Olive Oil pre-shave

[Nxspam]

Hi Guys,

a couple of days ago I was lucky enough to get a free honing lesson with my honing guy for my straight razor. I shave with DEs and I'm starting out with straights as well. While we were talking, we both know a barber that has a lot of great pre and post shave products, but my hone guy complained that he's very expensive, especially for pre-shave oils. He then said that he uses almond oil and olive oil, and the results are just as good. "that's what they use in Italy" - he said.

Any opinions?

 

[flatliner1313]

I've never tried it myself, but my grandfather swears by it.
He isn't Italian, either.

 

[Mandina]

By dad was a real Italian (Sicilian) barber! You may want to skip the olive oil as pre-shave--using only the almond oil and/or others such as grapeseed, sunflower, or safflower oil-- because it may interfere with soap or cream lathering, at least for some products. Somewhere there are B&B threads about this, and it was my experience. I do use a combination of such oils as my aftershave moisturizer (mixed together with a bit of castor oil, lanolin, glycerin, and essential oils), including olive oil.

 

[Nxspam]

Cheers, I'll look in to it. I have some almond oil from the chemist.

 

[celestino]

This may be of assistance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub2dNmNt_ZQ
Personally, i don't use it as a good tallow soap will be just as good, in my opinion, but YMMV. Good luck.

 

[David in Boston]

I've used olive oil as a pre-shave treatment and it works. It can help with your shave and it's great for your skin. Plus it a hell of a lot cheaper than the off the shelf pre-shave oils you see being sold today.

Presently, I don't use it because of the shave soaps,(Tabac, VDH Luxury) I use provide a nice cushion.

 

[Nxspam]

This may be of assistance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub2dNmNt_ZQ
Personally, i don't use it as a good tallow soap will be just as good, in my opinion, but YMMV. Good luck.

Hey thanks man. I was just wondering about the pure stuff, but the video did give me some ideas. It looks simple enough and with the essential oils, you can pretty much design your own scent. Cheers.

 

[Nxspam]

OK, I've settled on pure almond oil. Partly because we have some in the house and reading about it on wikipedia, it does sound right for the job. Actually, my wife and I were recommended almond oil when she had surgery in the nether regions a couple of years ago. Her doc said it's a good natural lubricant, if we need it.

To quote the Wiki:

The oil is good for application to the skin as an emollient, and has been traditionally used by massage therapists to lubricate the skin during a massage session.

I'll try it out next shave, probably tomorrow.

 

[ackvil]

Take a look here for some other recipes.

 

[RazorRamon]

I've been looking to get some almond oil for this reason, pre shave oils seem quite overpriced.

 

[Nxspam]

I've been looking to get some almond oil for this reason, pre shave oils seem quite overpriced.

You can bet your boots it's overpriced. I paid 115 Danish kroner (about 20 US$) for 30 ml (about 1 fl. oz) of Tailors pre shave oil when I was just getting my startup gear together. I just checked on the almond oil and its about 18$ for a pint or a half liter. Still expensive, but this is Denmark, and it may be because I'm looking at a cosmetics type store. It's probably a lot cheaper in a super market, but you get my drift.

 

[Nxspam]

RazorRamon, I did a quick search and found a couple of sites including amazon for pure almond oil. Prices in US seem to be between 12 and 17 dollars for 1 pint or half liter. The one I have is marked, pure and natural almond oil.
It has a warning on the bottle that it doesn't like heat or too much light when storing.

 

[Nxspam]

I've used olive oil as a pre-shave treatment and it works.

Cheers David. I'm gonna try it today. Almond oil for me.

 

[Nxspam]

I think I'll get one of those little brown medicine bottles with a built in pipette for easy application. You probably don't want oily hands while you're applying a straight razor to your face!

 

[Nxspam]

Take a look here for some other recipes.

Why do I keep forgetting the wiki?? Doh! Cheers ackvil.

 

[Nxspam]

I had my pure Almond oil pre-shave last night and it was pretty good. The smell was nutty and earthy, but performance wise, it felt exactly like the Trumpers, Truefitt and Tailors pre-shave oil, I've been used to using.

A side affect of the much lower price is that you tend to apply it a lot more liberally. Where I would normally use say 6 to 10 drops of the expensive oil, I found I was using about twice as much with the almond oil and getting better coverage.

I can't say for sure how this affected the overall shave, because I was paying more attention to the blade cutting hair. This was my second shave with a straight razor and I was trying to improve on my first straight shave and get better at it.

All in all, a success with the almond oil I think. I will definitely continue using it, and I might let it replace the Tailors I have when I run out. I did go out and get a small brown glass medicine bottle with bulb and pipette. If you dont know what i mean here, just comment and i'll post a picture. It makes applying the oil a lot easier than using the greasy 1 pint bottle.

 

[CoffeeJunkie]

Thanks for the update on the almond oil. I was curious if almond oil can be mixed with a few drops of glycerin and maybe some essential oil to customize the scent to match the cream/soap, or aftershave one might use. I wonder if some glycerin was added to the mix if it would increase the slickness and cause you to use less of the oil as opposed to more. I may have to pick some up and give it a whirl.

 

[Nxspam]

Thanks for the update on the almond oil. I was curious if almond oil can be mixed with a few drops of glycerin and maybe some essential oil to customize the scent to match the cream/soap, or aftershave one might use. I wonder if some glycerin was added to the mix if it would increase the slickness and cause you to use less of the oil as opposed to more. I may have to pick some up and give it a whirl.

I think if memory serves me, that almond oil is indeed used as a base or carrier oil for custom blends. The nutty smell disappears once you get going, and I didn't feel a need to use more, I just did. I got the whole beard greased up, before lathering. It was quite nice.

 

[thatbrian]

Hi Guys,

a couple of days ago I was lucky enough to get a free honing lesson with my honing guy for my straight razor. I shave with DEs and I'm starting out with straights as well. While we were talking, we both know a barber that has a lot of great pre and post shave products, but my hone guy complained that he's very expensive, especially for pre-shave oils. He then said that he uses almond oil and olive oil, and the results are just as good. "that's what they use in Italy" - he said.

Any opinions?

Pre-shave oils at $25 for 2oz are the biggest ripoff in wet shaving. Check their ingredient list. . .