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Cold water shaving- it works

Used cold water in the service and when in nam....personally I like
the hot, the hotter the better...Makes me think of nice places....
Whatever makes you feel the best is rite for you... Just my 2 cents
though....
 
hi all
cold water works a treat, don't mean ice cold just as it comes out the tap.april to oct ,after that luke warm.think i will forget the cold shower , luke warm is fine or around skin temp .:001_smile
 
So, this would change with the seasons. Does that make a difference? I would not dare attempt a shave with the cold tap water in the NY winters.

You have a point, but you are shaving inside a heated building, correct? Your face should be dry and warm by the time you leave the house. If you are feeling crazy, you could use some mentholated cream, though :w00t:
 
OK, had a very good cold shave this morning!

Show me the buttocks that can compare to my face!

Today was going to be the day I tried a completely different razor to what I'm used to...but I decided that to give this a proper try I should load up the EJ89L and Astra. A smooth combo I'm familiar with.

A couple of folk have said they tried their first cold shave with proraso, and I was about to go that way with the pre, then the cream. But remembered the way the skin reacts to the pre in particular, which is like hot towelling the face.
So I went with Cade oil on cold water, ( my skin has a drinking problem, so some sort of pre oil helps )
Then I chose Pre de Provence soap, my favourite lately ( it is French! Therefore mon ami, no further explanation is necessary! )

My choice of an Omega boar with only 4 shaves under its belt might not have been the best. It floated for a while on the cold water, before it finally started to get wet. Loading off the puck was probably better cold, as there was little foaming, just cream to load.

But the soap definately behaved differently with the cold water. Perhaps partly because I used an unbroken brush, or not, I seemed to need quite a bit of water to get things happening. Also the cold lather behaved differently on my cold skin.
So the lather part of the process may need a little re-familiarization.

Yet I had a marvellous shave. My easy sections are as good, if not better than usual. And my tricky spots, under the chin in particular, shaved easier and finished up better than usual. I even tried ATG on my upper lip, which is not easily done with hot, and it worked a treat.
 
Ok, just took a shower and then had a cool water shave. I hesitate to say cold because the public water supply is not really cold this time of the year. I soaked my Polo 8 in cool water, rinsed my face with cool water, did a face lather, and built the lather with cool water. I rinsed my Feather AS with a Bluebird blade with cool water and finished by rinsing my face with cool water. I used Mama Bear's Lilac Ice and Barbasol Brisk and I have to say that the overall experience was...cool! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I also just tried the cold water shave.....I did get a close shave, but there was a LOT of tugging and skipping going on, especially on the first pass. The result in the end was a pretty close shave (DFS I'd say) but MAN ALIVE did that alum at the end sting!!

Granted, it could be that my technique still isn't refined, and I'll have to see how my face feels in a couple hours, but I'm guessing I'll go back to warm/tepid water for tomorrow....

However I would love for this method to work for me, since I try to keep my utilities bill as low as possible!
 
If you are feeling crazy, you could use some mentholated cream, though :w00t:

Next, you are going to suggest using ice cubes to chill the water, much like the hot shave proponents talk about nuking towels and using gadgets to heat the water for their scuttles :biggrin1:
 
I just gave this a go and I'm impressed! Not only was my shave as close as a hot water shave, but the razor burn around my adams apple has gone!!:w00t:

I expected the razor to skip and pull a bit, but it really didn't feel much different to a hot water shave - if anything my skin was a bit more taut, therefore making it smoother. I'll definitely be using cold water again.
 
I liek to soak my bowl in as hot of water as i can get and then when i wring my brush i put a lil on my soap but when it comes time to shave I switch over to cold water and try to keep my blade as nice and chilly... makes for a nice combo
 
Wow, I've been wasting my time for 11 years shaving with hot water. Yesterday I had one of the most comfortable shaves of my life. Didn't have time to shave straight out of the shower, so I just splashed on some cold water and lathered VDH on my face with an 830.

I put a fresh Derby blade in my EJ DE89L--which you may have seen me post about giving terrible shaves--and proceeded to get an amazing 3-pass DFS (near BBS, actually), with no touch-up necessary.

Thanks for giving me the confidence to do this, mretzloff!
 
I had my first cold water shave today. I noticed no discernible difference in terms of shave quality. I'll probably just shave with cold water during the summer and hot water during the winter.
 
WORST IDEAS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

1. Cold Water Shaving

2 Telemarketing

3 Prohibition

4. Chain E-Mail

5. Thong Underwear for Men
 
Have to say I tried i, Its not for me. Kinda lost the whole pleasure of shaving and the whole process I do. Im glad it works for some of you though.
 
I am yet to garner enough courage to give this cold water shave a try... Might give it a go for my next shave after hearing all the positive responses!
 
My remark was in good fun, just poking at you guys. :w00t: I think finding what works for you is all that matters.

The OP probably thinks it is a good idea because that Queen Charlotte soap cream is so good it probably does not matter what the water temp is. It's fabulous stuff.

But, I had to shave often in the military without hot water and it sucked. I can't imagine doing it on purpose.
 
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I just gave this a go and I'm impressed! Not only was my shave as close as a hot water shave, but the razor burn around my adams apple has gone!!:w00t:

This is what I am really noticing as well. Razor burn has largely disappeared, especially in my trouble areas!
 
I guess this is as good a place as any to post my entire cold water routine. I would encourage all of you other cold water shavers to post your entire routine.

First of all soak my Omega boar in the bowl with tepid water while I shower. While I take a normal warm/hot shower I wash my face then put conditioner on my face, letting it sit on my whiskers for the remainder of the shower. At end of shower, rinse off face then as i'm shutting off the shower I do a final rinse on my face with cold water, to seal in moisture.

Out of the shower I bowl later with Proraso, and before I shave I get a couple of ice cubes from the freezer. I wet and ice cube and rub my face with it everywhere I will be shaving. Then I later my face up and do my WTG pass. Next, I take the second ice cube re-rub my face with it, later my face and do my ATG pass. And then I do my blade buffing if needed. Tepid water to rinse the cream, Cold water splash, Alum block (leaving on while i clean up), rinse off alum with cold water, AS.

I do not do an XTG pass. I've found that it does noting for my beard reduction that my WTG pass did not already do. But that just me.

I've been getting DFS and BBS consistently with this method. A few comments about it. I know my ice cube method probably sound a bit extreme to most of you but let me explain a bit. Back when I was still hot water shaving, after I was done I noticed my cold water final splashes would make my facial hair stand up and make any trouble spots stand out, making my shave look spotty. This is when I switched to cold water shaving. I was getting such a better shave with cold water, I started wondering what would happen if I did and ice rub. Well, I tried it and it worked very well for me, the ice would cause my hairs to stand at attention, making it much easier to shave. It would highlight and trouble areas I need to pay extra attention to. The quality of my shave improved doing this and at this time was when my shaves went from DFS to BBS. I am not advocating ice for everyone, but it works for me.

I really noticed the most improvement with these methods, during my alum block rub. Before on hot water shaves with kyles prep, the alum block would set my face on fire, and i was still getting sub-par shaves. Now I get very little stinging at all with the alum and am consistently getting DFS and BBS. My technique is continually evolving, especially regarding my trouble spots, my upper lip and my neck around my adams apple.

I know alot of you hot water shavers do not think of cold water as relaxing and refreshing, but I enjoy it greatly. I love the cold against my skin first thing in the morning. I find it bracing and invigorating.

I am looking forward to this winter. In the coming dead of winter I have an outdoor shave plan in the works, just as a fun experiment.

I would be interested to hear the full technique you other cold water shavers use, products you use, etc. Maybe i'll get some ideas to improve my own shave.

As with everything else YMMV. :thumbup:

Thanks for sharing. I am going to try it later this week. I always liked the way Proraso Pre made my face feel cold so maybe with cold water, it'll be even better.
 
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