Indeed, the Lucky Tiger Lemon PreShave Cleanser is a most suitable replacement for the Noxzema. You can also experiment with things you might have on hand, like shea butter or even plain 'ol olive oil. Oil mixtures with lanolin also work well but typically work best with a hot towel.

Finally, Welcome to the Shave Den, Echo_Four. And I agree wholeheartedly about the importance of shave preparation.........in fact I believe that a solid pre-shave preparation is 80%+ of the perfect shave

Agreed. Perhaps it's even more...

And welcome, welcome Echo_Four!!

First of all, thank you for a very interesting read in this topic.

I do have a couple of (stupid?) questions:
Do you know of any online retailers of the Lucky Tiger Precleanser? I hardly think it will be available in a store here in Norway, and I cannot find this product at my "regular" online web shops that ship internationally. Come to think of it, I would like to get some Noxzema as well, so a web shop that sells both would be great.

Secondly, where do you get Caster Oil and Glycerin? I mean, being a chemistry student I think I can get my hands on glycerin, but not without my professors going "What you need that for?". I really don't wanna replay by going "Well, see here, there is this oil cleaning method for you skin .... ". So I'd rather just buy it in a shop.

I really would like to try this method to get rid of my ingrown hairs, as the hair around my larynx grows in every direction physically possible. So no matter how carefully I shave, I still suffer from ingrowns.

Finally, what does USP used describing the ingredients mean?

You know after reading this I still havent tried the Lucky Tiger. :ashamed001

Online store. http://www.getluckytiger.com/Mercha...re_Code=G&Product_Code=16311&Category_Code=SC

I tried getluckytiger.com. They charge $81(!!) to ship the $8.5 Lemon Cleanser to Norway. I know it's a big and heavy tub, but still. That's a bit ... much

WOW!

I wonder how much it would be if someone got it an shipped it to you? If I buy one I will get an extra for you.

Found a guy who sells some of the Lucky Tiger products on eBay, but he would not ship to Norway because of high shipping charges

If this keeps up, I might just take you up on that offer, Mottern Man

Castor oil and glycerin are commonly sold in drug stores (pharmacists, apothecaries, chemists, ? don't know what they might be called in Norway). Both have medicinal uses, castor oil is a laxative (purgative) and glycerine is used for dry skin.

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is the official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines in the US. By saying USP, I meant use products that are clean and pure for human consumption, not castor oil or glycerin designed for industrial cleaning or whatever.

Time has shown us there are several alternatives to the original oil mix, including Lucky Tiger Lemon cleanser.

Another that you can mix yourself is one due to Michael Ham (LeisureGuy), which I also like and use. It is 2 parts each of avocado oil, sweet almond oil, and olive oil, 1 part grapeseed oil, and 1 part macadamia nut oil. (If 1 part is 20 ml, you wind up with 160 ml, which is a good batch size.) I substitute a vitamin E product which is based on safflower oil for the macadamia nut oil. Or you could just use 2 parts of grapeseed oil. A few drops of your favorite Essential Oil (like sweet orange, spearmint, or patchouli) will give it a nice fragrance. All of these oils are cooking oils, so you should be able to find them at a large grocery store.

Also, Stephan Shave Cream works about as well. (This is not really a shave cream as we know it, but a thick oil-based product that you smear on as a lubricant and shave. NOT terribly good for shaving, but does a good job of oil cleansing!)

I wouldn't worry about trying to get the Lucky Tiger Lemon cleanser over there at such outrageous prices. So many other things will work. The main ingredient in Lucky Tiger Lemon cleanser is mineral oil, so you might even try baby oil, which is just scented mineral oil.

Hmm, I have a whole bottle of mineral oil (I think). Maybe that's something to try as the only oilve or castor oil I have is my AOS pre shave oil and that's a little to expensive to experiment with.

New prep method

So, now that I've gotten my razor shaving great again, I've decided to deviate from my existing preshave prep and try other things.

So, I started to think that I'd try my Clubman Country Club shampoo. After lathering up my hair, I lather up my beard and let it sit for a couple of minutes because doing so always helped condition my hair and make it softer, so why not the same with the beard?

My shaves were better so I did the same thing but added a sopping wet, hot towel over the shampoo and left it on until it lost it's heat.

Well, the hairs just seem to melt off while shaving.

I'm going to try the Lucky Tiger Lemon Cleansing Creme next when my order comes in. Then compare the two results. Should be fun

Sounds great! You know, shampoo (most do anyway) contains SLS and/or SLES which are grease-cleaners for garage floors, they remove all the oils from the beard-hair and let the water soften the whiskers

I'll have to check the ingredients on this shampoo.

Post 'em here and we'll tell you why it works

ha, I seem to have been using the Fritz method without ever reading it! Noxzema, oil, and all!

Wow - this is like pre-shave prep nirvana! Cool!

For the last couple of weeks, I tried something similar to this. I've got to say I'm now a huge fan of the Lucky Tiger Lemon Face Cleanser (I assume it the same thing that is being referred to as a pre-shave cream. I couldn't find a preshave lemon cleanser.)

Not only does it clean my face better than anything I've tried, it leaves my beard very soft and my skin very slick. Add to that the slickness created from the shaving cream and my razor just glides so smoothly. Very nice!

I've tried a variety of preps but this is the one that produces the best results on a consistent basis. A tip of the hat to Fritz for sharing this method and to Joe for posting about the Lucky Tiger variation.

Great info Fritz, this will be a must try on the weekends to experiment with

Are you still talking about the oil cleansing method oil cocktail? Just curious because their recipe calls for castor and sunflower seed oils. Are you adding the glycerin to the recipe or adding it seperately?

I've seen quite a few different variations of the oil cleansing method published. I think most of it boils down to personal preference, they generally work pretty much the same, especially for the oil cleansing of the face.

I do add the glycerin to the mix along with everything else. I believe it makes it easier to wash off the oil when finished. Also a bit better for slickness.

I personally use Lucky Tiger almost always for the beard softening/prep. (I am only about a mile away from the King Barber Shop, which sells it.) I keep some of Leisureguy's oil mix, too, but mostly for the ATG pass and touch-up.

Thanks

Guys, this is great info. I have been shaving and getting burns and ingrowns for years. I never new that all this type of stuff is out there. I am going o try them all.