I posted the below on another forum but it's relevant to this thread because for the first time in my decade of DE shaving, I've gotten 14 shaves from a blade and it's still going strong!
I now very strongly believe that when the skin is properly conditioned, the shave is closer, more comfortable and the blade lasts longer!
The longest I'd ever used a Polsilver in the past was 8 shaves, but this blade should go 20+ from the way it's behaving!!
So, it was a brutal start to the winter season back in Nov. Very cold and very dry air!
My wife pulled out all her moisturizing lotions and applied daily...especially on her face.
I thought to myself: "I don't need any of that!...after all, I use awesome shave soaps and a balm every single day!"
So the days went by and my shaves started changing for the worse.
Rough feeling, irritation, and the stubble just wouldn't cut! I was getting frustrated big time because I strive for an ultra close BBS daily!
My wife then commented my skin looks like her 60 year old mother's skin! She told me to apply a face moisturiser but hey, I'm a man...I don't apply facial moisturizers!
So I got out my pre shave oil and started using that before lathering up. No dice!!
The shaves were still rubbish and I even started blaming it on a bad batch of blades! I got blades from a different batch (I have thousands of Polsilver blades) and still the same result!
So I bit the bullet and started applying some facial moisturiser before bed.
After about 3 days, I could feel and see a difference in my shaves!!
After a week, my wife said my skin looks much better and that I don't have a 5 o'clock shadow straight after shaving!
I then read an article online about the difference between dehydrated skin and dry skin. Their advice was to use a combination of water/cream and oil based moisturizers.
So I continued with the facial moisturiser at night and started applying my pre shave oil POST shave, when my face was dripping wet and left it to do its work.
Oh boy, my skin hasn't been this great for many years! I'm now 36 and had skin this nice probably back when I was 30!
Now I'm not doing any pre shave at all. Just splash my face and lather up!
Also, I switch out my blade after 6 shaves but now I'm up to 12 and it's still going strong!
The other funny thing is I classify my skin as oily but since starting this simple routine, my skin is no longer oily at all (yes, despite applying OIL to my face after shaving!!).
This has been a revelation for me and the concept of "pre shave" no longer applies for me as I just don't need it any longer.
I will always subscribe to the mindset that when the skin is conditioned, the shave will automatically be great (all else being equal of course).