I know of oil, and I know it's a barrier between your face and the blade but what else is there? not necessarily concerned with brands just types. like i hear people talk of conditioner, showers, towel preps, what else?
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I know of oil, and I know it's a barrier between your face and the blade but what else is there? not necessarily concerned with brands just types. like i hear people talk of conditioner, showers, towel preps, what else?
I've only ever heard of oil, conditioner, showers, hot towels, and even some lather. I don't think there is all that much left, honestly...
I mean, you could maybe do some kind of voodoo beard-prep dance or something. YMMV.
You hit on most two others are lather itself and pre shave creams like proraso.
alright I was just wondering.
I always prefer a good nights sleep.
Of course you mean pre-shave oil and creams, or 'preparations' I guess. There probably just pre-shave oil and pre-shave cream as far as I know. I prefer a pre-shave cream like Proraso (which is excellent) to an oil. I find an oil too oily, and I reckon some oils can mess with the lather (make the bubbles pop). I'm thinking bubbles equals cushion and I want cushion with a straight. If I'm using a DE, I could be convinced to use a pre-shave oil, as I want glide more than cushion; and I don't want a thick, oomphy lather anyway.
I guess there's a LOT of things you could do or try pre-shave to get a 'better' shave; some of it might just be 'fluff'.
These days it's just a hot shower (I ALWAYS shower in the morning) a splash of hot water from the basin on the face, soap or cream on, strop, shave; nothing fancy at all. I'm concentrating on getting the razor, the stropping and the technique down pat; I'm not even trying for a perfect lather at the moment; sometimes it's too thin but I still go with it..
I'm at a very similar stage. Concentrating on the stropping technique (slow it down...) and shaving. I'm pretty sure my lather isn't the best because it's drying out pretty quick. In fact I only lather one side at a time because of it. I might look at the glycerin some folks are using. Not sure if I need to use oil though.
I would try and get your lather right guys it really can make all difference for a close comfortable shave vs stubble and razor burn.
I know its a lot to learn at once but I will say until I was producing consistent lather my shaves where not consistent. Once I really got my lathering down my shaves got much more consistent and when something was off it was much easier to figure out what was not right.
For me I find using a good soap or cream is all I need now (after a hot shower).
I get my lather to the consistency of whipped cream then let that sit of my face while I strop. Then maybe another brushing before I shave. It shouldn't dry out in 10-15 minutes, if it does then it was too dry to begin with.
When I make my lather in the bowl, it's on the verge of being dry (but not quite), then before I apply it to my face I splash some hot water on my stubble. I figure the lather being on the verge then mixing with the hot water on my face just about bring it to perfection :).
I always say, 'Arise chicken!'
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Noxema is a good shave prep. It is a non oily menthol creme. Put it on while you are prepping your shave soap. It feels like proraso but only cost 5$ for a tub..