Pre-shave recommendations?

halvor

a most elusive fish
Tried a T&H pre shave early on but found it improved the shave only when followed up by T&H cream, go figure. My MO has been showering, washing my face, and, when blooming the soap, rubbing my beard with the bloom water. That’s all for pre.

Recently, however, have found my post shave feel - both moisture and smoothness wise - on average to improve with the use of Grooming Dept pre shave at home and, perhaps even more of a point, A&E Slick Stick when travelling. They just ensure a fool proof lather effect, especially when meeting new conditions away from home.
 
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Nishy

Forum GOD!
Staff member
Murdock pre shave oil (can get the large bottle for less than £5 when on sale)
Other than that I have a spreadsheet of ingredients + quantities when I made up some soluble pre shave a few years back, which received praise.
I don't use any preshave or aftershave now
 

Atxwatch

Forum GOD!
I think Grooming Department preshaves are probably the very best, but often not available. That is why I recently tried some new (to me) preshave oils, and I can recommend the following highly:

Sweyn Forkbeard (expensive at $25 shipped for 1oz)
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Crux No42 (expensive at $35 shipped for 2 oz)
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Both use exceptionally high-quality oils and fantastic EO based scents. I also tried Soap Cauldron which is a great value and also uses fantastic ingredients, but I find the scent off-putting because it is extremely herbal to the point of smelling like pure nutmeg. Just not pleasant at all. That said...the price is right at $16 shipped for 3.2oz.

If I had to order any of these again, it would be the Sweyn Forkbeard. I would just buy a few of them to improve on shipping economy.

I also used to LOVE Hawaiian Shaving Co's pre-shave oils. The owner (Al) makes incredible preshave oils with raw ingredients he sources locally from around his home in Hawaii. His scents are all first-rate. Unfortunately, he has stopped making the AS and preshave products until he can find a new, better container for them as the old containers used to leak easily during shipping and it caused a bunch of headaches for him and the customers. When that comes back online, I believe it will be a worthy pre-shave purchase again.
 

Baba Rum

Forum GOD!
i don't use any pre-shaving products anymore - i just wash my face well, and that will have to do. And it does ;-)
Then I start face lathering immediately afterwards.
This is how it works now for me - but as always, YMMV and that is perfectly OK.
Years ago, I used a preshaving oil, from Truefitt & Hill. Went very well - no issues, but I had no stock left at one point, and did without it for a while ... that while is now more than a decade...
 

R181

Grumpy old man
i don't use any pre-shaving products anymore - i just wash my face well, and that will have to do. And it does ;-)
Then I start face lathering immediately afterwards.
This is how it works now for me - but as always, YMMV and that is perfectly OK.
Years ago, I used a preshaving oil, from Truefitt & Hill. Went very well - no issues, but I had no stock left at one point, and did without it for a while ... that while is now more than a decade...
When I started shaving 50 odd years ago I never heard of or saw pre shave products sold locally. It was and still is just wet face and face lather to shave. I admit to trying some pre shave products after joining some shave forums a decade ago but it did not make a difference to my shaves so discontinued any use.

I'll grant it may have made a difference if I had used it at the beginning when learning to shave. Once you have your lathering and shaving technique done I see little use for pre shaves. OTOH there is no law for or against using a pre shave so use whatever works for you.

Bob
 

Zhang Doe

Forum GOD!
^
Along the lines of what R181 said, I found that pre-shave was helpful when I started using an AC shavette. But to be frank, it was helpful because I hadn't gotten my lather quite right. Now I'm a lot better and my lather is sufficiently slick that I no longer need it. Fortunately, my pre-shave oil can double as a post-shave oil and it smells quite nice, so now I use it after I'm done with my shave.
 
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