Newbie Pre Shave prep questions

[AndyPanda]

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:

 

[CANES]

Seems like you're worlds ahead of many veteran shavers here that can't get MWF to lather.

I've tried pre-shave oils (homemade and store bought) and quit using them early on. Like you said, it can gum up the razor and the sink and I don't think they helped my shave at all. I've found just a regular face wash with soap helps the beard get hydrated and not washing it off all the way adds a little bit of slickness (depending on the soap you use). You can lather your shaving soap right over the bar soap lather. I use an unscented soap to not mix up scents.

Everything looks good to me in the pics. I'd venture a guess that the majority of us here prefer the thin and wet/slick lather over the big Santa Claus lathers you see on YouTube. I do at least.

 

[Eric_75]

Welcome to B & B, sir!

 

[musicman1951]

Welcome to the forum. Your lather looks fine to me.

Prep is a very individual thing. The only way to know if your pre-shave oil helps is to skip it for a couple of days and see if you feel a difference. Whatever works is good, that's the only rule.

 

[wes1953]

Welcome to B&B!!

 

[Alum Ladd]

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:
View attachment 1563883
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?
View attachment 1563884

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
View attachment 1563889

And several minutes later it hasn't fallen apart:
View attachment 1563890

Welcome to B&B! Your lather looks perfectly fine. The main thing is that if it feels right for you, and gives you enough protection and slickness, all is good.

I fall into the soap and water preshave category myself, but that sounds an interesting preshave brew.

Nice Slim there!

 

[NorthernSoul]

Everything looks pretty good to me. You are using plenty of soap and enough water, so you're avoiding some common lathering mistakes.

I'm not a big fan of pre-shave oil. I usually prefer to just use a pre-shave soap like the PAA Cube or Ice Cube, rinse about half off, and then lather on top of it.

You can do the hot towel treatment if you want. To me, that falls more into the "pampering myself" territory. Washing the face with warm water, lathering with some pre-shave soap, letting it be for a couple of minutes, rinsing half off and then face lathering works well for me and saves some time.

Just keep experimenting and have some fun with it!

 

[njpaddy]

I'm in the "whatever works for you camp". I switched to wet shaving after 40+ years of using electric, injector and carts. After trying most of the pre-shave suggestions, I went back to my pre-shave routine that worked since I was a teen: just a quick face wash with my usual face/body soap to get the oil and dirt off. I found no benefit in oils, hot towels, etc.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Welcome to B&B.

Like you, I tried my own DIY pre-shave oil after looking at several recipes online and it was a waste of time and money for me for the same reasons you mentioned: a messy, gunked up razor and a horrible mess in the sink.

Since then, I've tried a few pre-shaves and found three that make a difference for me. As we always are careful to say here, Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV). Most of the time, I use the Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Cube 2.0 in shower and apply the same produce but in a tube, i.e., the Tube 2.0. I've done quite a bit of experimenting with those two products... same procedures with and without and I find they make a difference.

But you'll read many other people who have no use for pre-shaves of any kind and they've experimented as well. What works well for one, just has no value to someone else. I have old man, grey whiskers. Maybe they just need a bit more soaking time or something.

 

[Chef455]

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:
View attachment 1563883
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?
View attachment 1563884

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
View attachment 1563889

And several minutes later it hasn't fallen apart:
View attachment 1563890

That lather looks really good, particularly on your face. As several have stated shave oil doesn't help me either. Hot towel is nice, but I just shave right after a hit shower. I too was always amazed by how long youtubers worked that brush on their faces. Early on I always wondered if I was doing it wrong and if I needed another fifteen minutes building a lather on my handsome mug. Turns out no. If you're getting comfortable shaves and it works for you then keep up the good work. I am glad to see you keeping to the same kit more or less before stumbling into any rabbit holes. It really does help to hone in on your technique.

Again, welcome to B&B!!!

 

[rodrigaj]

The old saying, "less is more", is definitely applicable to pre shave oil. One or two preshave drops on a wet face, is all I use. It feels more wet than oily. I do the hot towel if I have time (after the oil).

I use it because my skin is supper sensitive. I use a local brand from Soap Opera in Madison, WI. (I like to support local businesses). It comes with an eye dropper. Never tried DIY. It also leaves a nice after shave finish. My razors never gunk up even when I was using a cartridge.

I also face lather, after having tried the bowl thing. I've face lathered for 30 years. I don't get near as good a lather as you show in you picts. I have to work on that.

 

[trolltaxi]

I use scent matched stirling pre shave oils, my lather is similar to yours. Took a bit of practice to get it like that. I use primarily open comb razors so I don’t have much buildup. I’ve tried preshave soaps both with and without the oil and prefer the oil more. I also add 1-2 drops oil between passes as well. I do a lot of buffing and the extra oil seems to help.

 

[AndyPanda]

I use scent matched stirling pre shave oils, my lather is similar to yours. Took a bit of practice to get it like that. I use primarily open comb razors so I don’t have much buildup. I’ve tried preshave soaps both with and without the oil and prefer the oil more. I also add 1-2 drops oil between passes as well. I do a lot of buffing and the extra oil seems to help.

I read somewhere that Stirling pre shave oil is rather thick - is it? It would make sense because I believe I read it contains castor oil and lecithin (among other oils) and both of those are quite thick IME. The shave oil I make has castor oil in it but I hadn't thought to add lecithin until I read the Stirling ingredients. I have liquid lecithin on hand so I added a little to my DIY oil this morning and I did get a really nice shave.

I've wondered about whether I could get away with adding more oil between passes but have never tried it. I haven't seen it done and most people suggest letting the oil absorb for some time before lathering so it just didn't seem right to use it between passes. But now I'm going to have to give it a try and see what I think.

 

[Guido75]

Welcome to B&B, Andy!

Like others before me, I think you are well in your way! Great lather from what I can tell from the pictures. Seems consistent.

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

I think preshave has an effect, at least for me, but I have stayed away from oils for this very reason. I use Proraso Green preshave and following @Phoenixkh suggestion think the PAA Cube is a good one also. I have also used KCG Face Wash to achieve the same.

I can't see anything special happening if I keep lathering for another minute or two

The hot towel I don’t do, don’t have the time for that. And my guestimate is that the lack of a hot towel (i.e. preparing your face for the shave) is compensated by longer lathering. Not so much to keep building it, but to leave it on longer to soften the beard, which is also what happens using the brush to really get the soap in the follicles. See here for a visual explanation (from @AimlessWanderer Guide to DE shaving and a must-read in my opinion).

But all in all you’re doing good on your journey. I would continue by taking one piece out at a time and see where the tipping point is for you (e.g. what happens when you leave or just the preshave oil? Or the towel? Changing blade?). That’s easy you can identify what works for you even more - which was what it was all about anyway. Because mileages may vary.

Enjoy your shaves!!

Guido

 

[BigJ]

Looks like you are doing fine to me! If it works, then go for it IMO!

Many here do use preshave products, oils, etc., etc, but I have found they add little to my routine. I simply wash well with CeraVe soap, then I start my lather. Easy/Peary works for me!!

 

[mkc1mjb]

Your lather looks great! I use preshave products more in the winter, as my skin is more sensitive when it's cold. You will find what works best for you the more you experiment.