Thread: Skin Food Pre-Shave...

Howdy. I recently read in Christopher Moss' excellent "The Art of the Straight Razor Shave" about the trick of applying a few drops of Skin Food (I like the Coral...) to your soap before lathering up. Well, I tried it this morning (on top of Classic's menthol...), and I must say that it works as advertised. At least it did for me anyway. My shave was smoother, and not a trace of irritation afterwards! I then of course also applied a bit afterwords. (Man, this stuff is truly fantastic!) I can't believe I've spent my first 28 years or so of shaving without it... Oh well, no time like the present!

Anybody else use this technique? I used 2 drops of SF - I'm going to try 3 tomorrow...

Originally Posted by entropy

Howdy. I recently read in Christopher Moss' excellent "The Art of the Straight Razor Shave" about the trick of applying a few drops of Skin Food (I like the Coral...) to your soap before lathering up. Well, I tried it this morning (on top of Classic's menthol...), and I must say that it works as advertised. At least it did for me anyway. My shave was smoother, and not a trace of irritation afterwards! I then of course also applied a bit afterwords. (Man, this stuff is truly fantastic!) I can't believe I've spent my first 28 years or so of shaving without it... Oh well, no time like the present!

Anybody else use this technique? I used 2 drops of SF - I'm going to try 3 tomorrow...

You may also wish to try a drop or two of pure glycerin. I'll wager you get the same effect, and the drugstore glycerine is much cheaper.

Thanks Howard - sage advice. I can save the good stuff for after! So I've never purchased glycerin from the drug store before. Probably a stupid question, but - it is just labeled as "glycerin"? Is there a common brand name I should look for?

thx again,
Randy

I usually see it in little brown plastic bottles labled "Glycerin." It's just a dollar or two for more than you will use in a long while. The druggist should be able to point you to where it is on the shelves. (Probably stashed on a bottom shelf somewhere with the other low-profit items.)

Originally Posted by Howard Wallace

I usually see it in little brown plastic bottles labled "Glycerin." It's just a dollar or two for more than you will use in a long while. The druggist should be able to point you to where it is on the shelves. (Probably stashed on a bottom shelf somewhere with the other low-profit items.)

Howard - absolutely on the money! I went to a local CVS (a large regional chain of drug stores) this morning and grabbed a bottle of house brand pure glycerin - 3 oz. for $2.99. A wee bit cheaper than Skin Food... It was in the cosmetics area, right where you suggested it would be - a little brown bottle on the bottle shelf. I'm going to give it a go tomorrow morning and report back in...

Thanks again Howard...

I did try glycerin and it did not improve lather at all, on the contrary. Also, it stung my face a wee bit and turns out my wife may be allergic to something in it.

so for me it's

The glycerine works for me, I usually put a couple of drops on the top of any hard soap I'm using before I load up my brush. It seems to make the lather a little slicker.