Cold water AFTER shaving?

[gus1942]

Pores have nothing to do with shaving. Pores are minute openings of sweat glands and do not open or close. Cold water causes peripheral vasoconstriction of the arterial supply of the skin and reduces bleeding.

[deruitem]

warm to remove shaving residue then cold to reduce irritation and close any weepers. Works for me

[Klos Shave]

I'm also a proponent of warm rinse to remove residue and then a nice cold splash. It feels great and I feel like it calms minor irritation. Then it's the alum block. And tomorrow I'm going to add witch hazel after and see how that goes.

[rajagra]

I am so tired of reading about opening/closing pores. Why people perpetuate this totally unfounded myth? Search and you will find a ton of articles here, on B&B, and all over the web that debunks that myth.

Ah, but you will find even greater amount online that repeats the myth. Sometimes the majority doesn't get it right.

[DJF]

+1 on the ice, after I shave rinse with warm, rinse with cold then grab 2 ice cubes from the freezer and rub them on my face.

[chuckr9]

I like the cold water splash after shaving. Refreshing, without the burn that comes with aftershave (which I also commonly use).

[echotron]

Cold water rinse .. WH ... wait a few minutes then AS! Works for me!

[takeshi]

But with the pores closed isn't the absorption reduced?

Possibly but not to a significant enough degree for me. Pores don't open/close anyway. And I'm not sure "absorption" is really the main point of an AS (for me anyway).

Any thoughts?

Try it both ways and see what works best for you. Applies to any topic here.

[flutewhistler]

Cold water rinse should get the minor nicks that you can barely see. Then I apply styptic to all the ones I can really see. After it all dries I use witch hazel, and sometimes a moisturizer.

[OldSaw]

I see a lot of thoughts on cold water helping with "closing" weepers. I use cold water to remove blood from clothing, so wouldn't cold water resist clotting and help blood to continue flowing? Warm water might not close anything up, but does it promote clotting?

I have tried both ways over the years and tried to find the best solution. I believe the differences are very minute, but I do feel that warm water works better at stopping weepers.

So I do what is most comfortable for me, which is rinse with warm water. Sometimes I even do a warm water towel after my shave, for about 30 seconds to a minute or so, this really seems to stop any weepers. I'm not certain if it is the warm water that helps stop the weepers or if it is just easier and more comfortable to keep a warm washcloth on my face for long enough to be successful. At the very least, I have not experienced any negative results using warm water.

Either way, it just feels good, so that's the number one reason why I use warm water.

[gearchow]

Cold constricts blood vessels closest to the surface - vasoconstriction. Your body shunts the blood to the interior vessels to keep important organs warm and to prevent blood close to the surface from giving up warmth. Think insulation. This happens splashing cold water on your face as well as sitting nude in the snow.

Warm water does the opposite - vasodilation. Blood flow closest to the surface flows at greater volumes. Think car radiator.

I recall all of this from my outdoor emergency care work as a ski patroller, but I needed to refresh the info. Hopefully I got it right?

Just remember, pores don't open or close, but your blood vessels do - thank goodness!

-jim

[bigstick]

Pores, shmores. The cold water rinse (the colder the better) tightens the skin and make you look younger and more virile.

[OldSaw]

Cold constricts blood vessels closest to the surface - vasoconstriction. Your body shunts the blood to the interior vessels to keep important organs warm and to prevent blood close to the surface from giving up warmth. Think insulation. This happens splashing cold water on your face as well as sitting nude in the snow.

Warm water does the opposite - vasodilation. Blood flow closest to the surface flows at greater volumes. Think car radiator.

I recall all of this from my outdoor emergency care work as a ski patroller, but I needed to refresh the info. Hopefully I got it right?

Just remember, pores don't open or close, but your blood vessels do - thank goodness!

-jim

Right. I get all of that. But what about clotting? I mean we're only talking weepers here, not compound fractures.

On the small scale bleeding with weepers, my number one question is, does it even matter whether I use warm or cold water? If the answer to that is negligible, then I would simply use what is most pleasing. But I do appreciate your refresher in first aid.

[gearchow]

Right. I get all of that. But what about clotting? I mean we're only talking weepers here, not compound fractures.

On the small scale bleeding with weepers, my number one question is, does it even matter whether I use warm or cold water? If the answer to that is negligible, then I would simply use what is most pleasing. But I do appreciate your refresher in first aid.

Well, it seems reasonable that if the blood vessel that is bleeding out dilates (expands) instead of constrict, then the flow of blood can increase. I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that using cold water to clean blood out of clothes has nothing to do with clotting.

I do know that cold water staunches weepers. Hey, if you don't have a weeper, use warm water. If you do and don't want to use cold water, then use a styptic stick.

-jim

[kingfisher]

What Jim said.

[RazoRock]

One thing I don't believe in in the cold water rinse; I don't do it and don't recommend it; I don't believe in shocking the face.

[brucered]

One thing I don't believe in in the cold water rinse; I don't do it and don't recommend it; I don't believe in shocking the face.

thanks Joseph & Jim...that will make my 630am shaves a bit more enjoyable up here in Canada when it's -40 and i'm doing a cold rinse, then heading out to start the car for work.

i'll give a WARM rinse a try and see how it goes...my weepers and nicks are few and far between lately, so i should be ok with WARM.

the COLD rinse was always the one thing i always dread when shaving...every other aspect is quite enjoyable now.

[OldSaw]

thanks Joseph & Jim...that will make my 630am shaves a bit more enjoyable up here in Canada when it's -40 and i'm doing a cold rinse, then heading out to start the car for work.

i'll give a WARM rinse a try and see how it goes...my weepers and nicks are few and far between lately, so i should be ok with WARM.

the COLD rinse was always the one thing i always dread when shaving...every other aspect is quite enjoyable now.

With tap water barely over 32F I can see why. Brrrrr....

[Pilotgod]

I use a cold water rinse (right now cold tap is about 35*) as my final rinse. I run a hotter side of warm through the pre shave and shave (I try to aim at the same as my shower temp). The only time I DON'T use the cold water shave is when I use my sample of QCS Vostok which already cools the face during the shave. I used cold once and had to check my cheeks for frostbite.

For me, that final cold rinse is just invigorating and caps off a nice shave, plus it helps pull some of the heat in my face out and seems to leave me with a better feeling post shave, almost like having new skin. Weird I know, but I have no better explanation.

[craigruhl]

They are my pores and they will close if they want to. Cold water splash after warm water clean up makes my face feel good.