Speaking as the Pre-shave oil Diva...My husband likes it & says it softens his whiskers & reduces razor friction. After applying it, he uses good soap & a brush. I like it on my legs too. But the only way to see if it is for you is to try it. Some folks find it useful, but not all, so you really just have to see for yourself.
lol. It was buggin' me. I was almost certain that I had read that last year some time. If you walk past an AOS store, they do a great job of dressing up the window and selling the product. They make it look good, and like my old buddy used to say, "Presentation is 90% of the sale." Of course, he did 25 in a federal pen. for trafficing cocaine.
Hi Drew and welcome to The Shave Den! Try varying the amount of water in the brush. With shaving soaps especially, some work best with a lot of water in the brush, others with relatively little water in the brush, and still other soaps somewhere in between. Just experiment around a bit and practice. Bear in mind that in some of those videos, the presenters create mountains of lather for appearances sake. Who knows, that might work. If it does, then that is good. My own experience is that switching from canned gel to a quality shaving cream made a huge difference all by itself. Maybe it will for you, too? You could try using the pre-shave oil with both shave gel and a quality soap or cream, and then decide for which works best for you. Most of the high-quality creams and all soaps require a shaving brush. There are some exceptions, such as the excellent Kiss My Face shaving creams, which can be used with or without a brush. Not so much missing anything as just learning. Hey, we all started out there at one point. And thank you for joining us here!
Actually, their products are very good. But you are right, Art of Shaving products are pricey and there are alternatives that also work very well and are less expensive. Of course, the same can be said of Truefitt & Hill, D.R. Harris, Geo F. Trumper and the other high-end British shaving products. Art of Shaving seems to be taking the same approach as those long established retailers - high priced, high quality products sold in an upscale setting. The primary difference is that AoS does not have 150+ years worth of cachet. I have found that depends very much on the store. One AoS about 15 miles away from me has salespeople who are well versed in their product lines, but generally know very little about traditional wetshaving. The AoS store near me, on the other hand, is staffed by folks well versed in all aspects of shaving. The store manager and at least two of the sales associates use safety razors, and are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic wetshavers. Amen to that. Ironically, it once seemed pretty darned good, and was definitely better than canned foam. That changed once I tried Kiss My Face cream, though. The difference is amazing.
My story was similar. I switched from Gillette Gel to Grooming Lounge Shave Cream. I also used their shaving oil and ASB as well. The difference was like night and day. I was still using my Mach III at the time, but my skin got noticeably clearer and my shaves improved. When I switched to a DE razor, that's when I started using a brush and tubed cream or soap.
Thanks for chiming in! Good points, and I agree... it's a matter of learning and trying the basics. I literally just realized the water:cream ratio was off. I wet the brush more, and whatdoyouknow, I had a mountain of lather. Ordered a WSP high mountain silvertip brush and proraso cream. It will be here today. Very curious to see how it goes!
Help! I'm new to the concept of pre-shave treatments. What is their main purpose? To help your skin feel smooth before you shave???
The main purpose is to properly hydrate, and thus soften, the hair follicle in preparation for shaving. To be properly utilized for this purpose it needs time to work it's magic. Some folks seem to use it for additional protection and slickness during shaving, though. There really is no right or wrong way to use preshaves.
Our own Queen of Blades hits the mark. I get a more comfortable shave when I use a pre-shave oil. And welcome to the Den! Be sure to sign up for the January Newbie Give-Away.
Here's what I do: After I get dried off from my shower, I re-wet my face and rub a little oil over the beard, then let it sit while I whip up my lather. After I get my lather the way I like it, I again wet my face and brush the lather on right over the oil. At first I was concerned about the oil gunking up the razor and brush, but after nearly two years I have zero issues.
Plenty of folks do it that way. To my way of thinking, the most benefit comes from; wetting the area to be shaved, apply the preshave, allow it several minutes to hydrate and soften the hairs, wash the preshave off with soap or your preferred equivalent, apply lather, and then shave.
Must have missed it earlier in the thread. Thanks for the heads up ;-) I wonder if it can substitute a poor prep like lazy quick face wash and then oil up?
Shave oil can also be used to shave with in absence of cream or soap. I'm not brave enough to try it, but there are people who have done it before.
Try it. You are only losing one shave if it doesn't work. Try it on a morning that you have plenty of time. Then if you don't like how it is going, you have time to go back and do your normal prep.
