What's your shave prep regiment?

1. Whip up lather in a bowl
2. Warm shower, beard washed well with good soap
3. Apply lather
4. Steam with a hot towel for three minutes
5. Rinse face in warm water
6. Lather up and shave.

It used to be a quick wash and a quick steam but after trying the above (Kyle's Method), my shaves have been closer, more comfortable, no blood. Blades last considerably longer too. The couple of times I cut out the shower and pre-lather, I didn't get good results.

1. Get out of shower, leave face wet
2. Wet brush by holding tips up under water then place in mug full of warm water
3. Re-wet face with hot water for 15-20 secs while brush has a light "soak"
4. Load brush and immediately face lather
5. Shave on!

I shower beforehand and scrub a little shampoo on my beard while washing my hair. At the end of the shower, I put on some Proraso cream. I don't know if it does any good, but I enjoy it. If I use the boar brush, I'll soak it while in the shower.

Bowl lather and get to it, splashing a bit of water on my face before relathering.


TL

NavyShave said:

2. Wet brush by holding tips up under water then place in mug full of warm water

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I'm actually interested in how this makes a difference in comparison to just leaving it in the water in the first place if you'll indulge me?

In Summer I prefer a preshave soap (razorock): wash my face with the preshave soap and apply the soap ATG, then lather with your shaving soap with my boar/badger/synthetic brush.

In Winter I prefer a preshave oil: I used to use Art of shaving sandalwood preshave oil; currently I am using a homemade one (50% olive oil and 50% castor oil). I first wash my soap with a face wash, apply preshave oil in the face with hand, lather with a shaving soap. In winter I found the skin is much drier and it really helps if you use a preshave oil before shaving soap. And after two or three passes shave there is no oil in your face, so no greasiness. The only irritation is after applying the preshave oil, you need to wash my hand again with a soap before going for the brush.

My preshave regimen (not regiment) is

• run hot water in the sink, turn on hot water in the shower. If I am the first to use hot water in the morning, this clears the cold water from the pipes to our upstairs bathroom
• fill my scuttle with hot water, turn off the sink faucet, soak the brush in the scuttle
• get into the shower
• apply shampoo to hair and beard. (This is medicated stuff, so it should be left on for a few minutes, giving me ample time for the next step)
• Apply Noxema moisturizing cream to my face and areas that are not bearded (cheeks, neck, nose, etc)
• finish showering, rinsing, drying
• use a squeegee to help clear the mirrors, open the bathroom door to facilitate air flow
• sometimes I will apply a vey thin layer of Noxema before lathering. Sometimes shave oil, mostly just go with a great soap
• drain and refill the scuttle, shake out brush, begin lathering
• then on to the shave

Bud Green said:

4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards

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What does an old British cavalry regiment have to do with your shave prep?

Wash my face and rinse.
Rub a bar of soap on my face. Lather with my hand.
Shave until it is getting dry - about 60-90 seconds.
Splash more water on my face, rub and get back to shaving.
When done, rinse off. Check my face for anything I missed and touch up using water and razor.
Dry off razor & face.
It takes 4-6 minutes, depending on how careful I am.

Bud Green said:

It's my shave prep "regiment"

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Ah, I'd like to compliment your humor but in all honesty that was terrible.

Now how about your shaving routine?

Anigai said:

I'm actually interested in how this makes a difference in comparison to just leaving it in the water in the first place if you'll indulge me?

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No magic, it's merely a time issue. If I soak the brush while showering, especially a boar, the bristles get too soft. So, after showering, I just run it under warm water then dunk it in a mug while I re-wet my face.

BSAGuy said:

Shower. Shave.

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+1

NavyShave said:

No magic, it's merely a time issue. If I soak the brush while showering, especially a boar, the bristles get too soft. So, after showering, I just run it under warm water then dunk it in a mug while I re-wet my face.

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Ah now I get it. I done that myself when I had boar brush before i went fully synthetic. Why not leave it in the mug while you wet your face? Does the initial run under the tap soften the tips while the mug does the rest?

Shower then shave. In that order

1) Fill bowl with cold water, soak brush in bowl.
2) Dip tip of soap stick in water.
3) Press washcloth, soaked in cold water, to face several times to hydrate.
4) Squeeze out brush, dump most water from bowl.
5) Rub 10-12 drops homemade pre-shave oil onto face and neck.
6) Put snurdle of cream into bowl, spend 15 hours bowl-lathering.
7) Thoroughly rinse face and neck with cold water.
8) Dip tip of soap stick again and apply directly to face and neck.
9) Face-lather soap with cream-lather-loaded brush into superlather.
10) Do not wait at all between face-lathering and shaving.

Anigai said:

After reading more and more of this thread my interest in pre-shave oils has piqued a little. I wonder how baby oil would perform? I'll do it tomorrow and post about it if I remember

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Johnson's Baby Oil when you read the label is mineral oil; Mineral oil itself is a lot less expensive.

Can one dilute glycerin and just rub that in as a pre-shave oil?

My shave prep;
Brush my teeth
Shower
While showering my brush is soaking and my soap too
After the shower I squeeze the excess water out of brush, dump the excess from my soap in my bowl
Load my brush, then make my lather
Wash my face, wrap my face with hot wash rag
Lather

coyotewhisper said:

My shave prep;
Brush my teeth
Shower
While showering my brush is soaking and my soap too
After the shower I squeeze the excess water out of brush, dump the excess from my soap in my bowl
Load my brush, then make my lather
Wash my face, wrap my face with hot wash rag
Lather

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+1 for this!

* Run brush under warm-hot top water for 10 seconds or so
* Wet face
* Apply shave-stick to face with generous amount of soap
* Lather for 3-4 minutes
* Shave

celestino said:

* Run brush under warm-hot top water for 10 seconds or so
* Wet face
* Apply shave-stick to face with generous amount of soap
* Lather for 3-4 minutes
* Shave

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isnt that a long time to lather the face? i only lather about 1-2 minutes