Too much hydration?

[Al Bundy]

Hydration of the hair is a pretty much universally accepted principle but is it possible to take it too far?

At present I am once again suffering from a rotten cold. Due to this, the first thing I did after breakfast yesterday was get my head over a steaming bowl of Vicks in hot water to clear my sinuses.

10mins later I'm in the shower and about to commence the morning shave routine. The thought entered my head that "hmm, all that steam should have helped prepare things perfectly" and was looking forward to a very pleasant shaving experience.

Sadly, the truth was far from it.

Everything else in my routing was the same as usual, the items used amongst my most regular namely:

Brush - Vulfix 2234 silvertip
Soap - OSP Barbershop
Razor - Fatip MK1 Piccolo
Blade - Gillette Rubie on 3rd use (actually 7 o'clock yellow is my norm but been using these lately for variety as they're almost as good)

First issue, no lather. As soon as the brush hit my face it just disappeared. Reloaded, tried again, pretty much the same. Got though uncomfortable first pass with lots more razor feel than usual.

Tried to relather for 2nd pass but brush was empty. Reloaded and added a dollop of Erasmic cream to the mix (which I find to be a bit of a lather bomb usually) but still next to nothing on my face.

Finally laboured through to a less than perfect 3 pass shave at which time my alum block gave me it's tuppence worth and let me tell you, it was not happy!

Fast forward to this morning. Did the Vick steam inhalation thing again but this time left it over an hour before commencing shaving ritual - no problems whatsoever.

Thoughts or similar experiences?

 

[santamariasteve]

Brother Al,

Don't make judgments when you have a bad cold or otherwise are in distress. It's a lose-lose setup for erroneous thinking and invalid conclusions.

Wait until your health and mental well being are back to normal, and then do rigorous experimentation and draw your conclusions.

Personally, I've not experienced what you have described, and I have shaved daily since November 1951. Yes, 1951. That is not a typo!

 

[smudge]

Might be stating the obvious here, but it sounds to me that the Vick is the problem.

 

[Al Bundy]

Probably should have mentioned that I do wash my face with glycerin soap as part of my prep so shouldn't be anything lingering on it

 

[Clay S]

The only thing I can think of is that your warmer than normal face was killing the lather, or the lather was over hydrated and that was killing it.

You can be surprised with more blade feel than normal considering you were having lather issues.

I rarely shower before I shave, but days that I do the additional hydration doesn't bother my lather or shaves, and I still follow my normal hot towels and face cleansing ritual as normal.

 

[njpaddy]

I don't think I've done a Vicks steam since the 1950s. Been shaving since the early/mid 1960s and never liked shaving after a shower. I always got a better shave before a shower with just a simple face wash. To each our own.

 

[xxvaleria]

Probably should have mentioned that I do wash my face with glycerin soap as part of my prep

So do I and it's never had any effect on my lather.

 

[Al Bundy]

So do I and it's never had any effect on my lather.

Yes indeed, I was making that point so as to dispel the possibility that there was any residue of the Vicks on my skin prior to lathering

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I do think over hydration is possible. Initially, you are hydrating the hair, but after a while, you are hydrating the skin. I don't think hydrating the skin helps. It swells and softens, reducing the hair shaft exposure, and becoming more vulnerable to damage.

I can't answer your lather issue though. Maybe just the brain not on full form due to the cold.

 

[BigJ]

Might be stating the obvious here, but it sounds to me that the Vick is the problem.

+1! My best guess also!!

Hope you feel better!!

 

[@ngel]

I agree with over hydration, in my early years of traditional wet shaving I followed the recommendations of a good prep for a good shave and went all out on hot towels and preshave creams and oils and pretty much anything you can think of, but there IS such a thing as too much! So I learn that (for me) a simple wetting of the face with warm water and apply the lather for a good minute is more than enough hydration for me, if a shave after a steamy shower just apply lather quickly and shave right away and no problems whatsoever!

 

[santamariasteve]

The problem I foresee is when we overly hydrate our whiskers we also overhydrate our facial skin. Overly hydrated facial skin is soft and therefore is easier to cut or to nick.

It's still true: Moderation in all things!

 

[Bogeyman]

...

First issue, no lather. As soon as the brush hit my face it just disappeared. Reloaded, tried again, pretty much the same. Got though uncomfortable first pass with lots more razor feel than usual.

Tried to relather for 2nd pass but brush was empty. Reloaded and added a dollop of Erasmic cream to the mix (which I find to be a bit of a lather bomb usually) but still next to nothing on my face...

I am perplexed to say the least. It is scientifically impossible to not have any lather.....unless you didn't load any soap (cold medicine perhaps?). I have used OSP and it lathers wonderfully. Something doesn't jive here.

 

[Al Bundy]

I am perplexed to say the least. I have used OSP and it lathers wonderfully. Something doesn't jive here.

Hence my bafflement. I agree it is a very good, easily lathering soap.

I'm tempted to stick with the idea, as others have supported, that overall it was just too much hydration.

Presumably this led to the lathr being killed by too much water and the shave being ruined by a combination of poor lather and "swelling" of the skin rather than just the hair.

As I mentioned, the following day/days I have repeated the Vicks steam inhalation but then waited a period of time before geting on with the shave routine and not experienced any problems - only when I did it immediately afterwards.

Can't really think of anything else that logically fits...