P
Pogo
Obsessive Maundering on Cremo Cream and Shave Oil
First, some facts. Shaving soap works, in part, by lifting the cuticles on the hair shafts, allowing water to enter the matrix, inserting itself between molecular bonds, and weakening the hair shaft. Dry hair is roughly as hard as copper wire of corresponding diameter; when water gets in the hair it is weakened considerably. The lifting of the cuticle and the penetration of water is enhanced in an alkaline medium and soap is alkaline.
The hydrated and chemically weakened hair shafts are cut more easily by the razor than dry shafts are. This is a reason why razor blades last longer when the beard is properly prepared than if the shave were performed with the whiskers dry.
Some suggest hair conditioner can be used as a substitute for shaving cream. I find this counterintuitive. Hair conditioner works by causing the cuticle on the hair shafts to lie flat and tight; this would inhibit penetration by water.
Now, conjectures on my part without any facts to support them. I notice that when I shave with Cremo Cream I feel more tugging on the razor than I do with traditional shave creams. The skin lubrication is fine but the razor drags or catches on the whiskers.
The thought occurs to me that Cremo Cream may work on the hair conditioner principle; i.e., it provides skin lubrication but does not enhance water penetration into the hair shafts.
A consequence of this phenomenon might be that the whiskers are cut more obliquely to the long axes of the shafts causing sharper stubble than the more-or-less transverse cuts with traditional shave cream. Sharp stubble would theoretically foster pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), also known as razor bumps.
If my baseless suppositions are true, razor blades have shorter lives with Cremo Cream than with traditional shaving.
Shaving Oil. I suspect shaving oil and preshaving oil work on the same principle as hair conditioner and Cremo Cream; i.e., lubrication without hydration. However, if the whiskers are hydrated before the application of the oil, the oil might temporarily seal water in the hair shafts.
Nevertheless, I speculate that the interaction of the shave cream with the oil might consume some of the surfactant in the shave cream and diminish some of the cream's effectiveness.
Your comments are respectfully solicited.
First, some facts. Shaving soap works, in part, by lifting the cuticles on the hair shafts, allowing water to enter the matrix, inserting itself between molecular bonds, and weakening the hair shaft. Dry hair is roughly as hard as copper wire of corresponding diameter; when water gets in the hair it is weakened considerably. The lifting of the cuticle and the penetration of water is enhanced in an alkaline medium and soap is alkaline.
The hydrated and chemically weakened hair shafts are cut more easily by the razor than dry shafts are. This is a reason why razor blades last longer when the beard is properly prepared than if the shave were performed with the whiskers dry.
Some suggest hair conditioner can be used as a substitute for shaving cream. I find this counterintuitive. Hair conditioner works by causing the cuticle on the hair shafts to lie flat and tight; this would inhibit penetration by water.
Now, conjectures on my part without any facts to support them. I notice that when I shave with Cremo Cream I feel more tugging on the razor than I do with traditional shave creams. The skin lubrication is fine but the razor drags or catches on the whiskers.
The thought occurs to me that Cremo Cream may work on the hair conditioner principle; i.e., it provides skin lubrication but does not enhance water penetration into the hair shafts.
A consequence of this phenomenon might be that the whiskers are cut more obliquely to the long axes of the shafts causing sharper stubble than the more-or-less transverse cuts with traditional shave cream. Sharp stubble would theoretically foster pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), also known as razor bumps.
If my baseless suppositions are true, razor blades have shorter lives with Cremo Cream than with traditional shaving.
Shaving Oil. I suspect shaving oil and preshaving oil work on the same principle as hair conditioner and Cremo Cream; i.e., lubrication without hydration. However, if the whiskers are hydrated before the application of the oil, the oil might temporarily seal water in the hair shafts.
Nevertheless, I speculate that the interaction of the shave cream with the oil might consume some of the surfactant in the shave cream and diminish some of the cream's effectiveness.
Your comments are respectfully solicited.
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