I can't speak for soap but I know I have never used shaving gel/cream, or whatever you call it, in my 29 years. And it's all fine. So maybe these guys are just trying to get us to spend money.
I wish that worked for me. Every time I skipped the shaving cream, I'd get nicks all over the place, even with a fresh blade. Maybe my skin is thinner than yours. Do you just use water? Or do you use soap in place of shaving gel?
I also stopped using shaving cream. My method is as follows. Turn shower up just slightly hotter than will kill you. Sit on floor of tub and just let water soak your head and face. The extra distance to the floor of the shower is why the water should be hotter than is normally tolerable. Now just sit there and enjoy your sauna/steam. After a good time soaking I am now very relaxed and the hair on my face should be super soft. I then grab the razer, just a normal disposable, and do a blind shave while sitting under the hot water. When I'm done, turn the water temp down a bit and clean up the missed bits in a mirror. The whole process is very relaxing and easy and takes only a few minutes.
Soaking your face in scalding water is relaxing and easy?
I'm surprised this has so many comments (it seems to be #3 by comments on the first two pages), but I guess I'm not surprised that programmers don't wash their hair.
Soap sometimes if I want to shave completely. Otherwise I just dry-shave. But I do use my cologne afterwards to kill bacteria or anything that may cause irritations later.
