Thread: What should be a good post shave treatment ?

I personally like Trumpers sandalwood skin food, thats great stuff.

The treatment you give yourself after your shaves should be what you find nice and appealing to you. There are several choices, and I'm sure you'll find many that will do just fine. As for the ingredients, here's a couple of the common:

Alcohol - this helps disinfect your face and reduce the chance for infections in the very small cuts and abrasions your knife leaves on your skin. They probably are there after your shave, whether you actually bleed or not. It also works as an astringent. Alcohol does dry your skin out.

Witch hazel: This works as an astringent. It helps close the pores after the warm water and tones the skin.

Certain oils, like tea tree and a number of others are used to aid in disinfecting, reducing bacteria, promoting healing of any minor nicks and cuts, etc.

Oils and butters: help moisturize your skin after the stress that the shaving and all our shaving paraphernalia actually puts on it. (soaps can dry your skin, razor may nick, etc.)

Vitamins, proteins and whatnot are also sometimes added to after shave treatments, to help your skin stay healthy.

Personally, I just use a high alcohol % splash to disinfect, and a shea butter moisturizer to counteract any drying. Works fine for me - ymmv

Originally Posted by str8fencer

The treatment you give yourself after your shaves should be what you find nice and appealing to you. There are several choices, and I'm sure you'll find many that will do just fine. As for the ingredients, here's a couple of the common:

Alcohol - this helps disinfect your face and reduce the chance for infections in the very small cuts and abrasions your knife leaves on your skin. They probably are there after your shave, whether you actually bleed or not. It also works as an astringent. Alcohol does dry your skin out.

Witch hazel: This works as an astringent. It helps close the pores after the warm water and tones the skin.

Certain oils, like tea tree and a number of others are used to aid in disinfecting, reducing bacteria, promoting healing of any minor nicks and cuts, etc.

Oils and butters: help moisturize your skin after the stress that the shaving and all our shaving paraphernalia actually puts on it. (soaps can dry your skin, razor may nick, etc.)

Vitamins, proteins and whatnot are also sometimes added to after shave treatments, to help your skin stay healthy.

Personally, I just use a high alcohol % splash to disinfect, and a shea butter moisturizer to counteract any drying. Works fine for me - ymmv

Thanks alot, you awnsered all my questions! What % alcohol do you use ?

I use 60% alcohol, or 120 proof, but only because that's the strongest I can get my hands on in my country. I'd use perfumer's alcohol if I could. The stronger the alcohol is, the more essential oils it can hold before going cloudy. (cloudy means it has been saturated and can contain no more oil). For splashes and colognes, 60% is fine, and perhaps even 40%/80 proof could be used. I did not try, but it may be more cost efficient. Oh, also a point - cloudiness doesn't really matter much at all, it only means that the solution is not stable and will split - so it must be thoroughly mixed shaken before application. I do this by shaking vigorously for 2 seconds

A good post shave treatment is one that keeps your skin feeling soft and nourished like a baby's butt. You will have to find out what works for you by trial and error with products. I have a review up in the post-shave section if you want to read it:

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