I have recently come back to wet shaving after decade or two. I always used to use foam but didn’t have any, so I tried some liquid soap + little water from a dispenser and it worked just as well (it didn’t foam, just covered the face). Are there any advantages to foam that I am missing. My WAG as to why people use foam is that it doesn’t evaporate or absorb into the skin as fast as a simple soap covering so lubricates the face for the whole time. My liquid soap doesnt seem to absorb or dry like normal (hard) soap.
Bonus question while I am on the topic of shaving. I remember the old ads where multiblade shavers gave you a smoother face cause the first blade pulled the hair out for the second (and presumably now the 3rd, 4th and 5th) to cut, wherein it retracted back. I cant see that working in real life as even if the blades pulled the hair out, it would pull back too quick.
Shaving foams, gels, and creams are supposed to lubricate the skin to allow the razor to glide smoothly. Soap generally dries out the skin and does not lubricate. However, whomever first said that probably didn’t live in a household of women with 1000 different lubricating soaps to prevent skin from drying out. I don’t know how that soap would work as compared to my bar of Dove.
And the obligatory link: Shaving seminar: (a) With the grain or against it? (b) Hot water or cold?
I ran out the other day and used hand lotion instead. Best shave I ever had.
mmm
Lotion is great. It gives me the smoothest shave of anything I’ve ever tried. Once I discovered lotion, i’ve never considered using anything else.
I’ve used hair shampoo in the shower many times.
One of my friends swears by Proclaim oil, you can buy a large bottle of it for just a few dollars. I’ve only used it once to shave my head, and it doesn’t seem any better than the stuff I make myself out of castor oil/olive oil/good smelling essential oil du jour, but I’ve got a big bottle if I want to experiment with it (only recently acquired)
I shave my head every few days, and under my beard most days. Sometimes, if I’m feeling lazy or in a hurry, I’ll just use the same moisturizer I use post-shave as shaving cream, and it seems to work alright for that small area of my neck.
Hair conditioner works in a pinch too.
For scm1001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uEnUnC149Y 
There was also an old SNL skit from the 70’s about a 5-blade razor, but I wasn’t able to find it for you.
Q
Olive oil is good. Cheap, good for your skin. Just stand the disposable razor in a glass with enough oil to cover the blades. Make sure you use a cold pressed chemical free oil.
I have very oily skin and will break out with cystic acne when using many lubricating lotions. YMMV.
If you are traveling and don’t have shaving cream, conditioner works much better than soap or shampoo, because of the moisturizing characteristics of conditioner.
I don’t use shaving foam. As long as I get my face nice and hot from the water, I just put a little bit of soap on it, and the razor glides through effortlessly. (If my face isn’t warm enough, it hurts like a mother, and I just have to wait until it comes up to temp.)
A general rule for this sort of thing is that if you can j*rk off with it, you can shave with it.
(Obviously, this doesn’t include the vacuum cleaner).
Dry razor. Once your face is toughened up, it’s no problem.
I don’t use any foam, soap, gel or anything else. I just wet my face with hot water and shave. If I go more than two days without a shave it begins to sting a bit, but otherwise it works fine.
I use shaving soap which seems to not dry my face out as much as regular soap. I really like Tabac, but there is a brand they sell at CVS for about $1.50 that works just fine too.
To add to the tally I normally use just water or water and soap. Because I’m not used to it the rare occasions I use foam I end up with it everywhere (and invariably walking around with a bit stuck in my ear or something). I’ve never noticed any real difference, but then I only shave every few days I suspect shaving every day with nothing would get irritating.
To try and answer the questions, no there’s not much special about shaving foam you couldn’t approximate with something else. I guess it’s built to be soothing, lubricating and easy to get rid of. I also suspect it’s there to give you something else to buy – there’s lots of products that are pretty close to each other once you get used to it.
As for the multi-blade razor, if I recall the advert correctly the first blade is still ‘holding’ the hair when the next blade hits. I honestly can’t see it making that much difference, but them I can’t recall ever using a single blade razor so maybe it does.
I think we need some volunteers for left face/right face shaving tests.
SD