Thread: I Now Understand the Importance of Beard Prep

I received a new razor recently, real nice and said to be a great shaver. It's not quite a perfect edge, though, and I have been practicing only on my side burns and cheeks because it pulls the thicker mustache and beard hairs. Before I made my basic strop, I was practicing unstropped and without any real beard prep. Boy, was I clueless...

After completing my strop, I decided to see about the quality of the edge again. This time I gave it 100 passes on a bare cow hide strop and I took a hot shower before starting. I warmed the soap and worked warm lather onto my skin, as opposed to the previous cold lather.

The results? The edge seemed twice as sharp, cut through coarser hair without pulling, and glided through the thinner hair with noticeably greater ease. It was night and day. The edge is definitely not honed well enough, so the stropping was certainly not everything here as its effects won't be significant until the edge is perfected. That makes it obvious that the preparation was a huge contributor.

I am no expert here, brand new in fact, but if any newbies are having trouble with comfort or closeness and happen to stumble across this post, take this advice from one newbie to another: Prepare your face! I was foolish for assuming it was some minor "bonus" aspect of shaving, it's clearly more than that.

Before this shave I was using luke warm or cold lather on fresh, dry skin with a blade that wasn't just stropped. Impatience was my folly, now I see this.

As an advocate for cold water shaves let me make it clear. You have a partially erroneous statement in your post. HOT or COLD face and lather have nothing to do with the quality of shave. You stated the problem explicitly, ""on fresh, dry skin with a blade that wasn't just stropped. Impatience was my folly, now I see this." Many men over the past centuries have shaved only with cold water because not being wealthy, they couldn't afford the luxury of hot water. I repeat: HOT or COLD water and lather has nothing to do with the quality of your shave. It, as I have also found out, it's operator error, not the tools.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

As an advocate for cold water shaves let me make it clear. You have a partially erroneous statement in your post. HOT or COLD face and lather have nothing to do with the quality of shave. You stated the problem explicitly, ""on fresh, dry skin with a blade that wasn't just stropped. Impatience was my folly, now I see this." Many men over the past centuries have shaved only with cold water because not being wealthy, they couldn't afford the luxury of hot water. I repeat: HOT or COLD water and lather has nothing to do with the quality of your shave. It, as I have also found out, it's operator error, not the tools.

Hmmm. Is the same true for the hot towel/shower practice?

All I know is that among the handful of preparation methods done, at least some of them made the experience much better. The blade still didn't cut thicker hairs without pulling so it seems like it wasn't actually much sharper, but the shave was better, more comfortable, and more smooth.

My prep is splashing my face with cold water, then face lather the soap of the day....and whether I have a 1 day or 1 week growth, it makes no difference to the blade, still cuts the hair at the same place...

Originally Posted by Phrank

My prep is splashing my face with cold water, then face lather the soap of the day....and whether I have a 1 day or 1 week growth, it makes no difference to the blade, still cuts the hair at the same place...

Same here too. OTH if having a shower, using hot towels and other assorted pre shave rituals makes you feel better about shaving by all means have at her. Everyone has to find what works for them.

A sharp blade is key and a good stropping too combined with a lather of the proper consistency, matters not if made with hot or cold water, are the other bare essentials from where I sit.

Bob

If you think prep is part of the problem you first need to make sure you have a truly shave ready razor. Then you can try different prep methods and/or combinations. What I discovered was that I have sensitive skin, can't take any soap/cream with menthol, eucalyptus or Shea butter in it. Also, my dermatologist made me unhappy with the fact that I have, albeit, a mild case, Rosacea. Hot water doesn't do it any good. I've gone to a series of folk remedies as well as medication to keep it as subdued as possible. Lukewarm or cold water is a blessing in this case. Make sure you have a well honed razor and experiment with that as the stable element in the equation and see where you go. ANd do let us know what you find and post it. Other members experiences are what helped me find my way.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

If you think prep is part of the problem you first need to make sure you have a truly shave ready razor. Then you can try different prep methods and/or combinations. What I discovered was that I have sensitive skin, can't take any soap/cream with menthol, eucalyptus or Shea butter in it. Also, my dermatologist made me unhappy with the fact that I have, albeit, a mild case, Rosacea. Hot water doesn't do it any good. I've gone to a series of folk remedies as well as medication to keep it as subdued as possible. Lukewarm or cold water is a blessing in this case. Make sure you have a well honed razor and experiment with that as the stable element in the equation and see where you go. ANd do let us know what you find and post it. Other members experiences are what helped me find my way.

A shave ready razor is the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and end of any great straight razor shave....Razorfeld is correct to stress this.....

Also, re-posting this old thread, there is a booklet from 1905: Shaving Made Easy...I found it very informative:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post544022

If you think prep doesn't matter try splashing some water on your face and use Barbasol from a can, I have as an experiment and it wasn't pretty even with a very shave ready razor!!

Try cold, cool, warm and hot prep and see what works best for you. As others have said a properly stropped shave ready razor is the key to a comfortable shave

Well then, perhaps my experience was a bit misleading. I was certain there was a difference, but perhaps it was my technique improving.

With so many counter points, I may resign this thread as mislead and misleading.

I find it hard to believe that organic material like hair would cut the same despite its condition, especially regarding water and temperature, considering how much of an effect these elements can have.

Still, experience is experience, and I don't have much to stand on. Maybe the incredibly sharp edge of a razor just doesn't care about the condition of the skin and hair, it's gonna cut it easy either way.

Originally Posted by Sirnanigans

Well then, perhaps my experience was a bit misleading. I was certain there was a difference, but perhaps it was my technique improving.

With so many counter points, I may resign this thread as mislead and misleading.

I find it hard to believe that organic material like hair would cut the same despite its condition, especially regarding water and temperature, considering how much of an effect these elements can have.

Still, experience is experience, and I don't have much to stand on. Maybe the incredibly sharp edge of a razor just doesn't care about the condition of the skin and hair, it's gonna cut it easy either way.

It takes time to find the sweet spot, and believe me, you'll know when you find it, nothing like it in the world.....

The 1905 Shaving Made Easy presents an interesting case, which for me, seems to be true, cold water to presumably tighten the skin, and the lather's purpose is to raise the whiskers for cutting, rather than soften them...for me this works and makes sense.

Having said that, nothing like a shave parade once in awhile, boiling water in the scuttle for some hot lather, some type of pre-shave, a fine soap that's nice and hot...the whole she-bang....but that's one of the joys in this, mixing it up and finding multiple combinations that work for you...and that's the part that continues to evolve and which I enjoy tremendously.