A Preshave Routine Which Works For Me

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It's been a long time coming but my shaves are vastly better than they once were. Close, long lasting, damn comfortable, and consistent.

One thing that's helped me a lot has been to figure out the whole preshave business. Getting a close and long lasting shave has long been on my agenda but the number one objective for me has been getting a Damn Comfortable Shave.

To me a Damn Comfortable Shave means three things.

• Comfortable during the shave.
• Comfortable immediately after the shave.
• Comfortable until the next shave.

Given my skin and its propensity to becoming dry + the fact it sometimes is easily irritated and inflamed, I've tried everything or close to everything. I've finally found a combination of products and procedures which works for me.

I'll share it with you, but don't know if it's what you need or not.

Here's my preshave routine.

1. The second step in my preshave routine begins the night before the next morning's shave. Before bed I apply a thin coating of shea butter to my face and neck. The stuff takes a long time to soak in, so applying it anytime after supper works. The cheap stuff from Walmart is great.
2. During my preshave shower I wash my face with the Cube. I use it just like face soap.
3. Right before lathering up I apply to my face and neck the Tube. Actually the product in the Tube is exactly the same stuff that's in the Cube, but the Tube keeps my hands from getting slick. I've used a bunch of preshave products. All have been at least a bit helpful, but the Cube/Tube is in another league. It increases the slickness and ghost lather (residual slickness) by a million miles. My shaves are very much improved using the Tube/Cube.
4. The first step in my preshave routine is to apply to my skin immediately after drying it off with a post shave towel a little dab of Mysterium Serum. Again, I've tried many moisturizers and balms. Mysterium Serum is the best of the bunch for me.

For me, the emphasis is on comfort above everything else, but I also get very good shaves. It was not easy figuring out any part of the process. Whether any of my solutions work for others is beyond my ability to ascertain.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Rapt_up]

Fascinated to know if this is still the case a year later....

 

[gsurko]

Way more then I’m willing to do.

 

[JKaboom]

It's been a long time coming but my shaves are vastly better than they once were. Close, long lasting, damn comfortable, and consistent.

One thing that's helped me a lot has been to figure out the whole preshave business. Getting a close and long lasting shave has long been on my agenda but the number one objective for me has been getting a Damn Comfortable Shave.

To me a Damn Comfortable Shave means three things.

• Comfortable during the shave.
• Comfortable immediately after the shave.
• Comfortable until the next shave.

Given my skin and its propensity to becoming dry + the fact it sometimes is easily irritated and inflamed, I've tried everything or close to everything. I've finally found a combination of products and procedures which works for me.

I'll share it with you, but don't know if it's what you need or not.

Here's my preshave routine.

1. The second step in my preshave routine begins the night before the next morning's shave. Before bed I apply a thin coating of shea butter to my face and neck. The stuff takes a long time to soak in, so applying it anytime after supper works. The cheap stuff from Walmart is great.
2. During my preshave shower I wash my face with the Cube. I use it just like face soap.
3. Right before lathering up I apply to my face and neck the Tube. Actually the product in the Tube is exactly the same stuff that's in the Cube, but the Tube keeps my hands from getting slick. I've used a bunch of preshave products. All have been at least a bit helpful, but the Cube/Tube is in another league. It increases the slickness and ghost lather (residual slickness) by a million miles. My shaves are very much improved using the Tube/Cube.
4. The first step in my preshave routine is to apply to my skin immediately after drying it off with a post shave towel a little dab of Mysterium Serum. Again, I've tried many moisturizers and balms. Mysterium Serum is the best of the bunch for me.

For me, the emphasis is on comfort above everything else, but I also get very good shaves. It was not easy figuring out any part of the process. Whether any of my solutions work for others is beyond my ability to ascertain.

Happy shaves,

Jim

That is awesome you attained your ultimate shaving goal!

 

[FarmerTan]

Preshave is everything.

But it's different for all of us. If I don't hydrate my beard as much as I KNOW I should I DEFINITELY pay for it.

 

[thombrogan]

Fascinated to know if this is still the case a year later....

You can read up here to see how it’s been.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Fascinated to know if this is still the case a year later....

Yes. This is exactly what I was doing when I began this thread. Still doing it. It still works.

In recent weeks I've been running a little experiment. After shaving, wiping off the remaining lather, and rinsing my skin, I'm trying alum. Then, Mysterium Serum.







That means I'm using the stick above to go over all the skin I just shaved.

Following that, while my skin is still damp, and without rinsing or towel drying, Mysterium Serum is applied.

As I said, this is an experiment. It takes nothing away from my preshave routine. Whether it adds much is yet to be determined. Whether it will be an addition to my routine, beyond the experiment, is up in the air, too.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Preshave is everything.

But it's different for all of us. If I don't hydrate my beard as much as I KNOW I should I DEFINITELY pay for it.

I hydrate my lathers to an extreme degree. I want them almost to the point where they're about to run down my chest.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Tanuki]

I hydrate my lathers to an extreme degree. I want them almost to the point where they're about to run down my chest.

Happy shaves,

Jim

As I got deeper and deeper into SR shaving my lathers got wetter and wetter until I met Jim's extreme standard.