Thread: No-bull beard prep

I am looking to put together a routine that will dramatically soften the hairs on my chin area. What works for you guys? I heard that olive oil can sometimes do the trick, among other products.

I have no trouble with the cheek area, but once I hit the area directly underneath the edges of my lips and inward, I swear I'm growing steel wool on my face.

My razor is most definitely sharp enough, having just been honed by Utopian. Try as I might, the blade still skips and sticks, WTG, XTG and ATG alike. Now, I'm not claiming that my technique is perfect, and I'm sure that contributes, but I experience none of this difficulty on my cheeks or neck.

I start the shave with a shower, then a hot towel while in the shower for 5 min or so, re-wetting and re-heating every 30-60 seconds. I then lather with TGQ and go at it.

I find that after shaving my cheeks, there is no reduction in sharpness. After shaving my chin, there is significant reduction in sharpness, and stropping 5-10 laps after the first pass freshens the edge. Does this seem typical?

Only the baddest, toughest, most rough-n-ready softening methods need apply.

Your face might not be wet and slick enough. You might not be pulling your skin tight enough. You might be holding your razor a tad funny.

I've only shaved a few times but those things make hair seem harder than it really is. All it took was a little adjustment on my grip and more hot, slick fresh lather on my face.

Originally Posted by papaface29

I start the shave with a shower, then a hot towel while in the shower for 5 min or so, re-wetting and re-heating every 30-60 seconds. I then lather with TGQ and go at it.

I find that after shaving my cheeks, there is no reduction in sharpness. After shaving my chin, there is significant reduction in sharpness, and stropping 5-10 laps after the first pass freshens the edge. Does this seem typical?

Sounds far from typical, in fact I'm shocked you can notice dulling from just a few strokes on the chin.

Either your beard is not absorbing water, or it is drying out IMO.

I now wash my face twice at the beginning, to ensure there isn't enough oil on the hairs to waterproof them. Then I make and apply lather. I soak a towel in hot tap water and tie it round my head, over the lather. I spend a few minutes to allow the lather and hot water to soften the beard - usually I strop the blade during this time. If the towel cools down I splash hot water onto it without removing it.

When ready to start the shave I untie the towel and use it to wipe the lather off my face. Rinse face in hot water, apply fresh lather then shave.

I keep my brush in a scuttle-type setup so my lather is always warm.

The other thing you can do (I confess I never have myself) is to spend a full 5 minutes using the brush to massage lather into the beard. It has to be the simplest way to soften the beard but I wonder how many people here can bring themselves to spend that much time on it.

Let me clarify that when I say "significant dulling" I mean that the first pass on my cheeks is smooth, no tugging. Then I go to my chin and it tugs, and then I go back to another section of my cheek and there is tugging. It doesn't dull it enough that I could breadknife it across my jugular, but it does produce tugging

Hair conditioner helps. Just massage some into your beard like you would your hair, leave for a minute or so, then rinse out. If you have a very heavy or coarse beard, you may want to look at getting a heavier-ground blade, such as a wedge or quarter hollow, as these flex and blunt far less easily as hollower grinds.

My prep, having a fairly light beard is not likely to help you, but I shower, exfoliate my face in the shower, and rinse. I then put a wet flannel on my face and adjust the flow so that pure hot water (or as close to it as I can stand) is running onto the flannel and keeping it hot and wet. Obviously I remove it so I can breathe, but I keep it on for a couple of minutes so the water makes it right into my beard. After that, I towel off, dry my face a little and put hair conditioner onto my beard. It stays on while I toddle off to the kitchen and get some near-boiling water for my shave from the kettle. I rinse it off when I get back, face lather, then shave. I find the face lathering lifts my hairs better and softens them somewhat, so that may also work for you.

I'll share my untypical routine (I rarely even do it myself) for those exact whiskers

I find that shaving every other day helps a lot, letting the whiskers grow a tad. Barring that I also:

Add soap to my face in the shower, washing my face twice with soap. I leave the soap on my face the second time. It soaks while I finish my shower, which at 4 am is usually me just standing in the shower thinking about finding a new job (I rise at 4 am and commute 4 hours per day)

Then I go over to the sink and use the hottest water I can find. My best shaves come from going to the gym or a hotel.

Then I shave.

I find the last pass, without water, is the most important.

Then, I clean up and go get dressed.

Finally, I return and use the razor on the dry skin and dry whisker, about 10 minutes after shaving. THIS IS WHEN THE WHISKERS DISAPPEAR!

Go figure . . .

You have to be REALLY careful, cutting yourself instead is a very high probability, but atleast those whiskers get cut.

I rarely do this, cowering to those wire whiskers, but this is the most effective way to shave them I have found.

you will find some hair conditioners that will give off ammonia smell if mixed with soap.


I've found that this product great if mixed with some water and rubbed on before showering, then wash completely before exiting the shower.
It seems the heat may help it work.

I use it and it can be left on while lathering to make a super rich foam.
Queen Helene - Cholesterol Hair Conditioning Cream

Since it is fatty you can add any essential oil you want.

I also make sure to lather before stropping and for a second pass I apply this stuff. It also blends well with Club Man for a nice aftershave/oil combo.
SHAVE SECRET SHAVING OIL- THE BEST SHAVE EVER! 18.75ML - eBay (item 260420512687 end time Jun-30-09 11:01:58 PDT)

I linked to ebay because it was easy, both should be available locally.
My Wal-Nart has both.
good luck

Originally Posted by papaface29

...
Only the baddest, toughest, most rough-n-ready softening methods need apply.

You might want to look at the sticky on the 800-pound gorilla method and other mods to it, at this TSD link. The first recipe is at posting #10, but skim on through it because there are multiple variations that people have found beneficial.

I second the hair conditioner method.

I wash my hair and face first thing when I shower. Then I condition both, and leave them in for the duration of the shower.

I find that leaving conditioner on my face for ~5 minutes really softens up the hair.