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What do you do differently for your shave in the winter months?

When I wake up in the morning and the thermometer is hovering above zero I know that there's a lot less moisture in the air and my skin knows it too. It becomes rougher, dryer and seems to hold onto those whiskers a little more resiliently. So I've adapted my shaving routine to still get those great shaves in the winter months.

Prep! Prep! Prep! Even though good preparation is important year round, it becomes more essential in the dry winter months. Most of the time I'm lathering up right out of the shower in the morning, or if I've showered the evening before at the gym, I'll go the hot towel soak over some glycerin soap lather for 3-4 minutes to hydrate my skin.

Along the same line, if I'm planning on face lathering a shave cream, I'll half-lather it and let it sit for a few minutes while I brush my teeth.

When it comes to soaps or shave sticks, which for me are almost exclusively face lathered, I'll more deliberately build the lather and find that I'm dipping my brush tips into the sink water one or two more times. I'm not sure if I'm too casual making lather in the humid summer air of if the lather actually requires more water during winter months.

Use a good winter cream or soap. There are some creams and soaps that seem to leave my skin feeling moisturized when I'm done shaving. Mitchell's Wool Fat, Tabac, Cella in the red tub,, Palmolive sticks, Klar Kabinett C.O. Bigelow and Old Spice cream all leave my face feeling moisturized. For exceptional moisturizing qualities I like Mike's Natural and Mystic Waters shave soaps.

Finally thanks to Celestino, I've become a big fan of using unrefined shea butter as an aftershave balm. shea butter is an active ingredient in many moisturizing products, has a light nutty scent that doesn't interfere with the scent of my aftershave splash. Unrefined Shea Butter has excellent moisturizing qualities and leaves my face buttery soft. In fact my wife now uses it as a moisturizer for her face.

What do you do differently for your shave in winter months?
 
My only change this winter is using a bit more product on pre/post to make sure my skin stays hydrated. Like Bob, I saw the myriad posts from Celestino about unrefined shea butter and have added this to the rotation. I tried using the shea butter daily, but that was leaving my skin too greasy. I have scaled it back to every other day and using a smaller amount. The days I don't use shea butter post shave, I use Proraso pre/post.
 
I use balm over my entire face, rather than just where I shaved.
That's about it. I only shave after a warm shower anyway, so my prep routine doesn't change.
 
My only change is to use warm water and a scuttle (either brush or lather scuttle) in the winter.

In the summer I switch over to cold water and a stainless lather bowl

My prep has always stayed the same. Never changed. Face wash with glycerine soap to hydrate my beard, lather, then shave
 
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