I'm new here so not sure if I should post this sort of question here or in some other forum area. I see forum areas for shave soap and for shave cream but nothing for preshave oil etc. So I'll ask here and if there's a better place for this sort of question please let me know.
OK ... so I've only been wet shaving for a few weeks now. I've read lots of posts and searched lots of questions and watched YouTube videos etc... but still have questions. Here's what I've been doing that has been working well so far but I'd like to learn whatever I can to improve my shave:
I start soaking my boar brush in warm water and I warm up a moist towel in the microwave for 30 seconds and get that steaming my face -- I usually reheat the wet towel a few times and spend a good 5 minutes with the hot towel on my face.
Then I take a DIY oil mixture (castor, olive, grapeseed and tea tree oil) a rub a few drops into my face and neck.
Then I load my brush with either Wool Fat or Tabac (tallow version), spray some water on my face and neck and then start to face lather ... I haven't figured out yet how to tell when the lather is ready. But I'm shooting for a creamy texture like yogurt with as much water as it will take without getting bubbly and runny -- it peaks and won't drip off the brush, feels slippery and creamy. It doesn't take me very long to lather - in the videos I watch, they spend way more time developing lather - I can't see anything special happening if I keep lathering for another minute or two so I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing here. I don't paint it on very thick - I'm not sure why I would need any more than just a thin layer. Is there a reason to paint it on thick?
I've noticed that if I use too much of that DIY preshave oil it will stick to the blade and leave bit of film in the sink -- so I'm careful to only use a few drops and massage it into the skin and let the skin absorb it for a minute or two before I start loading my brush.
thanks in advance for any tips and suggestions.
Some pictures to show the development steps of the Wool Fat lather I've been shaving with
Here is early on as I'm just starting to lather and this is soupy with big bubbles, I wouldn't shave with this:
And this is what it's like after another 15-20 seconds or so of lathering. I'm tempted to shave with this but am I supposed to keep lathering to develop it further?
I little more face lathering and painting it on - I can't seem to paint it very smooth, it looks sloppy but it's creamy and slick and doesn't dry out or fade away
And several minutes later it hasn't fallen apart:
OK ... so I've only been wet shaving for a few weeks now. I've read lots of posts and searched lots of questions and watched YouTube videos etc... but still have questions. Here's what I've been doing that has been working well so far but I'd like to learn whatever I can to improve my shave:
I start soaking my boar brush in warm water and I warm up a moist towel in the microwave for 30 seconds and get that steaming my face -- I usually reheat the wet towel a few times and spend a good 5 minutes with the hot towel on my face.
Then I take a DIY oil mixture (castor, olive, grapeseed and tea tree oil) a rub a few drops into my face and neck.
Then I load my brush with either Wool Fat or Tabac (tallow version), spray some water on my face and neck and then start to face lather ... I haven't figured out yet how to tell when the lather is ready. But I'm shooting for a creamy texture like yogurt with as much water as it will take without getting bubbly and runny -- it peaks and won't drip off the brush, feels slippery and creamy. It doesn't take me very long to lather - in the videos I watch, they spend way more time developing lather - I can't see anything special happening if I keep lathering for another minute or two so I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing here. I don't paint it on very thick - I'm not sure why I would need any more than just a thin layer. Is there a reason to paint it on thick?
I've noticed that if I use too much of that DIY preshave oil it will stick to the blade and leave bit of film in the sink -- so I'm careful to only use a few drops and massage it into the skin and let the skin absorb it for a minute or two before I start loading my brush.
thanks in advance for any tips and suggestions.
Some pictures to show the development steps of the Wool Fat lather I've been shaving with
Here is early on as I'm just starting to lather and this is soupy with big bubbles, I wouldn't shave with this:
And this is what it's like after another 15-20 seconds or so of lathering. I'm tempted to shave with this but am I supposed to keep lathering to develop it further?
I little more face lathering and painting it on - I can't seem to paint it very smooth, it looks sloppy but it's creamy and slick and doesn't dry out or fade away
And several minutes later it hasn't fallen apart: