Thread: Shower first?

I have always shaved prior to taking a shower even before this great sport of ours. Almost everyone here seems to shower before shaving. When men went to the barber every other day or so for a shave they obviously were not right out of the shower.

What did barbers use other than hot towels and lather for comfort?

Is everyone showering first to save on the hot towels or maybe not even doing the hot towel?

What, if anything are you treating mirrors with so they do not fogged up when you are shaving?

I have been doing the two hot towels with lather after the first like Lynn does in his video. I am getting awesome shaves but the towel time does take ten minutes or so. I am not trying to rush. While I have a towel on I prepare my lather. I am just curious about what barbers may have used in days of old and if everyone who is showering first is skipping the towels.

I shower before shaving and never use towels.
To de-fog the mirrors I turns the exhaust fan in the bathroom on.

A shower makes for a good shave but so does washing my face with lukewarm water & soap, some Proraso preshave and cold water lathering. A shower is nice but, I think, vastly overrated as "thee" preshave treatment.

I used to think it was necessary to shower first. I have come to determine there is no difference for me. I feel like the steam of the shower is nice, but the oils on my skin when I don't shower first seem to be nice for the shave as well. In other words, I can't find a difference at all and I am making up reasons why one is better than the other

I always do and wash my stubble before I shave

I find the hair softer and a better lather on clean hair

I can't shave in the fog either :<0) Hot wash cloth and do it like you would in the shower is the same thing for me.

I did read an old barbers manual that said cold water is better for the skin for shave prep. Not for this cowboy. Cold water on the face is like sitting on an ice chest and thinking the lid is closed.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

I shower before shaving and never use towels.
To de-fog the mirrors I turns the exhaust fan in the bathroom on.

Ditto!

Never have showered before shaving. I do no prep, wet face and face lather using cold water. Never had a mirror fog up either. Any kind of pre shave prep just never gave me a better shave so why do it. I face lather so you really get a good face scrub that way, two birds with one stone? Anyway each to their own.

Bob

I like a shower afterwards if there is time - my preshave routine involves rubbing my face with warm water and then shaving as normal.

In the "days of old" my barber (can't speak for all of them) first went over my face with a warm, damp facecloth and then draped a hot towel over everything except my nose. It was very warm, having been steamed, but not particularly wet. The first couple times he shaved me, he spent some time checking the direction of beard growth, swirl locations, etc. I very strongly suspect that the process was a holdover from a time when mens' faces were not as clean as now. Bad things can happen if a piece of facial grit catches an edge in mid-stroke.
For fog, you can spit on the mirror and rub it around or I've heard the cut side of a potato will give the same effect. I usually just use a towel. :-)