Thread: Shave oil - extra virgin

Originally Posted by Zorro

Does using olive oil or any oil for that matter have any negative effect on your badger-haired brush? If I am applying lather directly on my beard after I apply oil then the brush will come into direct contact with the oil. I thought I have read somewhere that this is not advisable for a quality brush.

Thanks.

If you load the brush with shave soap first you should be fine. Soap
including shave soap interacts with oil so the oil will wash off. You can always
add one final re-soap and re-lather step to the brush clean rinse step.
The puck of soap will be damp and soft so swirl up a bit of
extra soap. Work the brush and fresh soap on the palm of
your hand for a bit then rinse clean and shake the water out.

So unless you are dipping the brush in oil and letting it
soak in oil you are OK. Some knot glue could dislike
an oil soak. A painter would not give this question a
second thought other than the cleaning step at the
end of the day.

How about jojoba oil?

I love olive oil. I use it all the time for salad dressings and bread recipes and cooking but for shaving-no way. My skin is oily enough and my goal for pre shave prep is clean all the dirt and oil and bodily deposits off my face. I find a quality shave cream or soap does it all.

Just my opinion.

Olive Oil, while providing good slip just kills the lather so you get no cushioning in your shave, Keep the Olive Oil for the kitchen.

Sam.

I made a mixture of castor oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, and pure vitamine e-oil.
The mixture is very good as a preshave as long as you don't put so mutch on you look like you just ate a dozen glazed donuts.
I hot towel my face after the oil sits on my face for 3-5 minutes, then apply lather let it sit for a few minutes and then shave away.
I have gotten my smoothest shaves with this routine, I do use custom soap I had my wife make for me so it's uber lathery named Bald Frog Shaving Soap.
I initialy tried a 2/3 castor oil and 1/3 olive oil mix but it was too thick and sticky and didn't wash off well. This new mixture washes off easy after I shave with a lather and water rince.