Beard Prep

I notice after I steam my beard and begin shaving the right side of my face, the left side of my face starts to get dry before I'm able to start shaving it. I've just been lathering it again but it still is not as soft as when I first steam my face. Anyone else here steam their face again in the middle of a shave? I'm getting an OK shave but I notice my beard starts stiffening on the left side before I get to it if I don't keep it really wet.


Tom

After awhile I started to do a cold shave. You want your beard to be stiff IMO.

The thinking is, you want your beard stiff, rather than soft, so that the whiskers can be cut more easily. I've found this works for me. The other old fashioned notion was that the soap is in fact to create a cushion, to lift the whiskers so that the blade can cut them easier.

If you think about it, what is easier to cut, something soft and very wet, or something stiff and less moist?

Here's an old shaving manual, from the 1905 I believe, that explains the workings of a good shave, it's posted on SRP. This is a YMMV, but I've been a convert to this method of shaving for pretty much an entire year. Give it a read, either way it's fascinating, the link is on this post below:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post544022