?'s About the Cold Water Rinse Finish

As several people have said pores do not open and close. Warm and hot water will loosen up dirt that is in them though and clean them better which is probably the feeling everyone mentions when they say something about opening pores. I learned this a while back when I was in the B&B chat, someone was kind enough to link me to a reputable article on the subject which I have unfortunately lost since . That YouTube video basically sums up the article I read.

As for the cold water, my face doesn't get dry until it air dries with my AS on it. So having hot water with the shower, then a splash of hot water before I lather, then a wet, hot towel, then hot water rinses between passes, finally some cold water on my face is FANTASTIC. The best was using QCS Vostok the other day, after my final pass I splashed some cold water on my face and the menthol instantly froze my face heh. It was quite refreshing and I think that is why I continue to do the cold water as my final rinse.

fccexpert said:

It closes your pores, invigorates the skin and will also close any minor nicks, but it's optional; if you don't like it, don't do it.

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No, it doesn't. There is no musculature around the pores with which they could open or close. Pores are more like your ear canal than your mouth and throat. They are one size and don't change based on physical conditions.

This is one myth that I don't think will ever die. Whomever started it should be shot, IMO.

franz said:

...Some of us use cold or cool water throughout the shave to cut down on irritation.

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I swear by it!

I have stopped using cold water for rinsing. I use tepid to lukewarm water now. I don't know if it's my skin or what, but I used to have more irritation after shaves than I do now. I think my skin reacted poorly to the swift temperature change from hot to cold water.

TractionPulley said:

Constricts blood vessels, tightens the skin and ultimately feels good. Doesn't close pores because there are no muscles to do that. They can get clogged tho. That's why I use warm water to first clean the skin from lather and follow w/ the cold water afterwards.

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TractionPulley:
+ 1 and that's exactly what I do.

Christopher

I do a warm water rinse, apply alum block, then a few minutes later do a cold water rinse.
why? because I live in Florida and its freakin HOT here.

Agree with Al raz.

SmoothStroke said:

I have for the past 30 years of shaving (99% shower shave) finished and rinsed with the shower water temperature; generally warm. I towel off and go apply my ASB. No cold water rinse.

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You've been doing it wrong and the shave police are on their way. You've got some 'splainin' to do.

I was thinking the exact same thing as the OP but after seeing that Youtube video is seems that that pores are unaffected by water tempt except that warm water makes them easier to clean so a hot shower and lathering with warm water makes sense. Aside from cleansing the pores, the only difference water temp might have is in that cold water can constrict blood vessels thus limiting bleeding and possibly avoiding razorburn due to a tighter/less supple skin. This says a lot for the cold water shavers and cutting back on irritation, but personally I will just stick to a cold water routine AFTER my final pass.

I shave with cold water!

I think it does feel like the pores close as it feels similar to after an astrigent. But I think that whole open/close thing is over blown. I used to shave in the shower with a cartridge, don't now because I would run out of hot water by the time I finished with my 3 pass double edge, but it was nice and smooth. I never really used balm or even after shave either.

I will say though, I have switched bathrooms (got kicked out of the upstairs one for taking too long) and am now using the one off the kitchen and will pop into the kitchen and get 5 or 6 cubes of ice and add that to the water, now that is brisk! Really wakes you up, and will stop the burn! I will throw a bit of Superior 70 Bay Rum on the ice water soaked towel if I want some after shave.

I think most of the pre-shave/hot towel/cold towel/Alum/aftershave/balm stuff is really as much ritual as effective at improving skin care. If you don't have a rash all you really need is a bit of moisturizer, but that does not stop me from full tilt ritual as long as I have time, and I do feel better for it. but I think it is psychological as much as skin health.

I've been thinking of using ice water after a shave, splashed directly on my face, instead of just cold tap water. My understanding is that by tightening the pores and skin, the post-shave ablution of cold water rinsing protects against bacterial infections. at least, that's what Ray at Gentleman's Best told me.

btw - what happened to Gentleman's Best?


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I'm pretty much with everyone on page 1 that I do it because it feels refreshing.

tried the ice water splash after my shave today, and it felt terrific. tightened everything up quite nicely, too.


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I just do it because everyone said I should when I started with a DE and nice cream/soaps. Now it's habit and it feels good and if I don't do it then it just isn't the same.

Seriously, you put aftershave balm your eyelids and inside your ears ?????

Featherweight said:

I've been thinking of using ice water after a shave, splashed directly on my face, instead of just cold tap water. My understanding is that by tightening the pores and skin, the post-shave ablution of cold water rinsing protects against bacterial infections. at least, that's what Ray at Gentleman's Best told me.

btw - what happened to Gentleman's Best?


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Gentleman's Best

I go cold from start to finish, no hot water used here. Don't care how it works but it dose, and for that I keep on. I find that winter makes the technique even more effective, guess I am a cold shave convert lol.

It causes the capillaries in the skin to contract causing a slight tightening effect and helping to stem any minor bleeding