Thread: Pre-shave Preparation

Originally Posted by Boots

I use a beard shampoo in the shower before shaving and it softens my whiskers more than just a hot towel treatment. My face is seriously sensitive to oils and the like, so its really my best option.

Is this local purchase or internet. I'm interested.

Originally Posted by Glock27

Is this local purchase or internet. I'm interested.

Both? sent you pm on the subject.

On my third attempt with my Dovo shavette, I followed the usual process, shower, wash face, keep face under hot water for 3-4 mins, exit shower and start prep. This time before i lathered up I applied Proraso Crema Pre Barba, massaged it in well and then lathered up. During the shave the blade seemed to glide easier and after the shave I felt almost no irratation or hot spots.

On this attemp my blade angle was much better and I used considerably less pressure which seems hard to do with the weightless Dovo shavette. I am sure this helped the results.

To the original post:

This comes from what I remember of what my Father, who was a licensed barber, told me about hair:

Hair, when looked at thru a high x microscope, looks like a strand with roofing shingles. Those shingles are called, I probably have the spelling wrong, "Keratin." With a dry hair, those 'shingles' have ragged edges. When the same hair is hydrated, they become more 'full or swollen.' While the edge of the blade 'catches' easier under the ragged shingles, the hair is tougher, letting the hair slide vs being cut. Whereas as moistened hair, the 'shingles' are not as ragged, they are still there. With the hair being swollen with water, and thus soft, the razors edge will severe the hair much easier. This, according to my memory of my later Father, is why barbers put a wet towel on the face prior to shaving.

From my own experience, the pre-shave oils do nothing other than, 1.) aide in 'slickness' and 2.) Kill the lather, which is kinda counter-productive to us.

My Father taught me to use a SR some 25yrs ago, using nothing other than regular old lye based soap with one important ingredient...it must contain Castor oil. He said, castor was the main thing that made the lather and made it last long enough for a complete shave.


With all of the above being said:
1.)My Father went thru barbers college in the late '60's. Hence a LOT of new things have been revealed in the way of the sciences of soap making.
2.) My personal 'pre-shave' ritual is nothing more than using my wife's hair conditioner on my face while in the shower. In my minds eye it "makes her hair soft, so it should make my whiskers soft, too.' Even when I only used a DE as my daily razor, all I ever used was her hair conditioner. Now that I am using a SR full time, I do use whipped up lathered shave soap. But that is more for the 'ritual' of shaving vs the 'need.' I still, however, only use her conditioner as my 'pre-shave.'

So I know many people say things like "pre shave lotions and oils don't work"
or all you need is a shower and lather and such:

While I am glad you guys are having good results with that, I rarely get a chance to shower before a shave.

I am a FIRM believer in doing some sort of pre shave prep. the hot towel is a big part but I use it to press in the pre shave stuff.
If you want to just use your soap, wet the beard, lather up and do hot towel over lather... then lather again. that works.

Or wet the face, pre shave oil then hot towel over the oil... works REALLY well.
My personal favorite is wet the face, edgwin jager pre shave lotion, or EZ-blade gel, with a hot towel over it. WOW! The shave is fantastic. The edwin jager and EZ blade stuff works so good as a pre shave I don't usually need the hot towel. I have sensitive skin with thick face hairs so I pamper my self.

Originally Posted by glytch5

So I know many people say things like "pre shave lotions and oils don't work"
or all you need is a shower and lather and such:

While I am glad you guys are having good results with that, I rarely get a chance to shower before a shave.

I am a FIRM believer in doing some sort of pre shave prep. the hot towel is a big part but I use it to press in the pre shave stuff.
If you want to just use your soap, wet the beard, lather up and do hot towel over lather... then lather again. that works.

Or wet the face, pre shave oil then hot towel over the oil... works REALLY well.
My personal favorite is wet the face, edgwin jager pre shave lotion, or EZ-blade gel, with a hot towel over it. WOW! The shave is fantastic. The edwin jager and EZ blade stuff works so good as a pre shave I don't usually need the hot towel. I have sensitive skin with thick face hairs so I pamper my self.

Personally, I would not say "pre shave lotions and oils do not work". They just did not for me. Everyone just has to find out by experimenting what works best for them which you seem to have done.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Personally, I would not say "pre shave lotions and oils do not work". They just did not for me. Everyone just has to find out by experimenting what works best for them which you seem to have done.

Bob

Thanks yeah! I tried shaving today without my pre shave stuff... didn't go as well.
love my edwin jager and EZ blade. I see that Cella is now offering a shave gel type stuff, I wonder if it is similar to EZ blade. I did a review of the EZ blade gel... it is one of those things that looks and sounds like a gimmick, but really work quite nicely.

Aloha!

My girlfriend is a super-fan of the Melaleuca brand. I think it's outrageously expenive, but she's never going to stop buying it. So what the heck. I have her buy me the Melaleuca bar soaps for us. They have a nice mix of Glycerin and Aloe Vera in them, and are pleasantly scented with natural fragrance. I prefer the Mango, but any of the bars (Platinum or Gold) make very fine pre-shave soap bars.

The problem is, they are about $14.00 a bar depending on where you buy them, and I think buying them direct from Melalauca requires some kind of membership? Not sure, since my girlfriend handles this, but I know they are available from eBay as well and probably Amazon by now. I think that's very steep for a bar of soap, but so be it. She's going to buy them regardless. She's even bought me their new coffee line. It's very good, but not worth the price IMO. But Melaleuca fans would disagree with me. They are outstanding bars of soap, but $14.00 a bar, to me, seems mighty steep.

So my "pre-shave" wash is Melaleuca brand bar soap. This means a mix of Glycerine and Aloa Vera and natural mango scent. Any Glycering bar would work for me, but as I said, my girlfriend's going to by Melaleuca anyway. I might as well use it!

Mahalo!

-ZipZop

splash cold water on face & lather up.
shave, 3 pass.
rinse face w/ cold water
done.

Aloha!

I should add;

If I don't shower, it's washing the face with Melaleuca soap, then a hot towel (50 percent of the time). Depends on my laziness meter. In Hawaii it's humidity city so the towel is mostly for relaxation IMO, but I like it. I usually use pre-shave oil on my face. Currently using Tree Hut Bare Moisturizing Shaving Oil;


Then lather and shave.