Thread: Shaving with vegetable oil

In that case I should tell you the why and results. I was trying to find the path to the perfect shave. Clean, close and comfortable. It was early in my straight razor shaving. I did get good results from using all of the oils I mentioned as far as increased comfort. The liquid oils I found too messy, but the coconut oil and shea butter were so much nicer to use. They performed well for the task and soothed well as post shave treatments. Since then I have tried Proraso and Castle Forbes and cream rinse and Noxema. Noxema is my go to pre shave. It is very cost effective and works as well as any other I have used. It is also not messy and works for post shave if you get irritation. As my skill levels progressed my need for a pre shave did lighten up quite a bit. I do notice that you said as a shaving oil. I trust that you are not lathering after applying them and going straight to shaving. I have tried that twice and i was not a fan of the level of comfort. I currently use Noxema, lather, shave, lather shave, rinse. I have found which way to shave to get all of my whiskers in two passes sometime 2 1/2 and have a close clean and comfortable shave. It is the shave that impresses me and there i stop. Extra passes probably added to my shave irritation along with poor angle and poor skin stretching. Now that i have it dialed into what makes my face happy I do not do a lot of experimenting.

No, I don't lather after the oil. I've tried oil as a pre-shave before, but to me it seems nonsensical. You apply oil and scrub it back off your face with soap and a brush! At best you may end up with some type of emulsion. I too have worked out a routine for close comfortable shaves and don't usually stray from it. The only reason I even tried the oil/ shavette combo was that I was downstairs, wanted to shave and my Tabac stick was upstairs, so I grabbed the cooking oil to get me through. The result was so much smoother than my lather/shavette shaves I thought I'd ask the question. I'll keep experimenting, maybe try two and three passes with a new blade and oil and see if the results are still good. I can't see myself giving up the old Tabac stick, but its good to try new things.

I have tried Olive and Grape oils as a pre-shave with good results. What I don’t like, is it gets all over the place and is messy.

Lately I have been using Trader Joe’s Honey Mango shave cream it contains glycerin and other oils. I rub in a dime size dollop with hot water, while stropping a razor and getting my shave gear ready. Then lather over it with regular cream and brush. Great shaves and a $6 tube last a long time, over a year.

I have heard of people using peanut butter for shaving. My father used to shave with Sunlight soap. Before WW II his parents had hoarded more than they needed during the war.

Like Rezdog, I find Noxema to be a very good pre-shave prep. A jar lasts about 6 months and at $4.79 USD it is very cost effective.

Originally Posted by rolodave

Like Rezdog, I find Noxema to be a very good pre-shave prep. A jar last me about 6 months and at $4.79 USD it is very cost effective.

Second this!!!
FWIW....Wal-Mart has their own Noxema "knock-off" (Equate) for about HALF the cost of Noxema!!! It's my daily per-shave....and a little goes a LONG way!!

Close shaves should SOOTHE ya....NOT SCARE ya!!