Thread: Really Now!

As promised, I shaved this afternoon with zero facial preparation. It had been around 55 hours since my last shave so I had some good stubble going and it is grey and stiff.
My normal routine is to thoroughly wash my face with a face towel and regular bar soap, scrubbing vigorously. Rinse face, leave wet, face lather. I rinse between passes. In the summer I use cold water and warm/hot water in the fall and winter.
Today, after toiling around the yard, I started to face lather. Only prep was taking off the shirt. You can see my set up in Shave of the Day.
It took a lot more water added to the brush to create a typical, rich lather. I easily spent over a minute, maybe two, working the lather until it was where I wanted it. I used a boar brush with soft tips but with some backbone. I like a well hydrated lather. The shave did not feel any different that I could discern; smooth and comfortable. However, when rinsing off the lather from the blade there was gunk on the blade, like when your lather is too dry, and this during the beginning of the shave when the lather was at its wettest. My thought was this was from dirt and oils as it was not an issue on the following passes. It did not seem to effect the razor.
The lather dried quickly, especially during the first pass. I had to use a wet finger to re-hydrate the lather when I got to the mustache/chin area. This drying was an issue, to lesser degrees, on the following passes. I did three passes and did not rinse between passes. I followed the final pass with a cold water rinse and eschewed my normal (and beloved) witch hazel splash. No after shave to keep with the minimalist theme.
I suffered no weepers or irritation of any kind. If I was to do this again I would wet my face prior to each pass to keep the lather from drying. Really, other than the gunk on the razor during the first pass, I didn't notice any difference.
As they say, YMMV.

When I'm in a hurry, it's hot water and hand cream. It works in a pinch.

I have a tough, white beard. I normally shower before shaving to make sure my beard is fully hydrated. Otherwise getting through the stubble is difficult. If it has been less than 24 hours since my last shave, I can get by without the hot shower. If it has been more than 32 hours since my last shave, I would never attempt a shave without showering first to soften the beard. I realize that not everyone has such a tough beard, so the lucky ones can get by without much in the way of beard prep.

Originally Posted by RayClem

I have a tough, white beard. I normally shower before shaving to make sure my beard is fully hydrated. Otherwise getting through the stubble is difficult. If it has been less than 24 hours since my last shave, I can get by without the hot shower. If it has been more than 32 hours since my last shave, I would never attempt a shave without showering first to soften the beard. I realize that not everyone has such a tough beard, so the lucky ones can get by without much in the way of beard prep.

Do you face lather? I think what happened, in my case at least, is the extensive face lathering sufficiently hydrated and cleaned my beard. My beard is tough also but probably of normal thickness.
Paul

I do notice a significant difference honestly. However, it has a lot more to do with the comfort of my skin during and after the shave when i do a decent prep vs when i dont. my ability to mow through my "beard" remains the same it seems

Many moons ago I tried shaving with just water. I found it worked meaning I got a great shave and no irritation. The trick is you have to continuously re wet the skin because it either dries or runs off and in my territory we have single digit humidity so it also evaporates quickly.

Like many things I found all the mumbo jumbo and all the prep is just the luxury part of the shave process. Of course there are those with particular requirements who need the accouterments.

I'll be the first to say, no, I would not ever give up my prep and cremes and A/S and all that. It's kind of like driving around in a Yugo. It gets you where you want to go but other cars are more desirable.

I normally do a quick face wash, lather, then shave (2 passes + a quick cleanup pass if needed). Occasionally I shower first but if I do much more pre-shave then that it tends to soften my skin to much and results in irritation.