Thread: Just say NO to pre shave prep.

I am a Newbie even though I am 63 years old. When I decided to start this self torture, I went to Amazon and bought a book titled The Art of Shaving or Shaving Made Easy- What the Nam Who Shaves Ought To Know. This book was first published in 1905 by an unknown author. For an 80 page book it is pretty much loaded with information. In the chapter on Soap the author explains thusly "The popular impression is that the soap is used for the purpose of softening the beard, in which condition it is supposed to be most easily cut. This is a mistake. The soap is used,not to soften the beard, but to produce exactly the opposite effect-namely to make the hair stiff and brittle ,so the they will present of firm and resisting surface to the razor." Italics his. He goes on to explain that if the beard is oily and or soft the blade will slip over the hair or cut into it lengthwise all the while pulling and making for a miserable shave. The author even suggests avoiding the use of hot water for the same reason. According to the book a good shaving soap has alkali, potash or soda which when applied to the beard in the form of lather unites with the hair oil removing it and leaving the hair stiff and brittle. Like I said, I am a new comer at this so I haven't done a lot of trial an error. What this author says seems to make sense.