Need Advice-Pre Shave Routines

[Eric W. Ford]

I have tried Kyle's Prep, hair conditioner, and just a hot towel treatment. Nothing seems to work.

What pre-shave routines do you guys use? I know YMMV so I figure I'll try out your guys routines and maybe I'll get lucky and find the perfect prep for me.

What about different products you use? I'm willing to try anything to get my beard as soft and water soaked as possible. Also I get some slight irritation around my neck area and I'm thinking that I need to add something to help the blade slide across the skin's surface. Maybe a pre-shave oil?

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Magnus6208]

Once I am out of the shower, I lather up my face. Then, I brush my teeth and quickly set out my clothes. I feel that these extra 2-3 minutes greatly helps the softening process. Also, I don't wash my face in the shower as I feel it dries it out too much.

As for irratation, remember, the the goal is a confortable shave. Don't go ATG if your neck can't handle it and also use very little pressure. If I had to pick one thing that I feel I have to constantly battle, it is that I use too much pressure.

best,

Gary

 

[fleshdunce]

I always shave right after I shower, so while in the show I just make it a point to let my face and beard area soak up the hot water while I rub the whole area I am gonna shave with my hands thoroughly. Usually I will do this right when I hop in the shower, once in the middle, and once in the end. I find that by the end of the shower my beard definitely feels softer and so far that has been the only pre-shave routine that I seem to need. Just make sure if you try it that you make it a point to rub ATG, ***, XTG and everything...definitely softens my whiskers up and only adds minutes to my shower time.

Also, as someone already said above I would definitely go for comfort over the super close shave. With how much progress I have made in only two weeks I can imagine that the closer and better shave will come with time and more practice.

 

[mdunn]

double check the direction of hair growth, could be that its going in a slightly different direction to what you think it is.

 

[kzoo1]

Here's what works for me...

Hot shower, apply shampoo, and then apply Noxzema to my face, leave both there, finish washing my body, rinse well. I really try to massage the Noxzema into my beard area, maybe for a minute or so.

Hop out of shower, dry all but my face. Rinse beard area with hot water, and apply the cream of the day, using my hands, and massage it in to the beard area, currently using either Proraso or KMF.

I attend to other duties...for about two minutes...

With the cream still on my face, I begin to build a lather on my soap, using a wetter than normal brush, then I build the soap/cream lather (Superlather!) on my face for at least a minute.

Here is where I differ in opinion from a lot of the others- I do two North to South passes for reduction. Then a South to North pass.
This seems to really help with the irritation I was experiencing on my neck.

YMMV and all that...

I hope you find a solution to your irritation.

I found mine by using the above method, and switching to a less aggressive razor, and a more aggressive blade. Currently using a Gillette Tech and really enjoying the Israeli Personna blades...

 

[Eric W. Ford]

My wife has this lying around. I am going to try it tomorrow.


L'Oreal Natures Therapy Hot Oil

 

[luvmysuper]

double check the direction of hair growth, could be that its going in a slightly different direction to what you think it is.

+1

No amount of pre-shave prep will save you from incorrect methodology.
Not saying you are, but better to check and double check your hair growth, blade angle, and pressure before sinking a lot of time and/or money into different pre-shave routines.
A lot of folks have irritation on the neck, some get it from the wrong technique such as pressure or shaving against the grain, other folks like me with the odd pattern of growth I have just have to settle for less than BBS on the neck.
Can I get BBS on the neck? Yes. But it comes at the cost of severe irritation. So, I shave as much as can be done on the neck, just short of irritation and live with the tiny invisible, yet "feel-able" stubble there.
Hope things work out for you. Keep us posted.

 

[Boba Fett]

Have you tried a pre-shave oil or cream? Some people swear by them, some people find them to have no added affect.

 

[mretzloff]

Try a mix of two parts castor oil and one part olive oil. You can add a few drops of your favorite essential or fragrance oil if you like. Try getting the castor oil and olive oil that is not cold pressed.

EDIT: The above is a preshave oil, obviously.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

Have you tried a pre-shave oil or cream? Some people swear by them, some people find them to have no added affect.

I have tried plain olive oil. I felt it worked good but it was really hard to remove from my hands and i felt it was to thick. Looking for something better.

 

[Spade]

I have tried Kyle's Prep, hair conditioner, and just a hot towel treatment. Nothing seems to work.

What pre-shave routines do you guys use? I know YMMV so I figure I'll try out your guys routines and maybe I'll get lucky and find the perfect prep for me.

What about different products you use? I'm willing to try anything to get my beard as soft and water soaked as possible. Also I get some slight irritation around my neck area and I'm thinking that I need to add something to help the blade slide across the skin's surface. Maybe a pre-shave oil?

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

First I wash my face with face cleanser, then rub some massage oil.Protects your skin and soften the beard.After the shave I use a cleanser again before the balm.

 

[sigmasix]

I've only just started with DE but used to get irritation on the lower neck for a while. As Mdunn stated check your hair growth; I always though my neck hair was S-N, but in reality it's N-S generally. I realized I was doing two ATG passes and one WTG at the end which wasn't good, so now I do two light WTG and one ATG. Since then I've found my neck to have improved along with some of my technique.

 

[DSB]

double check the direction of hair growth, could be that its going in a slightly different direction to what you think it is.

+1. If you've tried everything else, and it's not working, sometimes it's best to start from the beginning.

 

[bearbear]

Most days i shower before i shave.

What i've been doing recently, is keeping my bowl of williams soap out on the counter, lathering it up on my face, and using it to scrub my whole face with a brush before the shower. I'll work it in for about 3 minutes, squeeze out the excess soap and apply it by hand, rubbing it deep into my beard area, lots of pressure, against the grain in a circular motion.

I'll wipe my hands on my shoulders, no sense in wasting good soap. Shower as usual and then shave with whatever the day feels like. Sometimes i use williams again, other days other soaps n creams.

Turns my steel wool into peach fuzz.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

I tried this L'Oreal Natures Therapy Hot Oil this morning and it worked really good. My routine was this:

I placed the L'Oreal Hot Oil in the sink with hot water to heat up the oil. Took a shower and I used Neutrogena Razor Defense Facial Scrub.

I applied the hot oil and left it there while I lathered up some TOBS Mr. Taylor's shaving cream. Without rinsing the oil off I applied the lather over top of the oil and proceeded to shave. I ensured I shaved WTG on the 1st & 2nd passes. I felt a remarkable diffrence in my shave quality. My 3rd pass was ATG on cheek areas, XTG on the neck area, chin, and upper lip. Also I reapplied the oil between passes.

1 final note, I also used a 1959 Gillette Superspeed Flare Tip and Red IPs. So tomorrow I will use my Merkur 1904 with Feathers (that has been the combination that was giving me issues.

I will use the hot oil again but I am still going to experiment and see if there is something better.

 

[Klopstick]

My routine is pretty straightforward.

1. Wet face
2. Start brush soaking in warm water, depending on the soap, throw a thin layer of water on top of the soap to soak it
3. Soak a hand towel (not a washcloth, a bigger one, mine is about 17 by 27 inches) get it good and wet, put it in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it for about 2 1/2 minutes (It'll stay hot, trust me!)
4. Return to bathroom with the bowl and hot towel (no microwave in there yet!)
5. Shake out brush. Dump water from mug
6. Dump soak water from soap into mug (if any)
7. Add a bit of water to mug to get "the right amount to start"
8. Splash face with water again
9. Make lather in mug
10. Massage lather into beard for 2 minutes using fingers
11. Add a thin layer of lather to face, then put hot towel on face 2 minutes
12. Relather face
13. Shave as many passes as needed with relathering
14. Shower
15. Cold water rinse of face or rub with ice cube
16. Pat dry
17. Witch Hazel
18. any etceteras that you like

Get dressed and report for inspection by wife (use your own wife, let's not make this complicated!)

 

[Bright (Satin) Futur]

Less irritation comes from the combination of all the various parts of your routine. I've been DE shaving 2 years this past May and I have found it's the soap that makes a huge difference. Early in my experience I discovered Hydro Last - GLORY! My skin seems most sensitive to what I put on it so finding a slippery soap that isn't too alkaline or too acidic is critical to avoid that burning feeling. The soaps I've been happy with besides Hydro Last all contain tallow and my current favorite is Dr. Harris's Arlington.

1 Place shave mug in sink and run hot water to fill it and the sink to warm both, dropping my Vulfix Super Badger into the mug to soak.
2 Add dollop of water over top of soap.
4 Shower
4 Pad dry all but shave area and apply water based Castle Forbes Pre-Shave (get the travel size)
5 Reheat mug/sink and begin pulling soap from the round into the brush
6 Build mix in the mug, adding water to get it just right (this takes practice)
7 Rewet face and apply mix to face building lather too
8 Let it soak in for about a minute
9 Using my Merkur Future on setting #1, I cut two passes N/S lathering in between. I'll then cut Ear to Chin and then using fingers to 'stretch the mix' I'll then polish the rest going against the grain only when it's at it's been cut to it's lowest. I recently fell in love with Wilkinson blades. Feathers are very, very sharp but seem to have microscopic burrs which are rough on my face.

(Yes I'm aware of the grain thing but I feel if I'm chasing my facial cowlick each morning I'll not develop a consistent technique, forestalling my goal of a good shave on a daily basis. Please check out the detailed Method Shaving how to's created by Charles Roberts at http://www.enchanteonline.com/index.html

10 COLD rinse and finish with Thayers, straight Aloe, Hydro Last or The Gentlemens Refinery ASB http://www.thegr.com/

Look in the mirror, feel the smooth and smile at that hard working guy lookin' back at you cause he deserves small indulgences.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

Used the L'Oreal Natures Therapy Hot Oil again last night. And again a much smoother shave. I used my Merkur 1904 and Feather blades. I had some weepers but nothing like before. Maybe I can't use Feathers.

 

[ProphetNoir]

I always shave right after I shower, so while in the show I just make it a point to let my face and beard area soak up the hot water while I rub the whole area I am gonna shave with my hands thoroughly. Usually I will do this right when I hop in the shower, once in the middle, and once in the end. I find that by the end of the shower my beard definitely feels softer and so far that has been the only pre-shave routine that I seem to need. Just make sure if you try it that you make it a point to rub ATG, ***, XTG and everything...definitely softens my whiskers up and only adds minutes to my shower time.

Also, as someone already said above I would definitely go for comfort over the super close shave. With how much progress I have made in only two weeks I can imagine that the closer and better shave will come with time and more practice.

+1
I don't use anything on my face other than water when I am in the shower. Then Kyle's Prep sets me up for a good shave every time.
Patience and practice will pay off immeasurably. Go for a comfortable, irritation free shave. Once you can get that consistantly, your face will let you know when you can try for something even closer. If you rush it, you will suffer.