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The value of preshave products ...

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
I'm curious about preshave products. @Pressroll was kind enough to PIF me some Proraso red and I like the smell very much. I'm having trouble deciding if it's necessary after a shower, though.

I see it used in Proraso barber shop videos a lot, and I suspect if I have not just showered, it might make a heck of a difference, especially with a hot towel regimen. However, my understanding is that its purpose is to hydrate the skin, not really add to slickness. I've tried it on half of my face during a shave and I must admit I'm having a bit of trouble determining if it makes any difference. I always shave right after getting out of the shower, though.

My question is to those of you who use preshave products, particularly creams like Proraso, do you think it helps after a warm shower, or is it simply unnecessary then? I'm leaning that way myself.
 
I have both the white and green. As a general rule I only use it when I am unable to take a shower before shaving. I can’t say for sure that it helps, but I think it does add some hydrating. A shower is sufficient without the pre-shave.

On some good hot days I’ve used the green, even after a shower, to add some menthol cooling
 
I have used pre-shave products in the past and convinced myself they made a differenve, although a small one. For the past few years though I've not bothered and believe my shaves are just as good, if not better. Probably this is a result of slowly improving tedchnique, and the fact I take time to build a nice slick lather on my face.
 
I use preshaves. A&E slick stick adds to the shave. So does PAA Cube/Tube. There are others. I don't remember white proraso helping much five years ago. I have used Proraso Green preshave with Proraso green soap. I wouldn't use it with anything else. I haven't used it alone. I used proraso red when I first started with out the preshave when I ran out of white. I am kind of torn with the Proraso Green preshave. it kind of stinks and I don't notice much. I wouldn't want to use one of my vintage soaps with out something added to it be it a preshave or glycerin.
 
For the most part, pre-shave routines I've tried in the past tend to have the effect of drying out my skin, rather than hydrating it, and my sense is that it negatively affects my shave overall. So I've become a minimalist: a quick rinse with cool-to-tepid water and that's it. I shower after shaving, or otherwise at a different point in the day. The trade-off is that perhaps my whiskers aren't softened as much as they could be, but on balance, this is what I think works best for me.
 
I’ve been wet shaving for the past 35 years or so now and this entire pre shave products thing is new. In my testing it I have given the PAA Cube a full year of use with absolutely no sign of it doing anything at all honestly. I was hoping it would but nothing to it. It is a great soap on its own don’t get me wrong. I still use it if I am not showering I will wash and scrub it in to do what all soaps do that is attacking the hair chemically in advance of my shaving. But that’s no different than lathered up and leaving it sit for 5 minutes anyway. For $8 it’s a big block of slick soap. I will grab one again when the 2.0 and Ice Cube I have are gone but as a soap not pre shave.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
For the most part, pre-shave routines I've tried in the past tend to have the effect of drying out my skin, rather than hydrating it, and my sense is that it negatively affects my shave overall. So I've become a minimalist: a quick rinse with cool-to-tepid water and that's it. I shower after shaving, or otherwise at a different point in the day. The trade-off is that perhaps my whiskers aren't softened as much as they could be, but on balance, this is what I think works best for me.

Now that is an interesting take on things! This is not scientific, and it's just my memory, can't cite sources, but I have read before we really don't "soften" whiskers. They are what they are, and don't soften much if at all before the shave, it's hydrating your face that affects the shave closeness and comfort. But I definitely could be wrong.

As with most of the rest of you, I suspect preshave creams don't do anything, or at least anything noticeable after a shower, but I also suspect I would notice it if I shaved without the pre-shave shower. I'll make it a sometimes thing.

@Ky K I tend to agree with you, if someone can market a new shaving product, we shave nuts will try it, and some of us may even convince ourselves it's not only new, but worthwhile. :lol1: Preshave treatments have been around Italian barber shops forever, being introduced just after WWII, if I recall correctly. But in the bathroom, a shower followed by a shave with a vintage razor, a vintage blade, and a 'vintage' soap, like Mitchell's Woolfat, is all one needs for a great shave. Top it off with a 'vintage' AS like Clubman or the Floid Original (recently reintroduced, but not new), and that's about all a man could ask for in a great shave.
 
Pre-shaves make a small difference if your overall prep is well done, for example shower and then face lathering for a good 2-3 minutes.

One tip: I find that allowing 5-10 minutes for the pre-shave to be fully absorbed by the skin before lathering up improves its effectiveness.

I use only Myrsol Emulsion (my favorite), Proraso green, and 3P preshaves, but I don’t use one in every shave
 
I came to the opinion that some pre-shave treatments make a difference and many do not. I think the Proraso pre-shave creams do help. Some oils make a difference for me - King of Shaves oil and Acqua di Parma pre-shave oil seem to work pretty well. ToBS and Penhaligons oils don’t do anything. I think I’ve tried some other oils which were also useless.

I can’t prove anything. Those were just my impressions from using them.
 
I’ve been wet shaving for the past 35 years or so now and this entire pre shave products thing is new. In my testing it I have given the PAA Cube a full year of use with absolutely no sign of it doing anything at all honestly. I was hoping it would but nothing to it. It is a great soap on its own don’t get me wrong. I still use it if I am not showering I will wash and scrub it in to do what all soaps do that is attacking the hair chemically in advance of my shaving. But that’s no different than lathered up and leaving it sit for 5 minutes anyway. For $8 it’s a big block of slick soap. I will grab one again when the 2.0 and Ice Cube I have are gone but as a soap not pre shave.
This is what I was thinking. Men have been shaving, sans pre-shave, for longer than they have with it. They also used lesser soaps by today’s standards. Blade technology has advanced and most have said the ones from years past are a far cry from the comfort we enjoy today. All that said, I’m asserting that pre-shaves aren’t necessary. That’s not to say that they can’t add something to a shave and that progress can’t be made over the “good old days”. Each to their own I suppose.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Pre-shave oils like shea butter make my skin more supple helping protect me from my poor technique.
 
This is not scientific, and it's just my memory, can't cite sources, but I have read before we really don't "soften" whiskers. They are what they are, and don't soften much if at all before the shave, it's hydrating your face that affects the shave closeness and comfort. But I definitely could be wrong.

Good to know! If 'softening' the whiskers isn't really a thing, then I suppose there really isn't a trade off here at all in my case.

I've tried the shower before I shave approach but found that, with my skin, a warm shower tends to make my face feel slightly drier overall -- and it seems to translate to a less comfortable shave for me.
 
I’ve tried Stirling preshave soap, the non-mentholated Cube 2.0, and the Proraso Red. I cut the soaps in sections so as not to spoil it all at once; 1/2 of the Stirling and 3/4th of the Cube are still untouched. The Proraso Red is still full, perhaps used 3-4 times.

I don’t think much of these preshave products because I don’t think they help; hot water/shower is all that’s needed to soften the skin. Heck, even the Clean&Clear daily pore cleanser that’s stacked with glycerine probably isn’t helping the shave either, though it does cleanse the pores, so I keep using it.

If anyone wants to try out the soaps or the Proraso and is willing to cover shipping, they’re yours.
 
I've tried a couple of pre-shave oils, I find they add a ton of moisure early in the shave. This results in improved glide, comfort and ease of shaving. I was previously a sceptic, as it makes no scientific scent to add oil to your face, only to scrub your face with soap (designed to break down oils) in the lathering process.
 
I love the white Proraso Preshave (round glass) as an Aftershave when I have gotten irritations.
These will disappear within minutes. It is like a miracle.
I do not know if the new formula is similar effective.
 
I'm a preshave evangelist. It makes a difference for me that is absolutely perceptible no matter what soap/cream I use. For me, I have dry skin in the morning and my pre-shave fixes it. I've used oil and cream. Proraso blue works very well for me in hydrating the skin prior to the brush ever touching my skin. Oils are hydrating whilst also being slick and enhancing the feeling of cushion. Creams are much lighter and really only moisturise. Creams wont impact the lather at all, oil sometimes will.

I can't comment on pre-shave soap. I only wash my face with a facewash at night. Some use pre-shave in lieu of a facewash which I can't recommend. I've never had an issue with the actual lather of a soap/cream which from my understanding is the only thing that pre-shave soap works to improve. Overall, most pre-shave is very affordable. You'd be surprised how long the seemingly small jars and bottles of the stuff last. You don't have to use much at all.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
It’s a ymmv thing but I come down on using it. My favorite is Proraso green I like the menthol. And I like the 300 ml jar over the small ones. I had the red and use it when using the red lineup but I dropped the little jar and the red cap broke it was drying out so I tossed it. I use the green after a shower and feel it’s especially good on my neck area. All this is unscientific of course because last summer I went a few months without any preshave and things were fine. Grooming Dept preshave is also a fantastic product. That adds slickness to your shave. I don’t use that as much but it’s in my rotation.
 
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