Pre-shave prep for dry skin

C

chicken neck

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According to shaving afficionados, the best pre-shave prep is to work shaving lather into your face (first with a brush and then with your finger tips) and then hold a hot towel of your face for 2-3 minutes. The reason why this is supposed to work is that the alkaline nature of the shaving lather breaks down the hair shaft.

However, if you have dry skin, the shaving lather is drying and the hot towel can be a bit aggressive.

Consequently, I have been putting a moisturising cream on my face before jumping in the shower. This seems to make my skin more pliable and therefore less prone to cuts.

I am just wondering though a bit about the chemistry (Henk .. help??!). Are moisturising lotions alkali? Also, will the moisturing cream in any way inhibit the working of the shaving soap when I come to face lather after my shower?
 
antdad said:
mmmmm...I anticipate Dr Henk's answer may include "money" "waste", "time" and "Don't" or something to that effect.
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Hah. Getting more skeptical, are we?

In fact I can just about see where a cream or lotion preprep could be useful. Problem here is that if you apply a cream onto your face and jump into the shower right away, that cream has precious little time to get absorbed before it is all washed away. But, some will undoubtedly get absorbed, making your skin somewhat softer, 'greasier', and slicker. Any help you can get in making a razor less harsh for your face is welcome.

Shaving soaps do three things: they degrease the beard hairs, so that they can absorb moisture and get softer, they create a layer of lather on the face that helps keep the face moist and thereby make sure that that moisture has enough time to soak into your beard hairs and stay there, and they provide lubrication for the razor blade. Putting something greasy onto your face before lathering up would, at least theoretically work against the first two functions of the shaving soap. So that shower in between may actually be a good thing, only I would suggest giving the lotion a couple of minutes to be absorbed before jumping in the shower.

Or try the 'Trumper skin food' trick, see this thread http://theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2175, or my SOTD http://theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2437&p=29592#p29592...
 
henkverhaar said:
antdad said:
mmmmm...I anticipate Dr Henk's answer may include "money" "waste", "time" and "Don't" or something to that effect.
Click to expand...

Hah. Getting more skeptical, are we?

In fact I can just about see where a cream or lotion preprep could be useful. Problem here is that if you apply a cream onto your face and jump into the shower right away, that cream has precious little time to get absorbed before it is all washed away. But, some will undoubtedly get absorbed, making your skin somewhat softer, 'greasier', and slicker. Any help you can get in making a razor less harsh for your face is welcome.

Shaving soaps do three things: they degrease the beard hairs, so that they can absorb moisture and get softer, they create a layer of lather on the face that helps keep the face moist and thereby make sure that that moisture has enough time to soak into your beard hairs and stay there, and they provide lubrication for the razor blade. Putting something greasy onto your face before lathering up would, at least theoretically work against the first two functions of the shaving soap. So that shower in between may actually be a good thing, only I would suggest giving the lotion a couple of minutes to be absorbed before jumping in the shower.

Or try the 'Trumper skin food' trick, see this thread http://theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2175, or my SOTD http://theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2437&p=29592#p29592...
Click to expand...

I rub the moisturiser in fully before showering and, once in the shower, I wash my face last. So I do think it has a decent chance of being absorbed. It also makes a lot of sense to me that a moisturiser would make the skin more pliable and therefore less prone to nicks. That has certainly been my experience.

I have read though that the essence of pre-shave prep is to damage the cuticle that holds the hair shafts, and that the best way to do this is with a combination of hot water and an alkaline solution. The easiest way to do this is with hot water and shaving soap (surprise surprise!) This both damages the cuticle and saturates the hair shaft. The question for me is whether or not moisturising lotion is alkali or not and therefore whether or not it can perform the same function as a pre-shave (with the additional benefit of making the skin more pliable).

The Trumpers skin food trick is actually mine ... well actually my barber's! The skin feel is very different to a moisturiser though which suggests to me that the function is very different. My moisturising lotion is absorbed when I rub it in. The skin food seems to stay on the surface a bit more and provide more lubrication.
 
chicken neck said:
I have read though that the essence of pre-shave prep is to damage the cuticle that holds the hair shafts, and that the best way to do this is with a combination of hot water and an alkaline solution. The easiest way to do this is with hot water and shaving soap (surprise surprise!) This both damages the cuticle and saturates the hair shaft. The question for me is whether or not moisturising lotion is alkali or not and therefore whether or not it can perform the same function as a pre-shave (with the additional benefit of making the skin more pliable).
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Most lotions are not, or only a little, alkaline, so no, most lotions would not perform the normal pre-shave prep actions. Although I'm sure that a lotion can be made that does, to some extent. I would think in the direction of a lotion with a ammonium soap or organic amine soap as one of its emulsifiers.

The Trumpers skin food trick is actually mine ... well actually my barber's! The skin feel is very different to a moisturiser though which suggests to me that the function is very different. My moisturising lotion is absorbed when I rub it in. The skin food seems to stay on the surface a bit more and provide more lubrication.
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Oops. True. Although, as you may see in my contributions to that thread and my SOTD, it seems to work with a 'nivea-style' after shave balm too.
 
henkverhaar said:
Most lotions are not, or only a little, alkaline, so no, most lotions would not perform the normal pre-shave prep actions. Although I'm sure that a lotion can be made that does, to some extent. I would think in the direction of a lotion with a ammonium soap or organic amine soap as one of its emulsifiers.
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And here we have one ... <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.uk.ovimed.com/products/moisturisingcream.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.uk.ovimed.com/products/moisturisingcream.php</a><!-- m -->
 
chicken neck said:
henkverhaar said:
Yeah, but a pH of 8 is hardly enough to do what a soap does, I think.
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What would the pH be of a typical shaving soap?
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'Traditional' soaps, consisting of alkali salts of fatty acids plus glycerin, whether made by saponifying oils (without removing the glycerin) or by 'reconstitution' (i.e. neutralization of individual fatty acids, or fatty acid mixtures, derived from oils by steam cracking, with alkali, and addition of glycerin), generally have pH between 9 and 10.
 
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