Making sense of the data
Getting back to our
main goal, to best prepare our facial hair for shaving, we desire to achieve the greatest amount of saturation (water into the hair) in the absolutely quickest amount of time. To do this, we need to apply an alkaline solution (damage the cuticle), apply a humectant (encourages quicker and more efficient absorption of water), and apply warm/hot water (both damages the cuticle and hydrates the beard).
By the sounds of all this, you might begin to think that the
lather you normally create for shaving could possibly serve as a pretty good pre-shave prep and in thinking this, you would be absolutely correct.
What to do - Reviewing the techniques of the old masters
While conducting the research necessary for this article, I lucked across some excerpts from an old barbers manual (yes, I am that pathetically obsessed that I read old barber's manuals). In a summarized format, the information gleaned from the
Standardized Textbook of Barbering states:
- Apply the lather to the face with a rotary movement of the brush with the first two fingers of the hand dipped into the bristles. The purpose of this is to control the bristles, thus avoiding getting soap in the patron's nostrils, ears, and mouth. Obviously, the technique you use for lather application does not need to be this exact, and the method by which you hold your brush should be comfortable to you. The main goal here is to get the lather applied whilst stimulating the skin and hair follicles.
- After the beard portion of the face has been covered thoroughly with the lather, using the tips of the fingers and with a light rotary movement, proceed to work the lather into the beard. The amount of time required for rubbing the beard depends on its stiffness and density. I have a thick and coarse beard and thus spend about 2 minutes completing this phase. While your time will vary, this is both an important and highly enjoyable phase of the process so you should not rush it.
- Evenly wet a towel with hot (not uncomfortable) water and then wring it out. The towel should still remain wet, but not wet enough to allow for more than an occasional drip to escape (the degree of water left in the towel can vary to your personal liking).
- Place the towel so that it effectively covers the entire portion of the beard area that is to be shaved. Normally at this point, the barber would go about stropping and sterilizing his razor. I have found an effective time frame for towel application to be in the neighborhood of 3+ minutes. Don't skimp on this as it will make the most telling difference in your final results. An added benefit of the heated towel is that it stimulates the flow of the sebaceous and sudoriferous glands in the skin, causing oils and sweat to come to the surface and give added lubrication for your razor.
- In removing the towel from the face, use it to wipe off any of the remaining lather. This act removes the dirt, hardened oil, and dead skin cells that you have loosed and are floating in the lather.
- At this point, you are now ready to re-lather and begin a truly luxurious shave (my words, not the manual's).
Conclusion
- Using this pre-shave routine has really brought about some drastic improvements in both the quality of my shaves and in my enjoyment of them. Additionally, this improvement has occurred during stage in my wet shaving experience level where drastic improvements are very hard to come by. These techniques should leave your beard so fully saturated that it will prove difficult to feel or hear your razor operate as it expertly severs each hair from your face.
Hopefully this information will prove to be useful to you and assist in bringing you the consistent gold standard that we all strive for. Additionally, it is my desire that through reading this document, you understand both the HOW and the WHY in relation to your pre-shave prep. Armed with this information, you should be able to make decisions regarding your prep and your product selections that will ensure you are getting the best from both.
***DISCLAIMER - If any of you who are knowledgeable in the science related to this thread see a glaring inconsistency, please notify me immediately.***