Obviously prep is something that's been covered to death but my routine is a little different so I figured I'd put it out there in case anyone is struggling, new, or just want to try a no shower prep. For context I have pale skin, a curly beard (I use an afro pick when it grows out, this is thanks to my mother's Armenian genes I have to suspect) and an inflammatory skin disorder called sebhorriec dermatitis. Sebhorriec dermatitis made shaving a little more challenging for me when I was stricken with it. As it renders my skin and hairs hypersensitive.
This invariably resulted in me having to really pay attention to my prep and even was the impetus for switching to slant razors. Anyways my prep is as such;
Firstly I fill my sink with hot water. Not scalding, but reasonably hot. I thoroughly splash my face and head with said hot water. I then begin to bowl lather my soap. Over the course of the lathering process I splash my face and head with the water two more times, being very thorough. Once I'm done lathering I splash it again. After this final splash I apply proraso white preshave onto my face and apply the lather to my head and face. I shave my head, takes about 5 min, then I rinse the lather and pre shave off my face and proceed to relather. By now the preshave has conditioned my skin and the lather has softened the hairs, resulting in a shave that would likely be absolutely perfect to my face without the seb derm and is verging on perfection with it. Afterwards I apply thayers witch hazel and a simple moisturizer. Rinse and repeat everyday. I also use a simple soap. Martin de candre. As I realized that some artisan soaps didn't soften my beard like simple soaps do. The proraso pre shave actually made a marked difference, even rinsing it off, when left on under the lather for 5 minutes. Anywho this went on a touch long but perhaps it can help somebody having trouble with their shaves!
This invariably resulted in me having to really pay attention to my prep and even was the impetus for switching to slant razors. Anyways my prep is as such;
Firstly I fill my sink with hot water. Not scalding, but reasonably hot. I thoroughly splash my face and head with said hot water. I then begin to bowl lather my soap. Over the course of the lathering process I splash my face and head with the water two more times, being very thorough. Once I'm done lathering I splash it again. After this final splash I apply proraso white preshave onto my face and apply the lather to my head and face. I shave my head, takes about 5 min, then I rinse the lather and pre shave off my face and proceed to relather. By now the preshave has conditioned my skin and the lather has softened the hairs, resulting in a shave that would likely be absolutely perfect to my face without the seb derm and is verging on perfection with it. Afterwards I apply thayers witch hazel and a simple moisturizer. Rinse and repeat everyday. I also use a simple soap. Martin de candre. As I realized that some artisan soaps didn't soften my beard like simple soaps do. The proraso pre shave actually made a marked difference, even rinsing it off, when left on under the lather for 5 minutes. Anywho this went on a touch long but perhaps it can help somebody having trouble with their shaves!
