A shower and a face wash with Castile soap (Dr. Bronner’s). nothing else came close to the comfort and ease of the first pass after being hydrated and clean.
Favourite preshave and why?
- Thread starter Gentleman in Japan
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I am working on a new version to make it even more fast absorbing.
You would need to experiment but go easy on the greasier oils like Jojoba.
I am working on a new version to make it even more fast absorbing.
My pre-shave objective is to soften the keratin in my facial hair. It makes an enormous difference to the quality of my shaves when my hair is softened and easy to cut. Water will do it (just like soaking your fingernails will make them easy to cut) but the hair needs to be stripped of oil before it will absorb water effectively and soften.
What works for me is washing my face with a glycerin or clay soap. These kinds of soap are good at stripping oils and allowing the water and soap lather to soften my hair. It works consistently for me and my facial hair is always in the ideal condition for cutting easily. Using other soaps or shower gels to wash my face didn’t work very well, so I think it really needs to be a soap that is effective at stripping oils.
Pre-shave oils never did much for my shaves and I can understand why now. They may have made my skin slightly slicker, although it was hard to tell much difference and probably the shaving soap removed a lot of it anyway. I feel like I get plenty of slickness from my soap lather, once I became adept at making a good, hydrated lather. Anyway, I don’t think skin slickness matters nearly as much as softening your hair, and probably the use of pre-shave oil was detrimental to softening hair.
I haven’t tried every type of pre-shave product, and I did buy some of the Grooming Dept pre-shave but haven’t tried it yet. I stopped messing about with my pre-shave once I found a method that gave me the best results and was the same every time, and that was washing with a glycerin or clay soap. The PAA ‘Cube’ is a glycerin soap, isn’t it? I use Ach Brito Glyce and I really like the scent.
What works for me is washing my face with a glycerin or clay soap. These kinds of soap are good at stripping oils and allowing the water and soap lather to soften my hair. It works consistently for me and my facial hair is always in the ideal condition for cutting easily. Using other soaps or shower gels to wash my face didn’t work very well, so I think it really needs to be a soap that is effective at stripping oils.
Pre-shave oils never did much for my shaves and I can understand why now. They may have made my skin slightly slicker, although it was hard to tell much difference and probably the shaving soap removed a lot of it anyway. I feel like I get plenty of slickness from my soap lather, once I became adept at making a good, hydrated lather. Anyway, I don’t think skin slickness matters nearly as much as softening your hair, and probably the use of pre-shave oil was detrimental to softening hair.
I haven’t tried every type of pre-shave product, and I did buy some of the Grooming Dept pre-shave but haven’t tried it yet. I stopped messing about with my pre-shave once I found a method that gave me the best results and was the same every time, and that was washing with a glycerin or clay soap. The PAA ‘Cube’ is a glycerin soap, isn’t it? I use Ach Brito Glyce and I really like the scent.
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When shaving at the sink, I use Cremo Original as a pre-shave. As they say on the package, it is "astonishingly slick". When I shave in the shower, I use a honey glycerine bar of soap, prior to lathering. Glycerine bar soap is an amazing pre shave product.
Glycerin soap from a Portuguese company
SV Pure Mango Butter (Shea, Illipe) - great product... "ambrosia" for the skin... the best reference may be that my wife (even though she has a whole range of various cosmetics - as women do 
morning and evening cream , in the afternoon, before lunch, under the eyes, on the chin, etc. ) she became interested in this aluminum packaging on my shelf... the effect is that she regularly steals it from me .
I recommend it, the skin is well nourished, hydrated and protected. You can use it with any other soap because it has no scent. Despite being used at night and giving the impression of being slightly "greasy" - as is the case with "butter" - it does not leave any traces on the pillow.
A bit of a trick is that it is used at night... I'm applying it at late evening and using for shaving in the morning for a long time.(of course, plus a hot towel... but that's probably the basics) Well-nourished and hydrated skin... wrinkles and other skin "problems" disappear after a few days. When using with SV Soap, you don't need anything else to make your skin happy. Aftershave is the "cherry on the cake"... it may or may not be...
The only comment - Shea butter (also Illipe) is much more "greasy" than Mango, which translates into the feeling of "sticking" to the skin for a slightly longer time... but strangely enough... as in Mango, there are no traces on the pillow after a night .. I'm writing about this because some people don't like this "sticky" feeling
Tested all of them.. prefers Mango
morning and evening cream , in the afternoon, before lunch, under the eyes, on the chin, etc. ) she became interested in this aluminum packaging on my shelf... the effect is that she regularly steals it from me .I recommend it, the skin is well nourished, hydrated and protected. You can use it with any other soap because it has no scent. Despite being used at night and giving the impression of being slightly "greasy" - as is the case with "butter" - it does not leave any traces on the pillow.
A bit of a trick is that it is used at night... I'm applying it at late evening and using for shaving in the morning for a long time.(of course, plus a hot towel... but that's probably the basics) Well-nourished and hydrated skin... wrinkles and other skin "problems" disappear after a few days. When using with SV Soap, you don't need anything else to make your skin happy. Aftershave is the "cherry on the cake"... it may or may not be...
The only comment - Shea butter (also Illipe) is much more "greasy" than Mango, which translates into the feeling of "sticking" to the skin for a slightly longer time... but strangely enough... as in Mango, there are no traces on the pillow after a night .. I'm writing about this because some people don't like this "sticky" feeling
Tested all of them.. prefers Mango
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My preferred pre shave is the black pre shave bar from Razor Emporium. Long lasting, very slick and also seems to keep the shaving soap from quickly dissolving.
Favorite Pre shave: Cube 2.0 menthol.
Why: It works well for me
Why: It works well for me
I shave after I shower, so my new pre-shave routine is simple. I apply some hair conditioner to my facial hair after I shampoo my head. It works on my hair as I continue my shower and I then rinse off, towel dry, and apply skin lotion. Then I shave. It works great. My last shaves have been spectacular with a new razor blade in my trusty Fatip Grande.
My pre-shave target is to protect, moisturize, the skin - soften the gorilla stubble. Also helps with post face recovery, I never get irritation. Do not use any commercial pre-shave. Mix of organic oils that work for me. Pre-shave always are subjective and some can get away without it. For me, it is always been a part of the process even when I started 50 years ago with a straight. Also please remember you skin and stubble changes, by the weather and age. So what works now, may not sometime down the road.
Just shave smart, be open, find what works best for you and keep it simple and fun...
You have one face, take care of it..
BFX
Just shave smart, be open, find what works best for you and keep it simple and fun...
You have one face, take care of it..
BFX
I tried pre shave years ago! Since it has no benefit on my skin, I no longer use it 
I have been using Stirling Soap Co. pre-shave soaps and have been happy with them. They do a nice job softening my stubble.
I also have used the PAA Cube 2.0 which acts as a lather booster for some soaps (like Razorock XXX). It is also very slick. Mine has charcoal and makes my white shave towels dingy. I also would not try it with an expensive natural hair shaving brush for fear of staining the brush bristles/hair.
Today, I received a free charcoal face soap sample from Sudsy Soapery (along with a tub of unscented tallow shaving soap I ordered). Reading the reviews, one person noted that her husband uses that facial soap as a pre-shave soap. I will have to try it out. I will use my black shave towels for that.
I also have used the PAA Cube 2.0 which acts as a lather booster for some soaps (like Razorock XXX). It is also very slick. Mine has charcoal and makes my white shave towels dingy. I also would not try it with an expensive natural hair shaving brush for fear of staining the brush bristles/hair.
Today, I received a free charcoal face soap sample from Sudsy Soapery (along with a tub of unscented tallow shaving soap I ordered). Reading the reviews, one person noted that her husband uses that facial soap as a pre-shave soap. I will have to try it out. I will use my black shave towels for that.
I've tried many products, and settled on the following, whcih I've used for several years:
- Hot water
- Valobra Glicerlanolina soap
- Myrsol Emulsion
Musgo
I'm a big fan of Musgo Real preshave but tend to use it on special occasions -- My daily drivers are the good commercial preshaves ... mainly Proraso but also Cella gel and Ach Brito Glyce.
Work wise, Ach Brito Glyce lime or PAA Ice tube. When it’s cold and dry aka Portland OR, Shave secret oil. Helps with not drying out the skin.
Yes, I absolutely agree, taking good care of the condition of your skin, not only while shaving, is crucial... I prefer natural butters (my previous post in this thread about SV pure butters) than oils because, in my opinion, they are better to managed, but this is my a subjective opinion.
Slåtterøy Aftershave Moisturiser. I really like this stuff. Got it on a nice deal. Bought 3 of them. The scent could be a bit stronger though.
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