Do you own an axe?
It is well worth the little extra time to shave since I can plan my day in my head and contemplate what and how I will be doing things.
I am getting ready to fire up my pipe for the same reason.
I don’t use shaving soap or brushes. I just wet my face, rub it with a bar of soap - Ivory will do although I use Shea’s - and lather up. Shave. Repeat for the against the grain pass. Done. Takes me about 5-6 minutes total if I do a good job. Sometimes use canned shaving cream for the second pass.
It's not rocket science...it's not even slightly mysterious or symbolic.
I recommend Feather blades. There are none sharper.
I usually use Schick or Bic disposable razors. I haven’t purchased a Gillette razor since they ran their androphobic ad in 2019.
My father has a Rolls Razor I don’t think he uses it ,LOL
Little perplexed by the one-time charge of $60. I usually shave by having a pair of pet wolverines chew my face off, which due to the thick skin I’ve acquired from being a conservative living in the D.C. metro is not bloody as you might think. But my wife complains about the hair balls they cough up removing the finish off of our floors. (They can polish the rust off the ol’ Abrams like nobody’s business.) So I am considering other shaving techniques. (The neighbors complain about the chainsaw noise and I’m inclined to keep good relations with any non-Stalinist I know.)
So what costs $60? That’s more money than a flame-thrower! (Seriously.... it’s wierd how cheap they can be.)
Ive commented on these kinds of threads and dont want to redo all that and didnt see your last thread on this so wont waster your time by going over things you likely know.
One thing Ive noticed is that people are quite convinced that there has to be some kind of lather for the soap to work. Maybe its just very powerful suggestion by marketing artists. Foamy bubble is really only of any value when trying to wash away grease and things.
Assuming that your face is relatively clean and your whiskers arent made of cotton candy then theres no need for big frothy foam shaving mugs. The soap is really only there as a lubricant. It helps avoid razor burn, nicks, and facilitates clean up of the blade during and the general area afterwards.
This is what Ive done for years. Get a bar of Ivory or similar real soap (most bars are not soap, they are detergent). If you need your soap stinky then there are plenty of little basement real soap factories in your area that make better bar soap than the national brand detergent bars.
Wet your face. Wet the bar. Rub bar vigorously about the face. Dont worry too much about if its enough or too much as the whiskers kind of each take off more than enough soap for its own need. Wet your hands and rub and smack your face around for a couple of seconds.
Your face is now lubricated and ready with no big wads of foam obscuring your vision to make sure you can see your face and didnt miss anything.
Maybe you wont get the satisfaction of removing the big pillow of foam like in a movie or commercial but you will wind up with a cleaner safer shave.
I appreciate this post.
I recall your initial thread and, though I did not comment on it, I did read it in full.
I have always shaved in the shower — for years — and I use Neutrogena to lather up with. I get a very good shave in the shower.
Over the years I have tried many shaving systems including a badger brush and shaving soap in an antique ceramic soap & brush holder. Nothing special IMHO...
I have been using a Harry’s razor but when my last few blades are gone I will purchase from Jeremy’s Razors.
I have a Norelco three-head electric if i don’t shower/shave for a few days and it’s pretty good.
I may try a single blade/double edge system like you have some day soon as well.
Again, thanks for these two threads.
Best to you, FRiend.
I forget which company I started buying from but it was either West Coast Shaving or Italian Barber (Canada). Signed up on Badger and Blade (yes, a forum specifically for shaving). I learned that there are mild medium and aggressive razors. Also the material the razor is made from makes a huge difference. When I started the new wet shaving journey with the three piece double edged safety razors I was buying aluminum out the zinc alloy known as Zamack. They are light and seemingly good for beginners looking for a mild shave, but I was pairing it with cheap Derby Extra blades that were from the same pack of 100 from back in the 90s. Those are the worst blades. You don't know how bad something is until you find something that works. I Bobby a Blackland Blackbird razor and it came with Personna blades known as Lab Blues made in Verona, VA. That was a game changer. Now I can go 100 shaves with the same blade. In the past 5 years I can't actually recall ever throwing away a blade even. I have old derby blades i still use for opening boxes (of more shaving gear). I remember thinking about Feather blades being the sharpest and people on the B&B forum raving about them and I was using them in the beginning and they were super sharp and I always looked like Fresh Kruger was my barber. Feather blades on my early aluminum Razorock razors were horrible. Once I learned how smooth Stainless Steel razors are and paired with my personal favorite Lab Blues blades I then realized i loved heavy brass handles and I prefer the most aggressive razors with the largest blade gaps. I'm nose using a Wolfman WR1 with a 1.10 gap and a WR2 with a 2.00 gap. Probably too much information. But I can go on all day.
Nothing beats a straight razor, though.
Real men don’t talk about shaving like it’s some kind of manly man task. Only little boys are enamored by it.
Gasoline and a match.
be prepared to slap yourself silly.
Someone on tiktok will have to try this now.:)
Something the safety razor is good for is if you skip shaving for a couple or few days, loosen the razor a little in a safety razor to scrape off the heavy whiskers, they wash out easily, and then you can use your normal razor.
Proud of its’ associated “toxic masculinity”, I’ve been using my father’s WWII vintage double edged razor for the past few decades. He carried that razor on the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge. It provides an excellent shave, but one drawback is thaty it makes one want to storm a beach.
I remember when old school bathroom medicine cabinets mounted between two studs and the mirror opened to reveal some shelves. Like this:
https://cookandboardman.com/asi-10-8340-recessed-medicine-cabinet/?sku=ASI10-8340
They’d often have a slot in the back so you could dump your used double edged blade into the wall cavity! Ha!
I am lazy.
I use an electric shaver I bought for $25.00 on line. It works well enough if I use it everyday and I don’t have to clean out clogged drains
I have had several of these and each last about about 12 to 18 months. (But I have a shaved head so I shave a lot more than most men.)