Pre-shave oils

[MCsommerreid]

Originally Posted by Brian278

I'm not sure which you're advocating here. Are you arguing in favor of washing your face before shaving?
Aye, but just a light washing. No crazy exfoliating, or heavy scrubbing; just water, mild soap/cleanser/whatever, and hands. I also advocate shaving after a nice hot shower where you soak your face with as much water as you can. That's also when you can use the pre-shave shave cream or conditioner soak, though I'm not entirely on board with conditioner, as most of them are just waxes and oils, thus counter productive to softening the beard. This initial application of as much water as possible is to soften the hairs, hence why warmer water is better. Because with true wet shaving the point is to get as much water on your face as you possibly can, and then hold it there with shaving lather. Hence method shaving, where people go to massive lengths to get the maximum amount of water with as few repellents (like oil) as possible. Course, i should probably condition all my advice with the fact that I'm using a DE or a straight, and that's an entirely different kettle of fish than a cartridge or even an Injector style razor.

Originally Posted by Brian278

But I wouldn't steer people away from it who are just starting out, because it has helped me.
That is a good point, since in most cases wet shaving is very user specific. For some oil works, for others it just clogs pores. However, with DE and straight razors technique is the most important thing, and with proper technique (for the most part, anyway), pre-shave treatments beyond a soak with hot water aren't needed. On the other hand, in some peoples cases once they have the technique down, a good pre-shave regimen can help boost their shave to a whole new level. So I suppose YMMV applies here in spades.