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An experiment

The quandary:
Everyone agrees soap strips oil from your face, and that's great because it allows your beard to absorb water so it is much easier to cut. Everybody also agrees that it is bad to use soap because it strips the sebum from your face, leaving you with no barrier between the blade and the skin.
The hypotheses:
Using soap to strip the face of oil, then wetting the beard to absorb water, and then replacing the stripped oil with a shave oil, should provide all the benefits of stripping oil and all the benefits of not stripping sebum.
Methodology:
So for the last week I've been soaping up with Arko or Floris Santal to strip the oil before I wet my beard, and then shaving with Shaver's Secret, one of the oils you can use with or instead of shave creams or soaps, once my beard has absorbed all the water it can.

The result so far:
The Good:
I'm catching BBS with less irritation than I ever have. The oil really protects the skin, not only from burn, but from weepers. It also conditions the skin, and it seems to keep the blades sharp. Not sure on that, but it seems that way. I still get to use the brush and enjoy the initial smell of the soap, which is important.

The Bad:
I'm using Ron's 4 passer with touch up, and there's more touch up than normal because the oil is almost too protective. (Still, the touch up isn't irritating my skin, so it is more a time and bother issue than anything.) Also, I don't know if this will work if I use creams rather than soaps.

Next:
I'm going to try this for a few more weeks, trying to get the wrinkles out, maybe shave a little more aggressively, and also try to switch to some creams for the oil stripping. Prorasso should work, as it has soap ingredients.
 
Result:
After trying this for a week I got a bunch of zits. Shaving was more of a burden than a pleasure. The first time I went back to Floris soap I was surprised by how much easier, quicker, and closer the shave was.


Blech to the oil strip oil replacement method. It is the suck.
 
Harkonnendog said:
Result:
After trying this for a week I got a bunch of zits. Shaving was more of a burden than a pleasure.

Gracias for the update. I can do without either of the above so I'm glad you experimented for us.:smile:
 
It was a clever Idea and I'm glad you tried the experiment with the exception of the breakout. Good luck going back to the soaps.
 
Harkonnendog said:
Result:
After trying this for a week I got a bunch of zits. Shaving was more of a burden than a pleasure. The first time I went back to Floris soap I was surprised by how much easier, quicker, and closer the shave was.


Blech to the oil strip oil replacement method. It is the suck.


Nice Theories you had here, and one of my main concerns would yes be, your using too much oil or the wrong oil type clogging up your pores and creating breakouts. I once had it pretty bad and figured it out its quite tricky to find the perfect solution .
Lately I have been using Thayers Witch hazel lavender before going to bed spray it on and then with a cottonball I wipe the face you have idea how much junk comes off still after having washed the face with plain water!

Also keep a track of what you eat, like lots of candy or food that contains much butter or fats. I for one cant eat a bag of chips or chocolate I will for sure breakout 2 days later.

Thats why I like Proraso Pre so much a good clean protector for the first pass
I havent experimented with the idea of using proraso pre for every 3-4 passes
im a big fan of Proraso no nonsense to the point products I like that.

I used the milkfood or skinfood or aftershave balm of proraso just as a face cream the stuff Rocks!
 
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