Best pre shave oil or cream and why?

[Razrnewb]

I’ll start by saying that I realize this is “YMMV”, but I get a much better and non irritating shave with some type of preshave. That said, I’m looking for guidance for the best preshave oil, crème or recipe. I’m trying to improve from what I’ve tried so far-

Alonzo’s- cheap, organic, works really, really well but IMO is just messy, as I assume most oils will be. It’s like have grease on your hands and I don’t like the extra cleanup of getting oil off my hands. Are different carrier oils less of an issue to get off your hands?

Prorasso- Have the green and red tubs. It works, it’s cheap, it’s easy, and best of all rinses off your fingers immediately under water. No greasy hands or additional cleanup. The one large drawback, IMO, is a strong smell and I don’t like it competing with a nice soap.

Anything out there that’s super slick, scentless, mild or pleasing AND not oily/messy?

Am I asking for a best of all worlds that doesn’t exist?

If someone has a great recipe that meets my criteria I don’t mind mixing my own.

Thanks in advance for advice!

Dave

 

[Big_T]

Give the Proraso sensitive AKA white a try. It has a very mild scent, kind of like apples.

 

[Barbarian80]

I'm not into preshave products but the past few weeks I've been using Grooming Dept preshave and I'll never shave again without it. Especially with products like MdC that can use some improvements- Grooming Dept pre-shave amps up your lather. There's a considerable difference in performance especially with lower performing soaps that I use just because I enjoy the scent.

 

[Elliot]

+1 on Grooming Dept. Amazing.

 

[Earl_Grey]

If the scent doesn’t bother you - Alt Innsbruck Pre Shave Emulsion.

 

[JCarr]

I've used Cremo and it works well. I'm currently using Lucky Tiger Liquid Cream Shave.

 

[Dave himself]

When i did use a pre-shave I found that Pears soap was as good as anything. Very cheap and very slick also no messy residue to clean up. Plus the scent wasn't strong enough to interfere with even the lightest soaps.

 

[Brutus]

When i did use a pre-shave I found that Pears soap was as good as anything. Very cheap and very slick also no messy residue to clean up. Plus the scent wasn't strong enough to interfere with even the lightest soaps.

I do not use pre-shave creams, have never found them particularly useful, but I do believe in a solid pre-shave routine of letting water and maybe some soap soften my facial hair and skin.

Glycerine soaps (like Ach. Brito Glyce and the humble Pears soap bar) can come very handy for this purpose.
While (fragrances in) some soaps may be slightly irritating, glycerine soaps tend to be well tolerated.


B.

 

[thombrogan]

Neutrogena fragrance-free glycerin soap works well.

For oils, I’ve had good luck with castor oil and with olive oil (regular, not extra virgin), but the key was to use a drop or less.

The two pre-shave routines that have worked best for me are the one used by @Ron R and the one used by @Tallships .

Ron R recommends washing one’s face with a brush and a good bar soap (he uses a CeraVe bar and I used the Neutrogena) and then applying a bit of aloe vera.

Tallships recommends holding a warm or hot damp towel on one’s skin for about a minute before shaving. Despite my shave needing two facecloths (one for soaking and washing and one for drying), this seems to work well for me when I’m not using ARKO! or a glycerin shave soap.

 

[JPO]

PAA The cube is by far my favourite.
A good second is proraso preshave and Clarins preshave/shave ease oil. Argan oil is also a light good oil.

 

[giftofbab]

I like using Proraso White preshave to complete the experience while using the Cream. I also finish it off with the balm.

However, you can always just make your own oil and it’ll perform just as good if not better.

I have a mixture of Olive, grapeseed, jojoba and castor oils. Besides jojoba, grapeseed is cheap and you might have olive oil already if you use it for cooking.

It’s definitely YMMV. I don’t notice a huge difference but there’s no denying it makes my skin more moisturized before shaving.

 

[reformedshavr]

I use a preshave almost every time -- just want to give Cella Bio preshave balm a strong shoutout.... quick easy and very effective.
Musgo Real Oil, Glyce and any of the Proraso pre's are also a regular part of my rotation.

 

[Filudo]

Cella Gel PreBarba, for me the best of all.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Through trial-and-error, I came upon the PAA Cube and Ice Cube, which I'm pretty happy with. I prefer using a soap rather than an oil. The idea is to strip off the oil layer from the hair so water can soften it for shaving.

There are different scents for the Cube offered seasonally. The Ice Cube has a eucalyptus scent and menthol that's not too strong. I converted my Cube soap into a stick which makes it easier to use and there's no waste.

 

[Wal59]

Any Trumpers Skin Food works well for me. A great array of scents.

 

[JPO]

Different brushless shaving creams also work well.
Now I usually take some of the leftover in the soap tub after I have loaded the brush. I rub this in to the beard and build that lather in the bowl. This seems to do the same job as pre shave products.

 

[texasdw]

Truefitt and Hill pre shave oil is very light, with a subtle citrus aroma. I use a couple of drops every other shave or so. It washes off my hands instantly after application. Very light oil. I'm not sure it really does much in terms of the actual shave, but it's part of the routine.

 

[shupey]

I’ll start by saying that I realize this is “YMMV”, but I get a much better and non irritating shave with some type of preshave. That said, I’m looking for guidance for the best preshave oil, crème or recipe. I’m trying to improve from what I’ve tried so far-

Alonzo’s- cheap, organic, works really, really well but IMO is just messy, as I assume most oils will be. It’s like have grease on your hands and I don’t like the extra cleanup of getting oil off my hands. Are different carrier oils less of an issue to get off your hands?

Prorasso- Have the green and red tubs. It works, it’s cheap, it’s easy, and best of all rinses off your fingers immediately under water. No greasy hands or additional cleanup. The one large drawback, IMO, is a strong smell and I don’t like it competing with a nice soap.

Anything out there that’s super slick, scentless, mild or pleasing AND not oily/messy?

Am I asking for a best of all worlds that doesn’t exist?

If someone has a great recipe that meets my criteria I don’t mind mixing my own.

Thanks in advance for advice!

Dave

You can try Noxzema Classic Clean (in the blue tub) as a pre-shave. Too me it just as effective as the Proraso Green preshave but at a fraction of the price and with a less potent scent. For what it's worth, I find the Proraso Blue preshave to work the best for me. It might just be in my head since I'm not sure if the formula for all the Proroaso's are the same with just a different scent. Having said that, I find the overall benifit of using a preshave to be minor at best.

 

[Elliot]

Best two I have ever tried: Grooming Dept. and Crown Shaving Co.

 

[Razrnewb]

Thank you for all the suggestions! Let the experimentation begin!