The Scoop On Shaving With Olive Oil

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olive oil shave razorI am fascinated at times by what I come across on the Internet. And as I originally posted here sometime ago, this blog will likely be eclectic, covering various interests although I know some are interested in the SEO posts. But it won’t be all about search engine optimization; that is not what the purpose of it was.

One of the things that interests me and I find curious are the different websites that make claims about what you can do with some product or other. For example, I recently came across a site that was promoting some dozens of uses for hydrogen peroxide. Now, some of these things are quite frankly, not trustworthy, while others are something I’d be willing to experiment with. Hydrogen Peroxide for germinating seeds faster? I’ll give that a try. Taking hydrogen peroxide internally to cure some disease? Are you kidding? Don’t do that! That’s a dumb idea. Yes, Virginia, while there may be a Santa Claus, there is also a lot of dumb and untrue things posted on the internet – sadly some people even believe them without doing their own research.

Now the other day, I was reading a list of ways olive oil could be used. I love using olive oil when I’m cooking, and I also use it to make my own salad dressings. I love it so much, I usually have a gallon of the stuff on hand. One of the suggestions in this particular list about olive oil uses was that men could use it to shave with.

Shave with olive oil? Well… why not give it a try… I’m willing to be a test case for my guy friends out there.. not really dating.. so not too worried if my face comes out looking like chopped liver – and if worse comes to worse, I do have some shaving cream I can quickly slather on.

After my shower, making sure my beard was “well wetted,” I dipped my fingers into the small plastic container of olive oil I had brought with me. Now – that was the first problem – it’s not easy to slather olive oil onto one’s beard with your fingers. At least it’s not like slathering on shaving cream that comes out of a can. Maybe if I had one of those brushes that like  my dad had, where he whipped up a bar of shaving soap – maybe that would be easier.

Next problem was getting enough olive oil to cover my beard entirely while trying to not let it drip all over the place. The website that suggested men shave with olive oil never mentioned that, and I never really thought of it before hand. But finally, I was quite satisfied that I had enough olive oil rubbed into my facial hair that badly needed a shave, and with a bit of trepidation, put the blade end of my razor under the hottest water I could and then put razor to face.

Well, I was actually surprised. The blades glided along and the facial hair was coming right off down the side of my face. No mince meat, no cuts, no scratchy feelings. I was at first, a little impressed. I began to wonder what the cost of slathering on olive oil was compared to buying my regular brand of shaving cream gel.

After a couple of rinses of my razor under the water is when I realized that doing this regularly was not practical or feasible, at least with the brand of razor I was using, (speaking of razor brands, that’s another pet peeve of mine – if men can standardize screws, bolts and nuts, how come razor blades haven’t been standardized to fit any brand of handle you have?) a Schick Hydro 5.

The problem is, the oil and the hairs just get clogged in between the blades. It’s pretty tough to rinse them out as they are stuck with the oil – and it no amount of holding them under the water seemed to rid the blades of them – which meant by the time I got down to doing my neck, the blade was getting to be in rough shape.

In the end, I did not get as close a shave as I would have liked on my neck, but it’s not terrible either. Maybe if one were still using the old double edged single razor blades, it would work out ok.

I was also worried about being left with an olive oil scent on my skin. I have a keen sense of smell and can say that I could not detect anything after I was finished shaving, so that was not an issue. My face did feel a little “greasy” but that did not last long either.

Whether or not olive oil is good for the skin, I don’t know – some say it is, but it’s not something I’ve worried about much.

My final verdict? I wouldn’t regularly shave with olive oil, because of the problem mentioned above with the clogging between the blades. But that’s the only reason if in the long run, it was a less expensive way to shave. But using the blades that I do, it would likely cost me much more in having to replace them more often.

One thing though – there have been many times when I’ve forgotten to put shaving cream gel on my shopping list, only to desperately need a shave and there’s not enough of it left in the can. When that is happened, I’ve used soap – and I can tell you that in a pinch, olive oil is much better than soap. Or running out to the corner store and paying double or triple the price.

So there you have it. if your wife, girlfriend, better half, or whatever asks you to try shaving with olive oil, you can now make a more informed decision – I’ve done the hard work for you. Just because I don’t mind trying new things :).

Update – Revisiting Olive Oil And Shaving
Now that I have returned after many years to using a Safety Razor, I have revisited the idea of using olive oil. With such a razor, there are no multiple blades with spaces to get clogged up when shaving with olive oil.

What I did was use the olive oil as a preshave on my whiskers, and then applied shaving soap lather.

I ended up with a very comfortable close shave and skin that felt great afterward!

Moving forward, I’ll continue to use olive oil in this fashion for shaving. I’m very happy with the decision to ditch the expensive multi-blade cartridges for the classic and much less expensive double-sided safety razor blades!

14 thoughts on “The Scoop On Shaving With Olive Oil”

  1. Thanks for the tip Ian, good to know. Know what I use to shave my legs and leave me feeling silky smooth? Hair conditioner! It works better than shaving cream and is cheap to use plus handy as it is always in the shower anyhow as part of my daily hair cleaning ritual. Ive been testing some other home remedies myself today after getting a stye on my lower eyelid this week. First rubbing a gold ring on it just irritates it and makes it more itching. Ouch! Putting polysporin on it stings and makes your eyes blurry for at least two hours. Best resolve I’ve had tonight is drinking lots of decaf tea and then using the hot used tea bags as a warm, moist compress. It really relieves it and has decreased the size of it by 75%. It’s looking like it will be gone by morning.

    1. Haha.. well, I don’t have any hair conditioner.. never use the stuff so can’t say it would be worth my while to experiment with that. Unless you’re coming for a visit and bringing all that stuff with you. I’ll consider it.. but, I think ladies leg hair is not quite the same as a guy’s facial hair 🙂

      Hope you manage to get rid of that stye in your eye.. haven’t had one of those in a long time.. decades, I think.

  2. I have a alternative use for you Ian! When coming in from the garage or garden and your hands are all stained, olive oil makes a perfect soap for you hands. Trust me my husband uses this on his mechanical hands all the time when working on his cars.
    I like sticking to cooking with extra virgin olive oil.

    1. Thank you for your comment, Mary. That’s an interesting idea – but doesn’t it soften his hands too much?

      Yes… I like cooking with extra virgin olive oil too 🙂 And.. I looked at your website.. I’ll be looking again! Looks like some great recipes you have there!

  3. Just out of curiosity because I’m thinking about trying this, how long was the hair you were shaving? The way you made it sound was that the hair was somewhat long since it caused the razor to get clogged. If it was long, trimming the hair might have made the oil easier to apply and reduced the amount of clogging in the razor.

  4. U donut want to know how old I am but I am go’in to Use Italian pure olive oil for sharing and storing my razor in a cup. I know that olive oil is good Inside the body and its good for ones skin. Lastly, one can learn if one wants to learn for other folks experiences and knowledge. Utube is for the free learning on all subjects (& proven results). Any other program website that provides a free education is something the folks young and old should be learning from even if its just for hobbies. Life is exciting, wondering, educational make every day a happening.
    Bruce W. Marchetta Th.d. Hypnotherapist -educator at 80 and counting.

  5. A small kine suggestion for unclogging blades: use an old toothbrush. Gently so you don’t shred it too much, but it does help.

  6. I shave all of the time with olive oil and yes the blades get clogged. I took an old toothbrush and clean the razor when it gets clogged. My biggest problem is that I have a $2 razor I have been using for at least 6 months. I would kind of like to buy a new razor, but I don’t see it ever getting dull enough to get rid of in the near future. I keep it well oiled.

  7. I have been using olive oil for 2 months now – works great and I really love it. As others have said, use a toothbrush to clean it out. Also keep a bowl or vanity with warm soapy water (using dishwashing detergent) to sluice the razor. If you are shaving your face and you shave every 3 or 4 days (like I do), you can try to use an electric razor to shave off most of the stubble, then use the oil and DE razor as a finishing tool to get a BBS shave. This is what I do.

    I use a Merkur 34c and Feather razor. When I use this combination with standard soaps, creams etc., my face was always red and irritated. Using olive oil, face looks great. I’ve been shaving for 30 years, and my face has never looked better.

  8. Just came across this older post Ian – never thought of shaving with olive oil before, but after reading the comments, I think I will give it a try! Extra virgin or virgin… there’s the question….

    1. Hey Jim – glad you enjoyed! Let us know how your olive oil shaving experiment went! I might try it again when my shaving cream runs out – where I am right now, there is lots of extra virgin olive oil available!

  9. Pingback: Men: Save A Ton Of Money & Reclaim Your Shave - Ian Scott

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