Thread: Too much Pre-shave Oil?

I am sure this is a sign of my being a novice, but in using pre-shave oil to add slickness for a straight razor shave, I thought to myself, well if a little is good, a lot is better! Negative. My experience with using too much pre-shave oil is that it destroyed the creamy lather, and turned it too thick, almost paste. Now, I'm not talking about drowning in oil, but at least two squirts from the bottle on each cheek.
I guess I really don't need the oil after all?
Sound familiar to anyone?

I think most of us went through that phase and found out of all the shave preps out there pre-shave oil was the most unnecessary.

My view is you should start with clean skin and then a good soap or cream provides all the prep you'll ever need. The oil just glops it all up. It may be de rigueur with an electric razor but not for wet shaves.

Slickness has to do with a well hydrated lather. Find a quality soap that you like that holds a lot of water and you'll have slickness. If you need a pre-shave, I'd recommend Castle Forbes rather than oil, as it's water soluble and works well.

I do not use any prep just cold water and face lather. I get the slickness that I need from, as evnpar said, from a properly made well hydrated lather. This vid may help illustrate how to get there and what it looks like.

Bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zESTQWDuw

Yep it has been a step most drop. If your lather is right you don’t need that stuff. And if the lather your using doesn’t then get a better soap

The most important chemical in shave preparation is water. Whiskers that are exposed to water for 4 minutes require 40% less force to cut than dry whiskers (the 4/40 rule). Soap’s primary purpose is to add body to water and allow it to sit on the face.

Soap also emulsifies skin oils allowing water to penetrate the whisker more efficiently. With that in mind, it’s possible that preshave oils may be counterproductive if they are preventing water from penetrating the whiskers.

Semper Circa
LG Roy

The only use i have found for oil is to shave the line above my mustache, only because lather in that area makes it hard to see the line. Other than that, soap is the only friend you need.

As far as a pre-shave goes i do like the Proraso but more because of the eye watering effect of the menthol. It doesn't really improve my shave other then waking me up a bit.

I've always thought that a pre shave oil was one of those things that are completely unnecessary, but have caught on because of marketing hype.

Originally Posted by slim6596

I've always thought that a pre shave oil was one of those things that are completely unnecessary, but have caught on because of marketing hype.

Yes I fell for that. I bought some Stirling pre-shave oil with Stirling Sheep soap as it seemed they were meant to go together. I discovered however, that the Sheep soap, by itself made a thick, creamy, protective, wonderful lather, but with the oil, just a paste. Now having fun trying different soaps alone, including Castle Forbes and others.