Thread: Pre-shave Rountine

Originally Posted by laranginha

I'm a newbie also, and was wondering what the technique is for the hot towels? I've seen one or two videos on youtube of a barber who does this folding thing where it seems to stay on pretty tight, but how do you guys get them to stay on?

I fold it the long way. Get only the mid portion wet with really hot water and hold it behind my head with the wet portion covering my face and neck. Check out Lynn's video for shaving with a straight.

Originally Posted by laranginha

I'm a newbie also, and was wondering what the technique is for the hot towels? I've seen one or two videos on youtube of a barber who does this folding thing where it seems to stay on pretty tight, but how do you guys get them to stay on?

I personally do not leave the towel on that long, maybe a minute or two, so I actually just hold mine tight against my face. I am not sure what others do in terms of technique or duration. My couple of minutes with a hot towel and preshave gel works great for me and gets me a great shave.

I shave with a straight razor and almost always shave after a hot shower. I also use proraso white pre-shave cream. On the days that I do not shave after a shower, I simply splash my face several times with hot water then I do the hot towel thing. I find that this is sufficient enough for a good shave; however with my corse beard, a hot shower softens my beard and prepares my face better. I would agree with the others when saying that this can change on a case-to-case basis. However for corse beard I would argue that a hot shower would work better than using a hot towel.

I'm new to straights, and haven't used a cold water straight shave yet, but when I was using only a DE/Safety razor, I preferred the feeling during a shave with hot water, but after a cold water shave my face felt better. I think the feeling of the shave itself with cold water was more crisp. I guess I'm a bit nervous about switching things up for now. I was shown a hot towel shave for my first straight.

Did a cold water shave this morning. Sooo smooth.

Recently tried a cold water shave, what can I say about it? It was cold and I didn't feel any difference in shave quality, so I went back to hot water. I use a pre shave oil now only because I have it and it cost a lot. It won't be replaced. As far as keeping the hot towel on I staple it to the back of my head until it goes cold and do once more with staples then make a paste of ground alum to cover the back of my head. Seriously...hold it to your face as they go cool pretty quickly you won't be spending a lot of time doing this. Then it's lather and go, face lather, scuttle, cream, puck...it's fun picking the soap of the day. If I am not face lathering I make the lather before I start the hot towels so it rests, this seems to make a better lather for me.

Originally Posted by laranginha

I'm a newbie also, and was wondering what the technique is for the hot towels? I've seen one or two videos on youtube of a barber who does this folding thing where it seems to stay on pretty tight, but how do you guys get them to stay on?

I have a rather quick pre shave routine that works for me, ymmv I guess L:
If I'm using my safety razor (a Merkur open comb) , I just rub a puck of Kent Shaving soap on my face and then use my brush to build a lather, exactly as you'd use a shaving stick.
When I'm using a straight razor, I wash my face with hot water, then work the shaving cream lather (taylor of old bond street sandalwood at the moment) with the brush. and then drop a few drops of Trumper's Skinfood into the lather, then mix it some more, then really use the brush to work it in. And that's how I prep for a shave... Its not very elaborate, but, like I said, works for me.

I just make sure my face is clean then just wet it and apply the lather and shave. I do the hot towel thing with lather on my face after the shave. If you have a proper sharp razor and you are skilled in it's use you don't need much pre shave prep. Much of it is just feel good stuff anyway (IMHO).

Fully Wake Up

Originally Posted by Spiros

I shave with a straight razor and almost always shave after a hot shower. I also use proraso white pre-shave cream.

+1 on the Proraso pre-shave. I recently started using Proraso green pre-shave -- it has a cooling effect that contrasts nicely with nice warm TOBS lather. Seems to give me a smoother shave as well.