How-to: Pre-Shave Prep

I'm glad this thread popped up again. I've been using a slight variant with success.

I shower with Yardley's, which is a real tallow soap (at least here in the US it still is), a quality product. The last thing I do in the shower is crank up the water heat a little, lather my face with a bar of Yardleys and apply the wet towel for the three minutes.
Then I wipe my face, rinse both the towel and myself off, step out, dry off and throw on the robe, lather up and shave.

This helps for a number of reasons.
One, if the towel is cooling, I can lean in and add fresh hot water.
Two, the mess stays in the shower.
Three, I don't have to make extra lather for the blade, as the Yardley's does the trick.

Fantastic post! The first time I tried a wet towel I just applied the hot towel after my shower, it helped but it wasn't that great. The second time I tried it I went with a full on Kyle's prep and it was a noticeable difference. I don't have the time or need to do this everyday, but it is definitely something I do if I expect a rough shave, have extra time or previously had a rough shave.

Fantastic post, no doubt!

Thanks again!

SlagleRock said:

Fantastic post! The first time I tried a wet towel I just applied the hot towel after my shower, it helped but it wasn't that great. The second time I tried it I went with a full on Kyle's prep and it was a noticeable difference. I don't have the time or need to do this everyday, but it is definitely something I do if I expect a rough shave, have extra time or previously had a rough shave.

Fantastic post, no doubt!

Thanks again!

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Thanks, buddy.

How do you keep the hot towel on your face while you are waiting? Do you just hold it there while standing at the sink?

I will only say one thing... As soon as my proraso pre-shave pot is done, I will be using this technique. I am currently doing it on the week-end and it's the best technique I've done as a prep! Thanks Kyle (for the technique), Mantic (for the video) and everyone else for contributing, this place wouldn't be like this without all of you guys.

Luc said:

Thanks Kyle (for the technique), Mantic (for the video) and everyone else for contributing, this place wouldn't be like this without all of you guys.

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Hat tip to you Sir, well said!

Luc said:

I will only say one thing... As soon as my proraso pre-shave pot is done, I will be using this technique.

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Why wait? I use Kyle's Prep with Proraso pre-shave, instead of the lather, and it works great.

I find you need a good quantity (more than you would use as a post-shave) of the Proraso to get the best results, but that just lets you buy more sooner.

Bobtrumpet said:

Why wait? I use Kyle's Prep with Proraso pre-shave, instead of the lather, and it works great.

I find you need a good quantity (more than you would use as a post-shave) of the Proraso to get the best results, but that just lets you buy more sooner.

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I guess I can give it a go tomorrow morning... It's a great technique!

Funny, this is my exact face prep when I get out of the hot shower. Works wonders with my straights.

I just gave myself the full Kyle's Prep treatment last night, but I've been doing the same thing with Trumper's Skin Food (and less towel time) to great effect for the last 6 months or so. I didn't notice the shave being much easier or closer, but then I have a fairly light beard. I did notice an improvement in comfort, though. Is this the lather or holding the towel for longer? It remains to be seen...

Wow!

Late com'er here who just finished reading the o.p.

I've read many a tutorial and not once have they stated that you should lather, Hot towel, wash, and then lather again. Which really and truly, does make sense because the idea is to get the hair follicles nice a soft for easy shaving.

Nice tut Kyle. I'll deffo be trying it.

Luc said:

I will only say one thing... As soon as my proraso pre-shave pot is done, I will be using this technique. I am currently doing it on the week-end and it's the best technique I've done as a prep! Thanks Kyle (for the technique), Mantic (for the video) and everyone else for contributing, this place wouldn't be like this without all of you guys.

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Video tutorial you say? I'm intrigued. Where might I find this clip? I did a search whithin the thread for "Mantic" and nothing other than this post and the following one, came up.

Pottertons said:

Video tutorial you say? I'm intrigued. Where might I find this clip? I did a search whithin the thread for "Mantic" and nothing other than this post and the following one, came up.

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Go to Youtube and search Mantic59. He has several great video tutorials. Most of us would not have made it where we are without them.

I wanted to add to this, because I'm not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere...this prep seems to work WONDERS if I use it on days when I have very little stubble.

I read in another thread that hair gets softer as it gets longer - this would explain the great after-3-days shave we all get. But it never occurred to me to try Kyle's prep after only 24 hours of growth until I read this.

Lo and behold, it was like wiping the whiskers off my face! The only issue is my blade seems to move so easily I think I need to deliberately slow down to get all the stubble. Try it after only a day.

Great thread. Was doing something like this for a while but instead of proraso or lather I was using refined shea butter under the hot towel then lathering up. It really softened those whiskers up. I was using a multiblade back then and have since graduated to a de. Now where's that shea I think I might use that method tonight. Thanks Kyle.

Thanks a lot man, this is the way my barber used to prep me before my shave. It's a total HomeRun.

Lots of great info here.

nice post, very informative

I read every single post in this thread. I have found increasing greater success with my shaving since reading this site.

I will try this technique soon and hope to have as miraculous results as the other testimonies.

Legendary post Kyle. Thanks for all of the info. Lathering is now not a problem for me, so I can focus on the actual technique of shaving.

Thanks again!