I think shaving as a hobby is the most baffling thing that I’ve ever seen on the Internet.
Just thought you’d slip that in? I don’t think many have made a “hobby” out of it. I shave because a hairless face looks best on me and since that means I have to shave regularly, having the equipment and knowledge to give my sensitive face and rough beard the best and most painless shave I can have makes sense. I’ve turned what used to be a painful chore into a somewhat enjoyable experience. Apply a nicely scented and slick English shave soap on your face with a quality made badger brush follow up with some strokes from a vintage Gillette and you’ll see what I mean. Sure, some collect shave equipment (especially vintage items no longer being made) as a sort of hobby, but that shouldn’t be any more baffling than knowing some collect stamps, coins, etc.
I don’t know. I use one of those multi-blade cartridge things, and the blade is about four months old (I only have to shave twice a week), and it never really hurts, and takes me about three minutes, so it all seems sort of pointless to me. I wouldn’t want to draw that boring, but necessary, process out any more than I’d want to spend an hour taking a shit.
It’s not about drawing it out; it’s about making it more comfortable and pleasant. And I can shave faster with a DE than I can with a cartridge razor as there’s no clogging and less rinsing. Is stopping by to take a dump in someone’s thread your usual MO?
I don’t know. I eat at McDonalds, even when their food is only four months old (I only have to eat twice a day), and it never gives me too much gas, and is ready to eat a minute after I order it, so good healthy food all seems sort of pointless to me. I wouldn’t want to draw the boring, but necessary process of eating any more than I’d want to not be able to look for hobbies stranger than shaving online.
Ah, you’re looking at it from the wrong point of view. Would you go to a spa or a masseuse with the mindset that it is a chore? As x-ray vision pointed out, when done properly, wet shaving feels good!
Semi-back on topic, I recently acquired a Rolls Razor and am trying to muster up the courage to use it on my face. It’s worked great on my armhair so far though!
The thread is “Do they even still sell safety razor blades in the U.S.?,” not “Super Duper razor blade fan thread,” so it’s not quite the same thing.
[Moderator Note]
However, since this is GQ, your remark was also entirely irrelevant to the OP and thus unnecessary to make.
This said, since the question in the OP has now been answered, and this has mainly drifted into opinions about shaving methods, this thread may be better off in IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Well that explains why I couldn’t find it any more!
So, I bought a Merkur DE handle at the local tobacco store last week. I also bought three vintage Gillette DE handles and two GEM SE handles. I’ve got two brushes: one travel brush that I’m sure is badger hair, and one regular one that I bought with a soap dish and stand that may be boar hair (I don’t know how to tell, but it seems stiffer). I got a ginger scented and an almond scented soap. I’ve been shaving every day or every other day, and my face is starting to get used to it.
I’ve got a question, though. Manic59’s videos talk about reducing the amount of hair on each pass. But am I doing something wrong that it takes me four lather and shave cycles to get all the hair from under my jaw? It only took one with my Mach 3.
Also, my lather seems really thin compared to the lather he gets on his videos. It’s thick when it’s dry, but as I add just small amounts of water it seems to get thinner, instead of thicker. When I squeeze it out of the brush it’s all nice and foamy with really small bubbles, but I can’t get it like that on my face.
If you had no problem with the Mach 3, then something is wrong. It could be the angle your holding the handle at, the blade you’re using, the quality of the lather you mention below, etc.
Are the two soaps you purchased the same brand? You may want to try another brand (Tabac rules!). Try using both brushes if you haven’t done that yet (I’ve never tried boar bristle, but it’s supposed to be a lot harder to work with). Adding water is supposed to make the lather thinner. Are you face lathering or whipping up a lather in a bowl? I’ve found face lathering to be superior as less air whipped into it makes a slicker lather (and it’s quicker and easier). See this.
I have to admit I’ve been using a Merkur for the last year or so (with Derby blades), and even though I started out doing the whole badger brush and shaving cream thing, I’ve ended up just using shaving cream in a can…
I find that it still does a better job than the Gillette 4-blade razor I used to use, and costs A LOT less… and in one year of shaving, I haven’t cut myself even once.
Have you ever tried a shaving soap? I started using a badger brush with Proraso shave cream. Then I went to glycerin based shave soaps like Mama Bear and I liked them a lot better. Then I tried triple milled soaps like Tabac and Provence Sante and wow! The slickest lathers ever. The blade glides so smoothly across the face and leaves no irritation.
Honestly, I don’t get any irritation - I’m pretty happy with just plain old foam in a can…
But, yeah, I might have to check out soaps…
I think it’s got to be the angle, because my cheeks get smooth after only two passes. Maybe I’ll just do my cheeks twice, and jawline with, across, across, and then against?
I’ve been face lathering, since it seems to give me more of the “experience” than doing it in a bowl. Love the link, though, I could have swore Manic59 said to do only three seconds of loading on the puck, while those guys suggest twenty. Big difference!
I forget the name of the second brand (and it fits in a bowl so I already threw away the package), but the first one is Nomad that I got from Crabtree and Evelyn. It seems to give a better lather, but I’ll try loading up longer. That may be why the other brush isn’t giving me as good of a lather; I was still doing it for the same amount of time as the travel brush.
Sure, it’s all about experimenting and finding what works best for you.
it doesn’t seem like it would be possible to transfer a sufficient amount of lather to a brush in three seconds. I never timed it, but I probably spend about 15 seconds swirling the brush on the puck.