So, today I was feeling really adventurous and even a little open to physical abuse. On a whim I decided to try to DE shave with only shaving oil. I have a small bottle of L'Occitain Shaving Oil that was given to me a while ago. I have used it with success as a pre-shave oil and use it with my usual shaving soaps. My skin is dry to normal. It has always done a good job of creating additional slickness and moisturization when needed and doesn't gunk up the razor or brush. Pricey ($20), but not bad at all as a pre-shave oil.
I decided to hang it all out there and try it as it is advertised. To add more to the risk of it all, I did this mid-day, long after the morning shower. My last shave was Thursday morning. The only prep I did was to wet my face with warm water. I used my EJ 89L with a Feather blade that I was going to replace soon after using it already for 4 shaves. Don't want to mess up a new blade now would we?
After rubbing in just a little more than the suggested amount I ran the razor under hot water and procedeed to shave according to my usual routine. Usually I go 1 WTG, 1 ATG and if a 3rd pass is needed, 1 XTG. The blade did glide smoothly across the skin with little to no tugging. Mind you I was not using a new blade. Unlike soaps where after passes I re-apply, the oil allowed me to continue to go over places that I had already passed without reducing the slick surface. I would rinse the blade under very hot running water and I could see the hair wash off easily in clumps. I then started to feel the area shaved after every pass to determine if I needed to go over it again and this allowed me to get a pretty close shave in the trouble spots. I was only going to do 1 pass since I was doing this for kicks, but with courage I did my usual ATG pass and successfully made all passes without even a hint of a nick or cut. With this reinforcement I completed my entire rountine with adjustments to accomodate the use of the oil versus soap.
As I rubbed my hand over my face I realized, to my great surprise, that this shave, with only using shave oil, was almost as close as using my soaps and brush! And it only took 5 minutes! Since my face was already moisturized, I just splashed on some Musgo Real AS and rinsed off the razor in hot water. There was just a little bit of oily residue on the blade, but not much and it was very easy to clean up. No issue with the blade at all. Most shocking of all....absolutely no razor burn, weepers, nicks or cuts! Nada! Ziltch! The shave felt great!
Does this mean I will ditch the soaps? Absolutely not. However, if I am going on a short trip and want to reduce the toilettries or I am pressed for time, I will not hesitate to use just the shave oil. I still love the prep and after shave routines, but I won't discount the oil.
I am going to experiment to see how the longer term usage will affect my shaves and skin, but I am off to a promising start. At this time I do recommend those that want to try a shave oil routine to try it with the L'Occitain Shave Oil. It impressed me and I think it smells good. Matched up well with the Musgo. I will say that I don't think using shave oil is for everyone. Skin type, as usual, will give a different experience, good or bad.
Happy shaves!
I decided to hang it all out there and try it as it is advertised. To add more to the risk of it all, I did this mid-day, long after the morning shower. My last shave was Thursday morning. The only prep I did was to wet my face with warm water. I used my EJ 89L with a Feather blade that I was going to replace soon after using it already for 4 shaves. Don't want to mess up a new blade now would we?
After rubbing in just a little more than the suggested amount I ran the razor under hot water and procedeed to shave according to my usual routine. Usually I go 1 WTG, 1 ATG and if a 3rd pass is needed, 1 XTG. The blade did glide smoothly across the skin with little to no tugging. Mind you I was not using a new blade. Unlike soaps where after passes I re-apply, the oil allowed me to continue to go over places that I had already passed without reducing the slick surface. I would rinse the blade under very hot running water and I could see the hair wash off easily in clumps. I then started to feel the area shaved after every pass to determine if I needed to go over it again and this allowed me to get a pretty close shave in the trouble spots. I was only going to do 1 pass since I was doing this for kicks, but with courage I did my usual ATG pass and successfully made all passes without even a hint of a nick or cut. With this reinforcement I completed my entire rountine with adjustments to accomodate the use of the oil versus soap.
As I rubbed my hand over my face I realized, to my great surprise, that this shave, with only using shave oil, was almost as close as using my soaps and brush! And it only took 5 minutes! Since my face was already moisturized, I just splashed on some Musgo Real AS and rinsed off the razor in hot water. There was just a little bit of oily residue on the blade, but not much and it was very easy to clean up. No issue with the blade at all. Most shocking of all....absolutely no razor burn, weepers, nicks or cuts! Nada! Ziltch! The shave felt great!
Does this mean I will ditch the soaps? Absolutely not. However, if I am going on a short trip and want to reduce the toilettries or I am pressed for time, I will not hesitate to use just the shave oil. I still love the prep and after shave routines, but I won't discount the oil.
I am going to experiment to see how the longer term usage will affect my shaves and skin, but I am off to a promising start. At this time I do recommend those that want to try a shave oil routine to try it with the L'Occitain Shave Oil. It impressed me and I think it smells good. Matched up well with the Musgo. I will say that I don't think using shave oil is for everyone. Skin type, as usual, will give a different experience, good or bad.
Happy shaves!
) gives a very good shave under a lot of circumstances.
