No Prep Substitutes

[OldSaw]

Coming off of one of my best shaves ever, the other day, I had a pretty subpar one today.

I blame it on prep failure. One would think an old guy like me would know better. I’m going to blame the lather a little bit, because this is a technique that has worked well for me with Santa Maria Novella.

My normal prep technique lately is just a simple shower. However, after spending many months using SMN, I was able to cheat my prep for an evening shave before going out by simply face lathering for a longer time and everything was great.

With a different lathering product of similar style I thought I could do the same while Mrs. OldSaw was occupying the shower. I loaded the brush and worked up a beautiful lather on my face. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the lather. While it was resting on my face I loaded a new Feather blade and commenced to shaving. Usually, if I’m not using SMN, I rinse this off and re-lather. I skipped this step.

All seemed fine doing WTG and I didn’t even notice much discomfort during ATG either, but after my final rinse I noticed a few weepers and a little razor burn. This was disappointing, as this hasn’t happened to me in a long time.

I applied a generous splash of Speick aftershave, which felt very soothing. This certainly wasn’t my worst shave, but it wasn’t great.

I got into my evening clothes and checked with Mrs. OldSaw and she said I looked fine and didn’t notice anything bad like nicks or burn.

So now I’m ready to head out but if I could do it over I would have taken the extra minute or two to rinse off that first lather with a washcloth and reapplied from scratch.

Lesson learned on my part and just passing on my experience.

 

[blade08]

Agreed 100%. Prep is everything. You won't make this mistake again. Thanks for sharing

 

[Goblin]

if I could do it over I would have taken the extra minute or two to rinse off that first lather with a washcloth and reapplied from scratch.

That's my trick too if I can't shower before shaving. Make a lather, let it sit, rinse off and relather. I probably overdo it, but too much prep is far better than too little.

One would think an old guy like me would know better.

I no longer underestimate my ability to repeat past mistakes due to the mis-placed optimism that, "...it'll work out better this time around."

 

[BigJ]

+2! An extra minute or two (more if you have time) spent hydrating your beard and skin pays dividends!!

 

[VerbaVolant]

No cheating in this sport. I have learned that lesson as well.

 

[OldSaw]

No cheating in this sport. I have learned that lesson as well.

Seems like sometimes I need to learn my lesson again. Or I get cocky and think, no safety precautions needed, I got this.

 

[Brutus]

At the risk of repeating myself: I do believe that many, if not most, people who claim to have steel wire facial hair and sensitive skin suffer from nothing more than subpar pre-shave prep.

It does not have to be an elaborate ritual, like washing the face with a pre-shave soap followed by a hot towel, let alone a pre-shave cream.
But some time (like 3 mins with a wet sponge) to let the skin absorb warm water, ideally with some skin-friendly soap, will make a difference.


B.

 

[OldSaw]

At the risk of repeating myself: I do believe that many, if not most, people who claim to have steel wire facial hair and sensitive skin suffer from nothing more than subpar pre-shave prep.

It does not have to be an elaborate ritual, like washing the face with a pre-shave soap followed by a hot towel, let alone a pre-shave cream.
But some time (like 3 mins with a wet sponge) to let the skin absorb warm water, ideally with some skin-friendly soap, will make a difference.


B.

Absolutely! Soap really helps as it removes natural oils that keep water from getting into the hair.

Although, I’m not sure why face lathering (as a prep method) works so well with one product and not another. So back to basics until this current product is used up.