower but i'm asian and i don't have near densely as much hair on my face as caucasian people. But the way I was taught how to shave is to use warm water on my face and blade to loosen up the skin, shave, then cool down with cold water after my shave that way my pores close and tighten. After that apply aftershave gel for any possible cuts/etc. I have to shave every 2 days so don't take my word on it but I rarely run into ingrown hairs. Also I shave with the grain, i tried shaving against it once and although it's a deeper shave i got more ingrowns.