After doing some very sophisticated R&D, I have developed the world’s best shaving product combination. Well, maybe not the world’s best, but I did find some products that are a good value; don’t contain harmful ingredients (as far as I could tell); and get the job done. First lets see a picture of what I found:

Moisturizer:

Moisturizer: Life-flo Pure Almond Oil (iherb)

Cream: Kiss My Face Fragrance Free Moisture Shave (iherb)

Astringent : Thayers Alcohol-Free Unscented Witch Hazel (iherb)

My main goal was to find shaving products that would work well for everyone, sensitive skin or not. I wanted products that were unscented, alcohol-free, and had little or no parabens and SLS/SLES (sulfates). Finally I wanted a good value. I decided to venture out beyond the more popular shaving products.

Before I continue, I’ll explain the change in terminology. The former “pre-shave” is now used twice, before and after shaving, so to avoid confusion, I’ll refer to it as a moisturizer. It is meant to lubricate and moisturize the skin before and after a shave. I renamed “post-shave” to astringent since, first, it’s no long the last product used after shaving, and, second, it’s an astringent.

First I settled on the astringent: Thayers Witch Hazel. I have used Thayers in the past, when I first started wet shaving, and it worked well. It’s an alcohol-free astringent which contains Aloe Vera and Vitamin E. It is hypoallergenic, paraben-free, SLS-free (not labeled but I checked the ingredients list), and is supposed to tone and moisturize the skin. Scented options exist and this is one of the cheaper options available per ounce.

Next, I found a moisturizer. I did not want anything too thick. Oil was the main ingredient in many pre-shaves and did not see a reason to use any extra, unnecessary chemicals. I found that sweet almond oil was popular in massage. It has a low likelihood of irritating the skin, as long as no nut allergies are present; it absorbs quicker; and it is less greasy than other oils. It also does not have any strong odors. Life-flo offered an oil designed for use while shaving.

I then explored using a shaving soap, but found that I had hard water. This meant making a lather was much more difficult than necessary. I decided to go with a shaving cream instead. A great benefit of shaving creams over soaps is the ease of making lather. Creams already have water inside and there is no load time; half the work is done before you even start! I chose Kiss My Face because there was a version that is fragrance-free, paraben-free, and SLS-free. Scented options exist and it’s sold in a bigger container at a better price than the more popular options.