Does anyone here steam their face before shaving, rather than showering? The water is very hard where I live (showering dries my skin out), so steaming would probably work better....It would take longer but I shave at night anyways.. I plan on trying it out when I next shave (few days time).
Hi Bro. I have tried steaming instead of showering, but I have found that steaming does not do enough to remove oil from my face. My facial oil almost acts like a shellac and repels my shave soap.
Can't say that I've ever tried it. There rare times I did not shave right after a shower, I used a very hot cloth held to may face for several minutes.
What about steaming and then using a face wash (I use Cetaphil) before shaving? I will probably try this in the next few days and report back.
Corey Greenberg talked about how taking a steam in the steam room at his gym aided his shave tremendously. On youtube you can see barbers using a salon facial steamer to give straight razor shaves and the steam does a magnificent job. I use the barbers hot towel prep often, and it really does seem to help. I use Proraso Pre shaving cream or Lucky Tiger Lemon Cream Facial Cleaner which announces " its excellent with a steam facial'' as the underneath layer, if not shaving lather.
What do you plan to use as your steamer, or are you going to put your face down to a steaming pot of water? Seems like it would take a long time where just washing your face and then repeatedly splashing the water on your beard just takes a minute or two. Anyway looking forward to your report.
Yeah I plan on using a steaming pot of water. It would probably be way too time consuming for anyone shaving before work, but for me it will be ok as I shave at night.
Here in Louisiana, steaming the face occurs naturally between the months of May and October. A shaver need only go outside for a few minutes to get an adequate amount of steam.
Geezer I'm originally from New Orleans and remember just a walk to the car in July and by the time you sat down you were drenched in sweat. Or playing Summer sports even in a gym and you'd look like someone threw a hot bucket of water over you. Always remember tourists in Summer unused to the high temps and humidity looking like washed up fish gasping for air that was like hot cotton balls.
Off track, but I still remember seeing Biloxi Blues in a Baton Rouge theater. The scene that has Matthew Broderick proclaiming that "this is Africa-hot" had the whole audience in stitches.
I do use a hot towel for my face prep, after washing my face first, then applying a pre-shave oil or conditioner... then the hot towel goes on. I don't use a steamer for the towel, just super hot tap water, then a quick wring out of the towel. The moist heat from the hot towel will help to penetrate your skin and whisker hair. I leave the towel on for 3 minutes, but have to re-wet the towel throughout in order to keep it hot. Warm, moist water will penetrate the whisker stubble and pores quicker than room temp water. Keeping the lather hot (warm) also helps to ensure the whiskers remain soft.
He's welcome to come to Florida he can get all of the humid steamy air he can handle. It's a damn miserable feeling during summer here, I don't go outside unless absolutely necessary. I'm just curious how the steam pot worked for his shave.
