hair conditioner as pre-shave

JRTASTER · Post by **JRTASTER** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 8:36 am

have noted several posters use hair conditioner/rinses as a pre-shave beard set up.
technique-wise, do you leave the conditioner on and apply the shaving soap/creme on top or... rub the conditioner in and rinse off before the soap/cream application??
inquiring minds, and all that!!!

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:57 am

I haven't used it as such, but have heard of it. In my case, I'm pretty sure I'd rinse it out before shaving, so as not to take a chance that some ingredient in the conditioner might interfere with the lathering properties of the soap or cream, primarily because I like to face-lather.

rbaloha · Post by **rbaloha** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:36 am

Read somewhere hair conditioner is actually counterproductive.

Hair conditioner strengthens the hair thus increasing shaving difficulty.

JRTASTER · Post by **JRTASTER** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:40 pm

well, tried it both ways using paul mitchell's tea tree conditioner.
today, i washed my face with my regular soap as usual and rinsed thoroughly.
then i applied the conditioner , rubbed it into two day's worth of beard.
left it on while i did some other stuff, then rinsed it off.
lathered up with mwf and shaved with a gem mm, open comb, using a new carbon-steel se blade.
poor technique left me with a couple of REALLY doozie nicks/cuts, but otherwise an excellent and really close shave.
leaving the conditioner on,without rinsing, on the other hand, yielded a good, but not spectacular shave.
more experimentation, different blade/razor and soap/cream and less jerky technique, is indicated before a definite pronouncement can be made.
meanwhile, definitely encouraged by today's experience.

p.s. and to hijack my own post: love the combination of paul mitchell tea tree shampoo and pm tea tree conditioner. nice

jr/john

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:06 pm

I don't think conditioner does that much beyond the extra time and hydration that results from the extra step in prepping the beard. I've tried several hoping to find a magic hair softener, but neither those nor scrubs/cleansers seem to do anything above and beyond a couple of minutes of splashing and perhaps some soap. Just possibly it is different for other people's hair.

Chris

JRTASTER · Post by **JRTASTER** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:56 pm

dr chris, you may be right. trying other variables to see if it IS the conditioner.
i want it to be...helps justify the $30, plus shipping, i paid for the paul mitchell's conditioner