singing praises for pre-shave oil

In my quest to continue perfecting my technique I watched some of mantic's Master Barber videos and tried to replicate the barbershop process at home and I have marvelous success! I realize now how critical the pre-shave process is! Just using a pre oil alone has added a dimension of comfort to my shave, just wanted to pass it along. I know a lot of guys here do pre-shave but if you are one who hasn't gone there yet... GO THERE! You don't even have to wait to order a fancy product, you can even use Olive Oil in a pinch. Here's what I've been doing:
1. Hot Shower
2. Preshave oil
3. Hot towel
4. Lather
5. Shave (very delicately as in blade barely making contact with the skin delicate)
6. Warm rinse
7. Relather
8. 2nd pass
9. cold water splash
10. Aftershave splash

 

Glad to hear you've been improving your shaves.

 

Glad your having so much success bro. Ya Olive's great for shaving..good for cooking and salads too lol...

 

That's what I hear. Haven't actually tried the Olive Oil yet, I've been using Jojoba. Sara_s gave me a tip on mixing the Jojoba with caster oil. I may try that out too, but I heard through the vine that Olive Oil works! My wife told me you can use it on your face to help your complexion so I can't see why it wouldn't work for shaving too? I've been in love with Proraso products lately so I will probably eventually get me some Proraso pre shave.

 

I'm using a pre-shave oil about every third shave. I'm not convinced it improves my shave though.

 

I haven't found that I get a closer shave with the oil, but the skin on my neck is stupidly sensitive and I have felt it gives an added level of protection against irritation in that area which is why I use it. I don't feel it has improved the shave on my face though.

 

Mitch I am glad you are getting good results. It does reduce irritation & razor friction. My husband likes it on his face & head. BTW, for the benefit of any women reading this, it has the same effect on legs.

 

I have been using a mixture of two thirds castor oil, one third extra virgin olive oil, and ten drops of lavender oil in a 100ml pump bottle, applied to my face after a hot shower,
I would certainly agree with the comfort aspect, seems to work well with creams, but not as good with soaps don't know why this is...

 

Salad or Shave. It sounds like the 300 getting ready to met the Persians!
The pre shave that I use is Noxzema based with small amounts of tea tree oil, grapeseed oil, almond oil, glycerin and menthol added to it.
Even if it might not work on my beard, it cleans my pores and feels nice!(;-).

 

The pre-shave oil I use is simply grape seed oil with clove and tea tree EOs mixed in to taste. Is there anything else I should consider adding?

 

Some people like to add castor oil, because it adds some slickness, which reduces friction.

 

Is caster oil slicker than grape seed oil? The gso seems pretty light, which like.

 

Yes it is.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll add some to my current bottle.

 

I've tried it once, but am considering giving it anoother shot.

 

Picked up some pre-shave oil the other day at AoS. I'm so set in my shaving routine that I keep forgetting to apply it and go straight to lathering! I hope tomorrow is the day that I can finally give it a spin.

 

When you try it, I hope you will let us know how you liked it.

 

I posted in another section of TSD that I don't really see a benefit to using it. My beard is not very course and I like to shave as often as possible just because I like to whip up lather and shave. Perhaps a person with a heavier beard or someone who shaves less often or someone with sensitive skin may benefit. I will continue to experiment with it to optimize my process.

 

For me, castor oil softens the beard, and grape seed oil protects skin-especially on my neck. I discovered this using these oils strait (no blending). Ultimately, I find the best of both worlds is to blend them. One popular blend is 2pts castor to 1 part grape seed. My blend is 50-50 + M-Bomb.

 

I'm intrigued about the pre-shaving products. Actually until I discovered this forum, I never knew there are pre-shaving products and i never thought of using anything before shaving except hot water. I'm using now a body washing gel, better than nothing, but I guess I can improve. Overall, it has improved my shaving results.