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Pre-Shave Face Wash

Bogeyman

Bogeyman

Shave Member
This is not, repeat NOT, about something you leave on your face, but rather wash off before applying shaving soap/cream. It's not about a pre-shave treatment cream/oil, but a pre-shave cleanser, i.e., facial wash. I really do think this is a little talked about, and far less understood, factor in shaving. Just plain water rinses away salt and skin flakes, but oils and sebum are not affected by water, no matter how much you use. Food for thought.

Personally, I have noticed that my shaves are smoother after using a salicylic acid face wash. Not only does it work great as a chemical exfoliant, but it excels as removing excess sebum which seemingly allows the hair follicle to become more easily penetrated by a blade. At least that's my take on what is happening, but trained scientist I am not. I can however tell a distinct difference between shaves when using the exact same razor, blade, soap, brush, etc., and only changing the pre-shave face wash. I think this is "uncharted waters" for most wet shavers and a far more important factor than most realize. I also think that many a wet shaver has unwittingly condemned a blade and/or soap as their pre-shave facial cleansing methodology was lacking.

Try a cheap salicylic acid face wash that can be found at Walmart or another drug store and see what I mean. ;)
 
I don’t know about salicylic acid washes specially but I do endorse the concept of washing (lather up and rinse away) prior to the shave. I actually suggest doing a full on lather with a brush and soap the night before, rinse and apply your favorite skin care creams etc. I like aftershave more than moisturizer but will use a “homemade” (CBL) oil blend followed by aftershave. My morning face wash might be a shower lather with brush and soap, a scrubby dub with Stirling body gel, a scrub at the sink with my own homemade pre-shave soap or a good scrub with Muscgo Glyce.

The pre-shave scrub may not be absolutely necessary but I have yet to have it ruin a shave. I don’t generally use salicylic acid products unless it’s on my scalp during a wicked outbreak of super nasty crusty scalp.
 
Just curious more than anything...do you use a salicylic acid face wash everyday? I would think that would dry skin out. But honestly...I have only used one for a brief period of time.
 
Spider said:
I don't ever think about it, because I always shower right before I shave. The last thing I do before getting out of the shower is washing my face. That's the perfect prep in my opinion.
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However, what you wash your face with does have a bearing upon the shave IMO.
 
dangerousdon said:
Just curious more than anything...do you use a salicylic acid face wash everyday? I would think that would dry skin out. But honestly...I have only used one for a brief period of time.
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It is so damned hot & humid where I live that I never have a dry face it seems. Salicylic acid is a chemical exfoliant and prevents ingrown hairs as well. I even use a glycolic/salicylic acid cleanser post shave. I'm close to 60 and wrinkleless. It works. ;)
 
I also shower before i shave and most of the time use stirling bath bars to wash my face and maybe once or twice a week i use and apricot scrub instead. Honestly i have not noticed a clear difference between those two, but i have also not used the exact same setup back to back with that being the only difference.
 
I have a feeling this is something like a lot of things in traditional shaving (blades, soap, razors, brushes etc) that will depend on the person and skin type etc. So often someone will find what works for them (And this is GREAT) and then think it's a one size fits all and everyone should do the same, when that's not the case. Glad you found what works for you, shared it with the forum as it may help others too. I like what I've done for the past @12 years that works for me. Peace, out (y)
 
@Bogeyman You may have mentioned but I don't recall. Are you using a bar soap or liquid? If you want a really good pre-shave wash that you can lather on if you want you can make a simple compound pre-shave bar. I You can buy the more expensive face bar from the drug store or get the cheap one from the $ store. I like the PEAR's bar but i don't think it has Salicylic acid but it has some other good stuff for face washing. You are going to be melting it in the microwave. Next thing you need is a puck of Williams.

Get a mug and line it with a plastic bag. Chop the facial bar and place it in the mug, zap for about 30 seconds to get the bar started melting so there is a little more room in The cup. Use a fine cheese grater to grate the williams puck and add the shavings into the mug. Once you have the puck grated zap the facial bar again for about 30 seconds or until it is pretty much all melted, THEN add as much of the grated Williams as will fit in the melted facial bar and stir it up to start it dissolving. The Williams wont just disappear, you will need to keep heating and stirring. Keep adding as much Williams as you can get into the melted facial bar. I usually do a couple facial bars to one williams puck and use a BIG (HUGE) mug. When its all mixed in just tug the plastic bag tight so there aren't any gaps an let the whole thing rest until its cooled. Take the bag out and cut into rounds and let cool/dry completely. The resulting pre-shave bars will work beautifully and will actually lather quite well. I have made these and ones like them using shave soap i've made myself instead of Williams and shared with several of the guys over the years and have gotten great feedback. @Cvargo loved the way it cleared his skin.
 
CBLindsay said:
@Bogeyman You may have mentioned but I don't recall. Are you using a bar soap or liquid? If you want a really good pre-shave wash that you can lather on if you want you can make a simple compound pre-shave bar. I You can buy the more expensive face bar from the drug store or get the cheap one from the $ store. I like the PEAR's bar but i don't think it has Salicylic acid but it has some other good stuff for face washing. You are going to be melting it in the microwave. Next thing you need is a puck of Williams.

Get a mug and line it with a plastic bag. Chop the facial bar and place it in the mug, zap for about 30 seconds to get the bar started melting so there is a little more room in The cup. Use a fine cheese grater to grate the williams puck and add the shavings into the mug. Once you have the puck grated zap the facial bar again for about 30 seconds or until it is pretty much all melted, THEN add as much of the grated Williams as will fit in the melted facial bar and stir it up to start it dissolving. The Williams wont just disappear, you will need to keep heating and stirring. Keep adding as much Williams as you can get into the melted facial bar. I usually do a couple facial bars to one williams puck and use a BIG (HUGE) mug. When its all mixed in just tug the plastic bag tight so there aren't any gaps an let the whole thing rest until its cooled. Take the bag out and cut into rounds and let cool/dry completely. The resulting pre-shave bars will work beautifully and will actually lather quite well. I have made these and ones like them using shave soap i've made myself instead of Williams and shared with several of the guys over the years and have gotten great feedback. @Cvargo loved the way it cleared his skin.
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Why isn't this on your Website? lol I have several sticks of Arko sitting around. think i could do something similar with them?
 
uacowboy said:
Why isn't this on your Website? lol I have several sticks of Arko sitting around. think i could do something similar with them?
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I imagine so. I like using Williams because even if you are never able to lather it it seems to be very slick and does seem to soften beards well. But I did make a mix using a basic shave soap base I had made myself which was similar to William,s and Arko. I will warn you though, I though arko didn’t stink until I found some fresh stuff (I guess my first stick was quite old) and it smelled so bad I couldn’t use it. Heck, it smelled so bad the post office wouldn’t even let me mail it to Australia (i’m Not kidding, it made it to the distribution center before being returned to me. The local post master was NOT happy about the stench)
 
CBLindsay said:
I imagine so. I like using Williams because even if you are never able to lather it it seems to be very slick and does seem to soften beards well. But I did make a mix using a basic shave soap base I had made myself which was similar to William,s and Arko. I will warn you though, I though arko didn’t stink until I found some fresh stuff (I guess my first stick was quite old) and it smelled so bad I couldn’t use it. Heck, it smelled so bad the post office wouldn’t even let me mail it to Australia (i’m Not kidding, it made it to the distribution center before being returned to me. The local post master was NOT happy about the stench)
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I bought a box of a dozen about 3 years ago. i'm still using the first one i opened and i have given several away but i have not had an issue with the scent. either way the ones i might use for this have just been sitting on a shelf for a while and have probably gotten pretty mild.
 
uacowboy said:
I bought a box of a dozen about 3 years ago. i'm still using the first one i opened and i have given several away but i have not had an issue with the scent. either way the ones i might use for this have just been sitting on a shelf for a while and have probably gotten pretty mild.
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Those glycerin type facial bars (neutrogena or Pears) mixed with a basic shave soap really do a good job softening the beard and getting your skin all happy. Looking up the ingredients the pears/neutrogena bars do have salicylic acid, so you get to have that too.
 
Dave in KY said:
I have a feeling this is something like a lot of things in traditional shaving (blades, soap, razors, brushes etc) that will depend on the person and skin type etc. So often someone will find what works for them (And this is GREAT) and then think it's a one size fits all and everyone should do the same, when that's not the case. Glad you found what works for you, shared it with the forum as it may help others too. I like what I've done for the past @12 years that works for me. Peace, out (y)
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True, but without investigation one may never know if something works better. I assume you don't ride a horse and cook over a fire. ;)
 
Bogeyman said:
I use commercial liquid cleansers and never a soap for cleansing the face as soap will cause me to breakout and I don't suffer from acne.
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Some of the commercial cleansers are available as both bar and liquid. The pears and neutrogena are both available as liquid or bar depending on preference. The pears bar is the “classic” formulation, the liquid version is a newer thing. My wife and daughters both uses the liquid stuff with little puff things.
 
CB, I tried Pears soap once and the next day I thought I had leprosy!! 😱 I use a host of facial washes, but they all have either salicylic or glycolic acid and some with both. I especially like capryloyl salicylic acid. Not only do these help with preventing ingrown hairs, it's remarkable what they do to prevent aging prematurely and smoothing skin:

Capryloyl salicylic acid

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