I shave after showering, but even so I wash my beard at the sink before I shave. I use a pre-shave soap, rinse partially with a splash, and the apply lather (from a shaving soap or shaving cream) to my wet, slightly soapy beard.
I have experimented with various pre-shave bars. I used Baxter Vitamin E-D-A Cleansing Bars for quite a while, but then I came across Musgo Real Glyce Lime Oil soap (MR GLO), which made a noticeable difference (for me) in the quality of my shave. Through some combination of greater lubricity in the lather and the beard-softening properties of the soap’s ingredients, I really did get better shaves: this one handily survived the “week with, week without, another week with” test that I use for pre-shaves.
As a result, I stopped looking. I use the bar and just my hands to wash my beard: work up a lather with the soap, scrub beard a bit, “rinse” with just a splash, and lather. Naturally enough, different shavers use different techniques: some use a washcloth with the soap, another uses the soap somewhat like a shave stick (not to create lather for shaving, but as a way to scrub his beard), and some use an old brush with the soap, but again only to scrub the beard, not to build a lather: it’s a pre-shave soap, not a shaving soap. With my method—soap and hands only, no washcloth or brush—a bar of the soap lasts three months.
We recently hit a MR GLO drought with almost every source out of stock (temporarily, as it turned out), and that drove home to me that I should really have a good list of alternatives. My first discovery, suggested by Gary of ShoeboxShaveshop.com, was Proraso’s Sul Filo Del Rasoio pre-shave soap. This lacks the lime oil that MR GLO contains, but that’s a definite benefit if you happen to be one of the guys whose skin is sensitive to lime oil.
Proraso’s soap, like MR GLO, is high in glycerin, which seems to help the shave—and I recall that Dr. Chris Moss of ShaveMyFace.com found that Geo. F. Trumper’s Coral Skin Food made a good every-pass pre-shave, and on looking at the ingredients, decided that it must be the glycerin and found that he got the same benefit from simply using a dab of glycerin before each pass.
The thought that a high-glycerin face soap will make a good pre-shave soap suggested Neutrogrena Facial Cleansing Bar and Pears Transparent Face Soap, and both do a good job. Another excellent pre-shave soap is the Dr. Bronner line of soaps, liquid or bar. (Zach even uses Dr. Bronner’s for a shave soap.)
Another shaver has recommended QED’s own cleansing bars, and they are next up, but I’m realizing that the universe of high-quality high-glycerin facial soaps is vast indeed. Although I continue to find MR GLO supreme (and I bet it’s the lime oil), I am more comfortable knowing I have a stable of good fallbacks.
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I would add Neutrogena’s Razor Defense Daily Scrub cream soap works well for me.
I thought facial scrubs dry out the face? And, I don’t know of any that contain moisturization ingredients.
This one is kind of the “odd man out” if you ask me. The “scrub” is very mild and it does have moisturizers in it.
Ditto for the Neutrogena Razor Defense Daily Scrub. I use it daily pre-shave. It helps exfoliate when you rub it in good because it has beads in it.
Great way to start the shaving process daily.
Cetaphil Gentle Facial Cleanser has a nice combination of mild cleaning and loads of glycerin to set up a great shave.
What I do is just splash my face with hot water, starting with one of my cheeks, chin, then other cheek. After 10 splashes for each part of my face I apply lather.
Interesting you should mention Dr. Bronner’s because they now have a line of shaving cream.
Yep, there are many ways to skin the cat. Wen I consider a new method or procedure or product, I like to do a week’s shaves the new way, followed by a week’s shaves the old way, and then another week with the new way. This is what convinced me that MR GLO was much better than what I had done before. I encourage you to experiment as well—as I now shall with Dr. Bronner shaving cream.
I’ve been wanting to try MR GLO for a while, but haven’t yet. The two soaps that I currently use for pre-shave wash are Sudz C-Weed Bar Soap and VDH Shower + Shave Bar Soap.
I also regularly use Proraso Sensitive Pre/Post Cream, which has improved my shaves.
Why not just some plain ole’ regular glycerin?
Indeed: Give it a try. Shaving is very much a YMMV activity, so the ultimate answer to “Will this work for me?” is to try it and see. MR GLO, for example, doesn’t work for everyone: some guys turn out to be sensitive to the lime oil. And when I tried glycerin in comparison to MR GLO, the latter was noticeably better…for me. What will work for you is something you must discover through experience and experiment. That’s what “YMMV” means.
Where does one purchase that nice angled soap rack in the picture?
I don’t know. It was a stock photo!
I use regular hair conditioner on my stubble each morning. Wet face, apply and rub in at beginning of shower, wash off when finishing shower. For me works better than the only one of the ones listed here I’ve tried so far – Neutrogena Facial Cleansing Bar.
Exactly: your own experience should be your guide. It’s good to read things and get ideas for things to try, but whether they will work for you—and whether, if they do work, will improve on your current set-up—that is something you have to discover.
Whole Foods private 365 brand of vegetable based glycerin soaps are also excellent choices, particularly the “Aloe Olive” soap.
I am using a 350g block of French milled lavender soap to prime my shaving brush and then add a small glob of shaving cream (currently Trumpers violet) to palm of hand and continue to hydrate the brush and cream mixture. This results in a very nice lather suitable for three or more passes. I have a new puck of Babassu shaving soap from Soap for Goodness Sake to try today. A new favorite is Avalon Organics Lavender moisturizing cream. It is suitable to use without brush and is translucent and very slick. Visibility through the cream is a very different shaving experience for me. I like being able to see the stubble that is there prior to cutting it. I get a great shave with this product.
Interesting. But I don’t quite see the connection between comment (on various sources of lather) and the post (on pre-shave soaps used to prepare the beard before making and applying lather). Do you use a pre-shave soap?
Rather than just saying I don’t use a particular “pre-shave” product, I described a technique that I prefer. If I want to add the slickness of glycerin I make an uberlather instead of the superlather described. The Avalon Organics product contains a glycerin. Sorry that my comments came across as a drift.
You can actually find good face cleansers at Wal-Mart for a fairly decent price. What works for me is exfoliating in the shower using either Clean & Clear Deep Cleansing Face Scrub or Gillette Thermal Face Scrub, then washing my face at the sink with Clean & Clear Foaming Face Wash for sensitive skin. Then I follow the shave with a coldwater rinse, pat dry, and either an alcohol based aftershave or aftershave lotion or balm. Nivea makes some very good shave products as well, as I use their Replenishing Post Shave Balm.
Sounds like a good regimen.