Thread: What kind of preshaves are there?

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.

Originally Posted by Castel33

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.

Thanks Castel! What do you mean by getting the lather right? The technique, or the right product for your face?

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 .