Thread: How I Prepare My Beard

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Therin lies the bonus! I take my previously-used handtowel, squeeze out the water, fold it 4 times and lay it beside the sink. I strop the lather off the blade onto the towel as necessary. No running water, no faucet dings!

I use a damp sponge instead of a folded handtowel for exactly the same reasons, especially to avoid faucet dings.

Bob

I'm on the same page as Tom, washcloth after I've soaked my face then I fold it and wipe my blade, like Obie , I didn't much care for my bush shaves I. The Nam either, so I do a nice shave 90% of the time , but I do a quick shave with just tepid water when I. A rush I just like all the prep and with my stiff beard it does help. Tc

I talk to my beard, tell it everything's going to be all right. It won't hurt a bit....
Then I give my beard a massage, get it nice and relaxed.... Then.... Out of know where WHAM! .......I shave it

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

I talk to my beard, tell it everything's going to be all right. It won't hurt a bit....
Then I give my beard a massage, get it nice and relaxed.... Then.... Out of know where WHAM! .......I shave it

That is hilarious. And good advice.

I said the same thing to that armadillo digging a hole in my yard but then my wife finally showed up with the garden hoe..

I'm a cold water shaver, so I soak the brush in cold water while I shower, then rub some Proraso pre/post after the shower, load the brush with soap, rinse my face with ice cold water (which gets colder from the menthol in the pre/post), face lather, and then shave. Blade is rinsed in cold water. Face is also rinsed in cold water between passes and after the shave.

It's refreshing, and leaves my face smooth and free from irritation.

Originally Posted by ecormier

no, but it feels great, so I don't care about closeness of shave, I started this to spoil myself and my face!

A 'better' shave isn't always dependent on how close it is....

Yeah That !!!!!

For me it has always been about a "Comfortable shave" I started using a SR about 34 years ago for the comfort, and especially now that is really what it is all about..

I love the luxury of the shave

ps: Obie my prep is nearly that same as yours, I really stand behind the massaging of the first lather into the beard, and the second hot towel, that was how I was taught 34 years ago and that has never changed...

Glen,

Right you are about the massaging of the first lather onto the skin. For me, with my tough beard, it makes a whole lot of difference. For that reason, I always make plenty of lather. Not only that, but as you note, it is part of the luxury experienced every morning with this form of shaving. Good stuff, my friend.

This is all interesting and I enjoy reading what everyone does. On this topic, I've tried everything, and like someone said, I avoided cold water shaving for a long time because I too had the cold water in a steel pot helmet in a Jeep mirror experience, which was not one of the highlights of my life.

However, After 8 months or so of "by the book" hot shower, warming the scuttle, hot towel, hot lather, another hot towel, another lathering, I tried cold water, because it was hot as hell on a summer day. I have now stuck with my cold water routine 95% of the time. It is much faster and goes like this....I get my face good and wet by splashing it with cool or lukewarm water then washing with Dove soap that I rub in with my fingers, I then rinse really well (and wetly) and apply shaving cream (Proraso Red is my favorite right now) with my fingers, rubbing it in. I then lather it up with a brush until I can see it slickening and glistening and can hear it change consistencies (no I'm not crazy). I then shave adding dribs of water to the brush and refreshing my lather where necessary with the wet (and soapy) brush, which I leave in my empty cold scuttle between passes basking in its soapy drippings. Usually the brush holds enough soap that I can get 2 or 2 1/2 passes (which is the most I ever do). I do the same with soaps, but use a well soaped brush from the puck or bowl to start the routine. My favorite soap at the moment is Maggards Lime and Bergamot which is softish and really slick.

Anyway, I picked up the nerve to try this from reading posts of Phrank, BobH and Razorfeld, which aint bad company!

My face is much happier, the process takes half the time of my full hot shave and the results are better. Could be a coincidence, and certainly, YMMV, as always....but I like it.

How things change and evolve with our shaving habits...as have mine.

Recently I've been experimenting with prep, as certain areas on my neck were just very stubborn, no matter what straight I used, or even if I used a DE. In reading here, especially Obie's post, and having a chat with Valery (The Gentleman's Den), both were fairly adamant that prep was huge.

To quote Valery, "A properly hydrated beard is essential to a good, clean shave." Obie also mentions this.

So for the last two weeks I've been alternating between my usual quick splash of cold water, and a fairly warm water splash, followed by a good rub with a very hot towel on my face, thoroughly softening and hydrating my beard.

Fact is, for me, I am getting closer shaves with this prep than the simple cold splash - I do have very coarse whiskers, and this prep provides the smooth shave I like on my neck area far more consistently.

I'm sure if I upped the prep some more, and actually sat with a hot towel on my face, and lather once as Obie mentioned, the shave would be even better, but I know that I'll never do that kind of prep on a regular basis.

I'm going to get some of the old, blue water based Nivea skin hydrating gel and add that to my prep as well.

Great thing about this hobby, is it's always interesting to change things up and try some new things.