after shower shave = very dry, tight face.

Hi. So when I used to shave in the shower my face was always wet and moist (obviously!). After my shower I would immediately dry pat my face slightly and then quickly apply moisturizer, since I have quite dry skin and live in a dry climate at altitude. If I didn't do this application almost immediately upon exiting the shower my face would tighten up and dry out quickly (within seconds I could feel it tighten).

Now that I'm DE shaving after my shower I find that by the time I've prepped my soap and am ready to lather up, my face has tightened up and feels like dry leather. Also, my soap (Harris Arlington) doesn't seem to give a lot of 'slip'. Sometimes it's almost like I'm dry shaving as the lather doesn't seem to do much but sit on my skin; that is, it doesn't seem to be keeping my skin moist. I've followed the lather making steps for soap and get good lather as per the tutorial (nice, moist, rich), but it doesn't seem to do much for my skin but sit on top of it. No gliding sensation when I shave. Tight and dry draw of the razor.

Any suggestions? A shaving oil? Cream as opposed to soap? Shave in the shower again?

Do you have any kind of extractor in your bathroom? I've always taken the method of keeping the bathroom as warm as possible, I very rarely open any windows and this leaves a lot of moist air in the room and avoids my skin drying.

My shaving routine now consists of :-

Shower
Hot towel for 2 - 3 mins (this isn't normally needed it just helps me and it can't do any harm)
Trumpers Coral Skin food (very small amount)
Taylors pre-shave oil (in addition to the skin food)
Taylors cream (I use sensitive or Lime and Lemon) with brush
3 pass shave
Alum block
Skin food again
Taylors sensitive aftershave cream
Normal face moisturiser.

Now I know this is a very very long winded way of shaving, but it gives me the best shave with the least amount of irritation possible.

My skin always dried out after shaving and would get razor burn etc frequently, but this new system is right for me!

I know this is my first post and all, but I've been reading this forum for a while now and have only just registered

Here is my prep and I never have a problem with my face drying out.

1. As hot a shower as I can stand
2. I use Pantene or Suave conditioner (just learned about this) after I've been in the shower a few minutes.
3. Wash up and rinse everything off. I let the hot water hit my face and neck for at least 60 seconds before I get out of the shower.
4. Wrap a towel around my waist, then I load my brush full of soap and face lather.

Proraso pre/post is something you may want to consider as well.


P.S. If you use conditioner, use the kind that softens your hair, not strengthens it.

How about some pre-shave oil upon exiting the shower?

I can't have a shower before shaving, and for that matter, the hot & wet towel is just as bad. It does soften the hairs but it makes my skin much more sensitive, among other things, and dries it even more.

As an alternative I tried the Proraso pre but there is far too much menthol in there for my skin as well as for my sinusses so at the moment I am giving the "sensitive skin" version (by Proraso) a go. Still not ideal but it works a lot better than all the (hot) water treatments I tried.

Most benefit I get from face lathering with a soap that doesn't dry out too much (try for yourself) and in winter time (my skin is driest then) I sometimes use some oil as first layer.

I live in a dry climate at altitude as well, and I experienced the same problem. The soaking with a towel for 3 minutes didn't work because it dried out. My solution was to skip the lathering, and just go to soaking my face with a wet towel, over and over, during my entire routine. Oh, and showering after I shaved.

So, I fill both sinks with water. Hot water for the lather bowl and comfortably warm water in the other. I soak a towel, and then apply to my face for about 5 seconds. Then I resoak the towel and reapply. I do this for about 1.5-2mins. I then make the lather in the hot bowl, and then resoak my face, over and over, for about 30 seconds. I then start shaving. I soak between passes. I soak after I rinse off the last pass, and then use colder water to soak again. I then take a shower. After I've been out of the shower for about 5 minutes, I apply an ASB if needed. I have very dry, thin, skin that burns easily and is hard to hydrate. It may sound like too much, but my skin is in better condition than it's been in years - many years. You shouldn't need to do this much, but just in case....

From my experience, pre-shave oil is useless. It doesn't improve the shave.

I would get a good performing cream like Taylors or Poraso and ditch the DR Harris. I find a Spieck shave stick also works very well, especially with face lathering.

xriley said:

I would get a good performing cream like Taylors or Poraso and ditch the DR Harris.

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Dr. Harris is a quality cream. Am Surprised you dont have any time for it.

xriley said:

From my experience, pre-shave oil is useless. It doesn't improve the shave.

I would get a good performing cream like Taylors or Poraso and ditch the DR Harris. I find a Spieck shave stick also works very well, especially with face lathering.

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I'm suggesting this merely as a way to keep his face from drying out between the time he exits the shower and begins shave. Applying a layer of oil over a well-moisturized face should hold the moisture in, shouldn't it?

winkydink said:

I'm suggesting this merely as a way to keep his face from drying out between the time he exits the shower and begins shave. Applying a layer of oil over a well-moisturized face should hold the moisture in, shouldn't it?

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Agreed, that is why I use it sometimes; not for a better shave but for keeping my skin happy!

Thanks for the replies. I can't do a hot towel, or a cold splash after for that matter. If I do, then my face will be beet red for a few hours. I use hot water to keep my lather warm, but water applied to my face must be lukewarm. I'll keep experimenting and see what I can come up with.

I have the dry face issue too, especially since I swim often. I just moisterize often throughout the day. My trick since I'm too cheap for many products is to use general hair conditioner before my shower and after. Enough remains to help prevent excessive drying.

Cheers,
Nate.

Hey, I tried the shower before the shave today for the first time, and it was one of the worst shaves I've had. My beard was tough as ever, the water was not near as hot as usual, the mirror was fogged, and I had to wait around for nicks after the shave.

I always shave BEFORE I shower. Shaving before I shower offers me the following benefits, not including leaving out the issues I mentioned above:

-Guaranteed moisture in the shower
-Easy to wash off shave soap
-You can thoroughly wash off your aftershave, but still get its antiseptic benefits (depending on the AS)
-Weepers stop for me in the shower and don't require any styptic
-You can run torrents of cold water on your face

You might try it out. I for one don't see the benefits of shower, then shave for myself.

William

Edit:
Hey! I read up on Kyle's Shave Prep - I'll try the arko, then the hot towel, then re-lather. Maybe I'll even wind up with enough lather in my brush that adding more Arko to the brush will be unnecessary!

thanks guys,
William

Newbie here but Kyle's prep is great for my head shaving and has vastly improved my mood as well on shaving days!

winkydink said:

How about some pre-shave oil upon exiting the shower?

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Or some preshave oil just prior to entering the shower. The oil sitting on the skin while steam is hitting it may be just the ticket.

I have the same issue in the northeast dry winter, and my thoughts are: try to get the room as steamy as possible if you shower first (after reading above, I may try to reverse that sequence); block the air vents if the heater or air conditioner is running. Try glycerin based soap. Try the softening hair conditioner thing. Try Skin Food before lathering. Finally, I've found that Proraso has more moisture than most others.

duotone said:

Dr. Harris is a quality cream. Am Surprised you dont have any time for it.

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The cream is, but he is using the soap which is supposed to be pretty hit and miss.

I think that's what I'm going to try. In fact, I'm off to try it right now! A nice sunday evening shave.

WilliamIam said:

Hey, I tried the shower before the shave today for the first time, and it was one of the worst shaves I've had. My beard was tough as ever, the water was not near as hot as usual, the mirror was fogged, and I had to wait around for nicks after the shave.

I always shave BEFORE I shower. Shaving before I shower offers me the following benefits, not including leaving out the issues I mentioned above:

-Guaranteed moisture in the shower
-Easy to wash off shave soap
-You can thoroughly wash off your aftershave, but still get its antiseptic benefits (depending on the AS)
-Weepers stop for me in the shower and don't require any styptic
-You can run torrents of cold water on your face

You might try it out. I for one don't see the benefits of shower, then shave for myself.

William

Edit:
Hey! I read up on Kyle's Shave Prep - I'll try the arko, then the hot towel, then re-lather. Maybe I'll even wind up with enough lather in my brush that adding more Arko to the brush will be unnecessary!

thanks guys,
William

Click to expand...

statius said:

I think that's what I'm going to try. In fact, I'm off to try it right now! A nice sunday evening shave.

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How did it go? My skin is insanely tight after my usual shower->shave routine, I have a feeling shave->shower would do the trick...

I hope that things went well. If you are still having problems, I would suggest showering, but not washing your face before you shave- simply applying warm water a few times to soften your beard. It sounds as if your soap might be very drying (my area has quite hard water and I have a similar problem).