Do not sleep on Almond Oil

[Coler]

So, yesterday I had a rough shave. I’ve been trying to dial in a razor that I havn’t used in a long time. This is a Merkur 39C Slant, which I thought was worth going back to, to see if I could get good results with less passes. I just have one problem spot really, under the jaw on my right where my beard ends. Like many gents, the hair here do not have a consistent grain. I have a thick, heavy, fast growing beard. Over the years I learned not to push for too much smoothness in this area - close enough is close enough. If I ever do have irritation or a bump or three it will be here.

I have to shave Monday - Friday for work, and unsurprisingly it will be the shaves later in the week that are more likely to give rise to a little bit of irritation in that area. Usually calms down very quickly. I shave on Saturday evenings, and take Sunday off to let my face recover.

So, yesterday (Tuesday) was shave 2 this week with the slant. Shave 1 on Monday went great - but that’s expected, after the rest day. Shave 2 yesterday was really quite poor. A lot of irritation and the beginning of a nice rash of bumps along my right side, irritation in an area on my cheek that I rarely have any problems with, several nicks and a lot of serious weepers came up over my morning cofffee. By yesterday evening it was still very evident.

I applied some Almond Oil I had around the place, which I used to apply as a beard oil when I had a beard. Wow! Within an hour or two the skin had really healed up. It also absorbs very nicely, no residue. By this morning it was in excellent condition and very much ready for another shave. I had contemplated not shaving at all but I went for it with the 39C and got a great result.

I have to say, this was no better than with my ASD2 (same blade - feather) and still took 3 passes. But my take home from this is Almond Oil is magical stuff, for me anyway.

I will definitely be adding it to my evening routine, and using it in general where needed. I’ve been wet shaving for 33 years (Aged 46 now), and DE shaving for about 15 or so. This is the best recovery product I have ever used - a really dramatic effect.

 

[mio_cuggino]

This sounds very interesting.
Pardon my ignorance, what is almond oil? Or better yet, where would I find it?
Is it the same liquid used for flavoring baked goods and the like?

 

[Doc Dan]

I found almond oil online. The pharmacies may carry it. I never thought to use this. Is it heaty? Does it smell like almonds?

 

[pellidon]

Grocery stores carry it in the cooking oil section. In the pharmacy/cosmetic section it might be called sweet almond oil. I think they are the same.

 

[NorthernSoul]

This sounds very interesting.
Pardon my ignorance, what is almond oil? Or better yet, where would I find it?
Is it the same liquid used for flavoring baked goods and the like?

Not the same thing. That is almond flavoring. The oil is pressed from the nuts similar to peanut oil, etc. It does not have much flavor by itself.

You're more likely to find it at places like Whole Foods Market with the soaps, cosmetics and things like that.

 

[abies]

This sounds very interesting.
Pardon my ignorance, what is almond oil? Or better yet, where would I find it?
Is it the same liquid used for flavoring baked goods and the like?

I just read NorthernSoul's comment and realized I might have misread your question. Almond oil here is pressed oil from almonds, like walnut oil or canola oil. It's not a flavoring oil like wintergreen oil.

I think some almond oil for body use has Vitamin E added as a preservative (or so I was told). Sometimes it's sold as a massage oil because it is often used for that. As such it's sometimes by the lotions or massage oils.

My guess is the almond oil used for body is more refined than some food nut oils. I've used it before and don't remember it smelling like almonds but it's been awhile.

 

[Coler]

This sounds very interesting.
Pardon my ignorance, what is almond oil? Or better yet, where would I find it?
Is it the same liquid used for flavoring baked goods and the like?

I found almond oil online. The pharmacies may carry it. I never thought to use this. Is it heaty? Does it smell like almonds?

This is what I used. It's light, odourless and absorbs easily with no residue.

You can get pure almond oil a lot of places. Health food type shops over here.

 

[Slock]

Get the sweet almond oil. There is a bitter almond oil which is not recommended for skin and ingestion. From WEB MD
bitter almond (Prunus amygdalus var. amara) is a type of almond. It contains a toxic chemical called amygdalin, which is poisonous when consumed.

The amygdalin in bitter almond turns into poisonous hydrocyanic acid (HCN) in the body. This chemical slows down the nervous system and causes serious breathing problems. Sweet almond (Prunus dulcis), which is the type of almond that is commonly eaten, doesn’t contain these toxins.

People apply bitter almond for stretch marks and other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

Don’t confuse bitter almond with sweet almond or apricot kernel. These are not the same

 

[SinCityAg]

Antica Barbieria Colla has an almond oil aftershave milk that is supposed to be anti-inflammatory and reduce post-shave irritation. You, therefore, are definitely on to something.

 

[thombrogan]

Hi @Coler !

I just applied castor oil as an alternative because I thought it didn’t have salicylates which I know almond oil has. Well so does castor oil! So I’ll try your recommendation of almond oil before what I tell myself is too long.

 

[abies]

I just want to add when I first read the title of this thread I was expecting a story about something like a pillowcase full of oil stains, or some kind of rash from sleeping on almond oil all night.

 

[tejolot3]

I just want to add when I first read the title of this thread I was expecting a story about something like a pillowcase full of oil stains, or some kind of rash from sleeping on almond oil all night.

Me too. I expected the OP to have awakened next day with a terrible skin condition.

 

[Lane101]

So, yesterday I had a rough shave. I’ve been trying to dial in a razor that I havn’t used in a long time. This is a Merkur 39C Slant, which I thought was worth going back to, to see if I could get good results with less passes. I just have one problem spot really, under the jaw on my right where my beard ends. Like many gents, the hair here do not have a consistent grain. I have a thick, heavy, fast growing beard. Over the years I learned not to push for too much smoothness in this area - close enough is close enough. If I ever do have irritation or a bump or three it will be here.

I have to shave Monday - Friday for work, and unsurprisingly it will be the shaves later in the week that are more likely to give rise to a little bit of irritation in that area. Usually calms down very quickly. I shave on Saturday evenings, and take Sunday off to let my face recover.

So, yesterday (Tuesday) was shave 2 this week with the slant. Shave 1 on Monday went great - but that’s expected, after the rest day. Shave 2 yesterday was really quite poor. A lot of irritation and the beginning of a nice rash of bumps along my right side, irritation in an area on my cheek that I rarely have any problems with, several nicks and a lot of serious weepers came up over my morning cofffee. By yesterday evening it was still very evident.

I applied some Almond Oil I had around the place, which I used to apply as a beard oil when I had a beard. Wow! Within an hour or two the skin had really healed up. It also absorbs very nicely, no residue. By this morning it was in excellent condition and very much ready for another shave. I had contemplated not shaving at all but I went for it with the 39C and got a great result.

I have to say, this was no better than with my ASD2 (same blade - feather) and still took 3 passes. But my take home from this is Almond Oil is magical stuff, for me anyway.

I will definitely be adding it to my evening routine, and using it in general where needed. I’ve been wet shaving for 33 years (Aged 46 now), and DE shaving for about 15 or so. This is the best recovery product I have ever used - a really dramatic effect.

One of the reasons I've settled on my three razors with mild to moderate aggressiveness, with no desire for any others, is the need to dial in each one differently. While moving from moderate to mild is easy it took me a while to overcome muscle memory when moving to my more moderately aggressive razor from my mild King C. Gillette. With my current razors working so well I just don't see the need to go though another learning process to dial in additional razors.

During my college years, when I was also DE shaving with a Gillette Super Adjustable, I settled on a single preferred setting for similar reasons.

Also get why there are many here that settle in on a single primary razor in-part due to the above reasons.

 

[nav]

Sweet almond oil is very high in vitamin E, which is very skin healing.

I incorporate it in my shaving soap and AS balm. If my skin is extra dry in winters, i apply a couple of drops once my Hyaluronic acid serum has absorbed.