Thread: pre-shave oil

Originally Posted by certifiedbodyman

has anyone tried using JUST oil with no soap...maybe as an experiment?...

That's what Secret Shave directs you to do. I've done that. It's okay. It's passable.
I like to apply secret shave by rubbing it into the skin and then laying on a hot washcloth and letting it cool, doing that twice... then I make my uberlather from a dab of shaving creme and 3 drops of glycerin in my palm. I wet my brush in hot water, run it over the soap of the day a few times, then I move it to my palm and start doing circles in the creme/glycerin... uberlather in seconds. It is extremely slick to the touch and stays moist. If you haven't tried it before, I strongly suggest palm lathering. You will wonder why you ever needed a cup. If you need to reapply, squeeze from the bottom to the top of your shaving brush and use that to build a second batch of lather.

A buddy of mine picked this tip up from The Art of Shave in Dallas, TX. The barber shaved him and gave him a straight shaving tutorial at the same time. Awesome.

Originally Posted by Shoki

Would a water-based, water-soluble lubricant work as a pre-shave aid?

Depends what you are trying to shave and what you want to do with it when you are finished!

This thread gets me thinking, I wonder if it is detrimental of having too much oil? I use Anthony Pre-shave oil and SRD's Essential Oil shave soap and at times it is hard getting the razor started on its cut. Oil acts as layer between the skin and razor edge and perhaps I have too many layers.

just got some poraso white tea pre/post in, and it worked well. got out of the shower and rubbed a bit into my beard then lathered up. after the shave and rub down with alum, put a little bit more on. nice and mentholy, but not overpowering. and quite affordable.