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I found Noxema to be very effective and it's cheap. The AoS ones worked well, but they are expensive. Poraso makes a pre-shave that a lot of people seem to like, but I haven't tried it.

I used preshaves in the beginning, the extra glide seemed to make up for my beginner techniques.
These days it's usually shower, strop, lather up, shave, and aftershave.