I used it when I first started, got better at shaving, and started blaming poor shaves on the oil (though the reality was a drop-off in beard prep).

I tend to do a much more fully-rounded ritual every day with shave-prep and hot towel over lather treatments. I have four bottles of pre-shave oil, two of them AoS, and they have found a nice home back in my shaving routine. I've heard somewhere that pre-shave oil tends to be very good for newbies, and does less and less as you get better at shaving. I'm only 9 months in, but I do think I have a pretty decent technique, and the AoS oil does seem to provide a gentler glide over my face as I hack away. It doesn't outperform my Musgo Real or TOBS pre-shave oil, but it does just as good a job, and I can pick it up locally rather than ordering online.