Thread: Kyle's prep

Has anyone tried this variation of the Kyle's prep? Apply lather to the unwashed face. Apply hot towel for a couple of minutes. Wipe off the lather with the towel. Then use face wash,face scrub and after that apply preshave cream or oil and after that lather and finally shave. Would this work?

It should work fine. All I ever do now (after giving all the extended preparation possibilities a trial) is wet my face quickly, lather up and shave. I get fine shaves this way and save a lot of time. If you like doing extended preparation and have the time for it, then enjoy. I've never found a difference. I even went overboard one day, did multiple hot towels for a half hour, lathered in between each application and got the same shave I would have gotten without it.

Originally Posted by ace

It should work fine. All I ever do now (after giving all the extended preparation possibilities a trial) is wet my face quickly, lather up and shave. I get fine shaves this way and save a lot of time. If you like doing extended preparation and have the time for it, then enjoy. I've never found a difference. I even went overboard one day, did multiple hot towels for a half hour, lathered in between each application and got the same shave I would have gotten without it.

How do you wet your face quickly? Just apply warm water by palms?

The degree of prep required is dependent on the particulars of the shaver's beard. If the beard is not coarse, not oily, not thick then you can get away with splashing water on your face. If your beard is coarse, covered in oil and dense, you are going to require a more complex prep. You can use as little or as much prep as is required by your beard. I have had to do a lot of experimenting to find a satisfactory prep routine and I am still trying to improve how well I hydrate my beard. The more water your beard absorbs the easier it will be to cut. To do this, hot showers, face soaps, hot towels, etc. are methods one can try to achieve this. When shaving with a straight, you cannot skimp on prep. If you don't have a problem beard then great, splash water on your face and go. It is no more complex than that.

Over time I have come to the conclusion that how much a shaver loves straight shaving is a function of how effective their prep is.

Should do just fine. Washing your face before shaving helps, and lather is just soap, so that's pretty much what you are doing. The hot towel and warm water will help with the absorption of the water.

I prefer to shower before shaving, but if I don't, I do a similar procedure to what you described.

Originally Posted by Alex7

How do you wet your face quickly? Just apply warm water by palms?

All I do is gather water in my palms and splash it onto my face. I usually do five repetitions. I've done as many as ten
repetitions but couldn't see any difference. I could probably get by with just one and may try that tomorrow.

My beard is toward the tough end of medium. I have to shave every day. I can get a good start on a beard in a week
and a half.

I gave the "hot towel treatment" a try once or twice, once even doing it for a half hour to see what effect it might have.
I didn't notice a difference, so just gave it up. If my shaves weren't good, I would increase the preparation, but they're fine.

The only addition I've made in a year has been post-shave, using Jack Black Cooling Shave Gel. It works wonders for me, and
it quiets razor burn so magically that I can get as aggressive with an ATG pass as I want. None of the 10 or so other balms I
have even comes close.

I do the same as ace, just splashing on hot water then just lather; normally face lathering these days. I used to try hot face cloths, hair conditioner in the shower, pre-shave oils and creams, but now it's all very minimal. I guess it sounds a bit boring too...

Same here, with a very tough beard.
I wash my cheeks and throat with hot water and soap if a little greasy. Or just splash on some hot water if recently showered.
Face lather most of the time and shave.

Good preparation on my razors prefered over extended face prep.

This morning I limited my preparation to one hot water face splash, lathered and shaved. I could tell no difference at all. I'll shave again tonight, and this time I'll try no hot water splashing prior to lathering and see how that goes.