Snake Oil Salesmen?

[Blackpool]

What on Earth are those tiny bottles of "shaving oil" I see on the supermarket shelves? Any use to us? They seem an awful lot of money for something so minuscule. Worth a try, yes or no?

[stimpy52]

That's the problem with the snake oil market, hardly anyone wants to oil a snake any more.

All right, so I've had a few too many tonight.....

There a many shaving oil threads to search in the forums, certainly the worst way to buy it is in a store, it's just too easy and inexpensive to mix your own.

[ReardenSteel]

I have not seen anything like that in the supermarket, but then again, I don't normally look for shaving gear at the corner grocery. I once was given an AOS bottle of "pre-shave oil" tried it out a few times and did not notice any inprovement in my shaves so I would vote "No" on giving it a try. Save your money and put it towards other shave creams or soaps you are interested in trying out. On a side note, if there was any real benefit to using it, I am sure it would be widely discussed and recommended here under the topic of prep work. Hopes this helps as this is only my $0.02.

[DCasper]

I tried the little bottle of shaving a couple times and gave up on it. It was advertised that 5 drops was enough to shave with. It was slightly better than dry shaving even with ten drops. I am sticking with hot water, a badger brush and shaving soap.

[straightshot]

Are we talking about "Shave secret"? I used that a couple of years ago with great success. It was actually the best shave I got out of my Mach 3 shaver. I haven't been able to buy it in a while since I currently live in Japan and they don't sell it on base. I have since discovered a badger brush and shave soap/ shave cream and I would never go back to the oil. Even when I need to do a quick shave and am forced to break out the Mach 3, the badger brush and soap are much better. All in all, if you already use a brush and soap or cream, that little bottle of oil should stay on the supermarket shelf. Just my $.02

[ndw76]

Worth trying? Yes, but not really worth paying heaps of money for the experience. It is far easier to mix your own. The way I use oil is to masage a few drops into my skin before lathering up.

I can't say that it imporves that shave that much, but I love the ritual of the whole shave.