Pre Shave

 Prep, prep, and prep! Just as they say that the secret to great French food is butter, butter, butter the secret to a great shave is prep, prep, prep!

  It's been argued that the best time to shave is following a shower. Unfortunately we can't do that all the time, whatever the reason may be, sometimes a good scrub just isn't possible and we have to go an alternate path. 

Let's start with a good face wash, body soap selection is just as important as shave soap, we want a soap that will not only clean our skin but supply a good nourishing treatment to our face. Let's have a good scrub, just as an artist will start with a clean canvas we want a clean face!

When looking for an oil, keep in mind we are not looking for a shave oil nor a beard oil, we want a pre-shave oil. A product that is heavy on the fractionated coconut type oils, although these types of oils can be used as beard oils, their primary purpose in shaving is pre-shave. There are a lot of scents out there with these types oils, find something you like, the scent will be gone by the time you apply your lather and make three passes reapplying lather each time, so don't get too hung up on scents, unscented oils work just fine as well. While these oils are not always essential to the shaving process, they can make the experience way more comfortable. Another alternative, which I happen to like,  are the pre shave creams made and marketed by Proraso.

Applying a pre-shave product before your shaving cream not only helps soften your whiskers so they’re easier for the blade to cut through (reducing the risk of nicks and weepers), but it also creates a protective layer between your skin and the razor, increasing glide and reducing the risk of post-shave irritation.