The Shaving Thread

[hendu3270]

I'll start this to keep any thread-jacking from happening (on this subject anyway) like happened to Dan's thread yesterday.

I posted yesterday that I'm on a couple of shaving boards, one mostly dedicated to straight razors (www.straightrazorplace.com), and one leaning more towards D/E safety razors (www.badgerandblade.com) but with a fine contingent of straight users as well.

Ever since I was old enough to shave, I basically hated the routine. It was something I did only because I had to, especially where I work now where a "No Beard Policy" is a condition of employment. I shaved in the shower, and it was only the quicker the better.

One day I saw how much the Bride paid for the Mach III blades I used. I said "Screw this, there has to be something better". At first, it was mostly an economic decision. I bought a Merkur Classic DE razor, a pack of 10 Merkur blades, a cheap Wilkinson Sword Boar bristle brust and a tub of cheap Wilkinson Sword shaving soap. The afore mentioned kit was all in, about $40, and replacement blades being less than $5 for 10, much better price if you bought bulk off E-Bay.

First thing I noticed was how good my face now felt after shaving. There was absolutely no comparison to what I felt before, and believe it or not, the shave was closer. I now CAN NOT shave every 24 hours, I can't. I don't have a quick growing heavy beard, so YMMV.

Skip ahead to today. I now own a Dovo straight razor and a 4 sided paddle strop (I love using this), I own 2 Merkur razors (the original I bought and a Futur, a very heavy razor that feels wonderful in my hands), and 2 old Gillettes from the 60s. I got another brush, a Vulvix Pure Badger (as opposed to Super, Silvertip, etc, all higher quality from different parts of the animal) and a small assortment of soaps, shaving creams, etc.

Now, it's become more than economics. Matter of fact, it basically isn't economical any more. It's about me, and spending time with me alone. Now, when I shave, it takes me 45 minutes to shower and shave, and it's a part of the day I look forward to and relish.

Example, last night at 10 PM, the Bride is watching something on television I wasn't interested in. So I went to shower and shave. I put "Dark Side of the Moon" on the music box in my bathroom, and spend close to the next hour alone, in my own little world, enjoying what I was doing and pampering myself.

Here's what I used last night:



Like I said, this has gone past the economical place where I started and has become doing something for me, something I now enjoy doing after more than 30 years of hating it.

Allow me to make a comparison:

We all enjoy smoking with friends, sharing cigars, shooting the breeze, sharing a couple of beverages of choice, etc. But there are times when sitting in your favourite place to smoke, alone, with one of your favourite cigars, just makes you feel good, right??

Well, that's how I now view shaving.

There are guys here who have an unbelieveable number of cigars collected and aging. Basically any "hobby" is subject to collecting.Wanna see a nice collection of "shaving gear"??

Look HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

LMAO! I didn't know you were "Taz" on B&B. Cool. I remeber reading that thread and drooling over your pics of your work on that "shaving kingdom" you created. Great job. I have nothing like that but it did inspire me a little to atleast upgrade my shaving area. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=30710

Oops. I clicked on the pic links on your first post and it was taz's shave den, not yours. Anyways, small world. glad there are some other wet-shavers here.

[spiffykyle]

So from that link it looks like you are a woodworker as well! I am big time into making furniture. I actually just got into wet shaving a few weeks ago.

Plus I think Taz recently joined us over here not to long ago.

spiffy

[hendu3270]

Spiffy,

I don't feel I'm good enough to be called a "woodworker" but, yes, I do dabble a bit. The larger medicine cabinet came out pretty good and I've already built another for the other bathroom, but have yet to tackle a larger piece of furniture. My wife has been wanting me to build an entertainment center, but I've just not come up with a design I like yet.

...and welcome to wetshaving! I get better shaves with my Merkur Slant than I've ever gotten in my life with any cartridge razor or electric. Just like Newf said, I always dreaded having to shave, but now I actually look forward to it. Very similar to how, once I started smoking cigars, I look forward to getting off work so I can go out back and sit down with a cigar after dinner.

I actually read a thread over at B&B awhile back about cigar smoking and started searching the internet about cigars and stumbled upon this place. At some point I'll probably read a thread over here about custom pencil sharpeners and go join a pencil sharpening forum

[Newfie]

LMAO! I didn't know you were "Taz" on B&B. Cool. I remeber reading that thread and drooling over your pics of your work on that "shaving kingdom" you created. Great job. I have nothing like that but it did inspire me a little to atleast upgrade my shaving area. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=30710

Oops. I clicked on the pic links on your first post and it was taz's shave den, not yours. Anyways, small world. glad there are some other wet-shavers here.

Not me dude, but Taz (Don) is a very new member here.

[hendu3270]

Not me dude, but Taz (Don) is a very new member here.

Yeah, I caught it right after I posted it then edited the post. I was just excited to see some other wet-shavers on the site. LOL

[Mizicke5273]

Ok, you guys have really got me interested in this D/E shaving craze. Im thinkin about pickin up a brush and razor and the whole deal.

Any recommendations on what to get for starting out and where to buy from?

[bhands]

ok so i had to join the SRP group after going through and reading some of those threads and seeing some of those straights i also went out and got some soaps and creams and brush and bowl and now i have some blades on the way that i cant wait to clean up and get them shave ready. thanks for turning me onto this new wonderful way to shave.

[Newfie]

Ok, you guys have really got me interested in this D/E shaving craze. Im thinkin about pickin up a brush and razor and the whole deal.

Any recommendations on what to get for starting out and where to buy from?

There's plenty of great vendors who either are members on Badger&Blade.com or who are highly recommended. Hang out there for a while and you'll come up with a bunch of leads.

If you're looking for a "Newbie Package", PM me and I might be able to hook you up with a good Pure Badger brush, one of several Gillette razors I've bought and don't use any more plus a couple of soaps & creams.

[craig]

Well, after lurking in this thread for some time, I noticed that the local drug store had Paraso soap like Paddy posted, and the Nivea shaving cream mentioned earlier. I picked up the Nivea cream because it was on sale, tried it today ... and it bugged my skin more than my usual Edge gel or shaving oil or, ah, regular soap. (I have a Gillette razor with some ridiculous number of blades.)

I suspect that because I have oily skin, only need to shave twice a week, can and do shave in all directions, and don't have much density of facial hair (my Movember mustache is pathetic), that it doesn't matter what I use?

The stuff sounds neat, though ... :-)

[GrouchM]

A five year old thread. Let's restart it:

So last Wednesday was the day. I had acquired all of the basics, a razor, blades, soap and a brush. I woke up around 8:30 am and sat everything out, excited, but hopefully about my new path to a better shave..

I had purchased a mini gift set of White Birch and tobacco butter from Burlington Coat Factory. So, it wasn't a puck, nor really cream. It all ready had the yogurt consistency in the jar. It smelled more menthol than anything. No idea what white birch smells like, and the tobacco smell was faint. I then pulled out the synthetic brush that came with the gift set and wasn't impressed..

I picked up my Shave Factory (Derby) razor bought from Sally's Beauty Supply and dropped it onto the tile floor. Should have taken that as a sign, but I inspected it and saw nothing wrong (as if I could tell) and proceeded. I placed the razor and the brush in my mug filled with warm water and took a shower.

After the shower I began. I took a dime sized mount of the cream with water and placed it is the mug and tried to work up a lather .It only made the cream more milky. Another bad sign. No matter how much I tried no lather. I checked the directions. Which were of no help. I finally stuck the brush directly in the cream and applied. I then realized this was possibly a brushless soap. I remembered a few guys mentioning that slightly in the limited reviews I had found online, but never processed what that meant to actually applying it. It proceeded to lather my face and head with the shaving soap. The smell was very minimal. The brush was able to lather ok. But, sadly I could get the blade to catch on my skin. I was able to shave without incident. I didn't have any nicks or cuts, mostly because I followed all the advice of light pressure, but the blade never really came into contact to cut any facial hair (which I had a 3-4 day growth of). Then, it happened, the cream started to run down my head into my eyes. Which made me ask should I be doing my face and head at the same time, or should it be done separately? So, now looking like Carrie (minus the red color of blood) with milky white goo running down my head into my eyes, distracting my rhythm while applying a sharp blade to my face and head-Ah, living the dream! I decided to power through, but sadly had it running down my neck to my chest and stomach. It was a bloody mess, especially compounded by the fact I didn't see any hair in the sink after each rinse. I was not impressed with the.Personna.blade (a last minute substitute from the Astra). It seemed to sit to far in and not set out far enough. Will definitely consider upgrading to VDH, Astra and possibly Feather blades-hell anything else, maybe a rusty soup can lid.

I had planned to do 2 passes WTG only (remember it my first time). But after the 2nd pass left me with a goatee stubble (under the nose, mouth and chin) and virtually no hair removed from the back of my head. I finished and went to take a nap, but couldnt sleep, because I needed to address this. So, I got up and did one final pass against the grain and not duplicating the messy disaster of earlier got mostly all of the hair that remained. I still had some very light hair on my cheeks. But, I felt it was good enough as I concluded I would also need to refine my technique by much more practice. It was the closest shave I have had in a long time.

Immediate takeaways: I got over my anxiety of having the blade contact my skin (when it did) so that's gone. The knowledge that my face has many more subtle contours than I knew, but thankfully no cuts or nicks occured. That I need to do more research on the selection and use of my tools and products. Lastly, I've got to play the long game and the goal is to improve.

So all in all, not dissuaded, just a lot discouraged, because I thought I had prepared well for my first time-not even close: "Beware mileage may vary". I'll be doing it again, but I don't know if I'm suppose to shave everyday or when I have growth after a few days.

I did feel manly, but the little girl in me died a messy death to achieve that.

[GrouchM]

My second wet shave (last Saturday morning).

I actually waited an extra day because I did have that much beard growth. But, I did have more experience and was brimming with confidence. I soaked the razor in warm water and not the brush. I actually ran into a issue when showering that the water never got cold. Normally, I would have taken that as a bad sign, I powered through and wetted the tip of the brush and dipped it into the shave butter directly and applied. It lathered ok, but I know other products would do much better. I decided to not do my head (I'll alternate days or decide to do that after more shaves). While I placed the razor where my sideburn end and tilted the razor, I still don't feel I've improved getting the best the angle from my first shave. I made to WTG passes, which resulted in patches of stubble still being on both cheeks and my lower jaw and chin (my problem areas) but they were better due to my first shave reducing the majority of the beard. I snapped to my senses and did a third pass ATG. I washed out my brush, razor and blade; I added coconut oil to the blade before storing it away. I rinsed my head with cold water under the shower spicket and patted my face dry with a face towel.

I noticed I had two weepers in the exact same spots just above the tops of the corner of my lips. But, that was all the damage done. My technique is still crap though. I will admit I have taken having a light touch to heart, which has been a godsend, but my strokes and hesitant, too long at times and I go back over the same areas too much from what I've seen in the videos (areas w/o shave foam). My other take away was the feeling I had looking forward to and after the shave. It was a mixture of confidence, as I earlier mentioned, and elation. Not, because I had another shave under my belt, but how great it felt, how I looked forward to the actual shave itself. I was pumped, like answering the bell for a prizefight. It was almost zen like during the shave itself. But, I left renewed, refreshed and feeling good. So, there's something to what several members said about shaving daily for the feeling. I'm starting to get it-it's very therapeutic. While not BBS, I was please with this second attempt.

I feel a little stupid, every time I think, "why hadn't I done this sooner or where has this been all my life?"

[GrouchM]

I had skipped shaving my head yesterday and only focused on my face. After much thought, I decided to either go back to using my multiblade on my head or alternate days with my DE.

Due to my water heater acting up after a couple of power outages during yesterday's thunderstorms. I couldn't shave my head in the shower, so tonight after a cold shower. I decided to shave my head a second time with my DE in the sink.

Intially only have my head, actually gave me a calm demenor about this shave. I lathered up with Tri-coastal White Birch and Tobacco butter. I did three passes, WTG, ATG and XTG. I took my time, swith hands when needed and the result...Wait for it!

An amazing close head shave with no nicks or cuts. I even amazed myself. I rinsed my head with cold water under the shower spicket. I finished with tea tree spray and Dove Care Men's moisturizer.

Yul Brenner, Telly Savales and Mr. Clean eat your heart's out. I'm gorgeously handsome.

Whew! Another small victory.

[Eville]

It seems like your whole process is a lot more involved than mine. I use a simple Merkur safety razor with open comb and Feather hi-stainless blades (a must). I use a boar bristle brush and Mitchel's Wool Fat soap. I soak the brush in hot water for a minute or 2 while I brush my teeth. Remove brush, load with soap, lather it on my face, then shave with the grain. Super simple, no nicks, little irritation. I either use Nivea or one of the other big name "natural" brands who's name escapes me at the moment. I found a box of really old blades at my grandma's that I'm going to try out next time I shave. Just for giggles.