I've been under the weather for the last few days, but while I was sick I was thinking about how to prevent other diseases and disorders, most notably for this blog preventing the various acquisition disorders that infect those who get into wet shaving.
The allure of trying new things is hard to resist. When I started looking into buying my first kit, there were so many options to decide from. As I've mentioned before, I got the Merkur HD. But I also really considered a nice vintage Gilette Superspeed. And then there are the adjustable models that I'd like to try now that my technique has improved and I'm getting consistent shaves.
Now I'm also getting the thought to start straights. So I've gotten a vintage straight from a member at straightrazorplace, and I've got a newer straight on the way as well. And just looking at all the beautiful razors that are out there, I start feeling the need to get my hands on more.
And these things aren't even the worst of them. I'm really enjoying the idea of different scents, whether they be shave cream, soap or aftershave. The thing that I'm finding with the scents is that after a couple of days in the same scent, I can't really smell it anymore. So that's when I want to change. But its certainly no fun to keep switching between the same two scents. Now the samples I've picked up are helpful, but I really want to get a few more good scents into my rotation.
And I haven't even mentioned brushes, or the stops and hones I'll need to keep up my straights. So how do you control it? Well, I can't say that I know the answer yet, since its still early, but here's my idea and we'll all see how it goes in the future.
The key to it for me is not to buy anything unless I know I'm going to use it. So for now, the razors are going to wait. I have what I have now and I'll continue to use them, but I'm not going to buy any new razors until I feel comforatble using the ones I have. Now for the scents, I want to keep the same criteria. Which means, I don't want to buy anything that I haven't tried before. So samples are going to be key to me. If I had any readers on this blog I'm sure I'd have retailers throwing samples at me, but since I don't, its going to take some legwork and good customer service for vendors to get my business.
So hopefully these guidelines will prevent me from overloading myself in the early stages of this endeavor, and I'll keep in mind that this is going to be a long trip, so I'll have plenty of time to keep trying new things.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
My First Impressions
I had done a lot of reading online and watched a lot of mantic's videos during the first couple of weeks before I ordered my kit and got it all together. The first thing that struck me was the size of the equipment I got. I don't know why, but somehow I pictured everything to be ... bigger.
The C&E brush that I got certainly felt nice, but the pictures I'd seen on some of the boards made it look larger than it is. I understood this, because I figured that to get quality at that low price, its just smaller. Less of a good thing, you know?
Then I got the box with the Merkur HD in it. Actually, first my wife got it, since she's home with the kids and I'm at work. She opens it up and called me. "I think there's a piece missing," she said, "why is it so small?" I got home and opened it up. Yep, it looks like the ones in the pictures only smaller. Maybe I should have gotten the long handle model. Hmm, well, I'm not one to judge before i tried, so I used it anyway.
So the next morning I got up early for my first "real" wet shave. i'd been using some of the prep techniques with my Mach3 earlier in the week to practice, but this was going to be the real deal. I'll go through all my steps in a separate post, but once I got started I realized that I liked the "small" razor. It allowed me to use a gentler touch on the handle and I think helps me use less pressure on my face.
Et Voila, I lathered up and finished my first pass. The next surprise... even though I read about the multi-pass beard reduction method, I was shocked at how much stubble was still left on my face. Now, the sink had plenty of little hairs in it, so I know the razor was working, but still it caught me off guard. Second pass, much better. I went for a third pass, started thinking about going against the grain, but then thought better of it and just did another across.
I rinsed and then rubbed some after shave balm on my face. I was pleased, there wasn't any redness, no irritation. It wasn't a perfect shave, especially around my neck and chin, but my cheeks felt fantastic. And the last thing I felt was, man this smells good. I remember sitting at my desk later that day enjoying the scent and feeling excited about the adventure.
In the end, I was glad I did the research before trying to shave this way, because I either would have been very disappointed with the immediate result, or I would have hacked my face to death pressing the razor hard on my face to get the last bit of stubble. I've since gotten better, but that is more for another day.
The C&E brush that I got certainly felt nice, but the pictures I'd seen on some of the boards made it look larger than it is. I understood this, because I figured that to get quality at that low price, its just smaller. Less of a good thing, you know?
Then I got the box with the Merkur HD in it. Actually, first my wife got it, since she's home with the kids and I'm at work. She opens it up and called me. "I think there's a piece missing," she said, "why is it so small?" I got home and opened it up. Yep, it looks like the ones in the pictures only smaller. Maybe I should have gotten the long handle model. Hmm, well, I'm not one to judge before i tried, so I used it anyway.
So the next morning I got up early for my first "real" wet shave. i'd been using some of the prep techniques with my Mach3 earlier in the week to practice, but this was going to be the real deal. I'll go through all my steps in a separate post, but once I got started I realized that I liked the "small" razor. It allowed me to use a gentler touch on the handle and I think helps me use less pressure on my face.
Et Voila, I lathered up and finished my first pass. The next surprise... even though I read about the multi-pass beard reduction method, I was shocked at how much stubble was still left on my face. Now, the sink had plenty of little hairs in it, so I know the razor was working, but still it caught me off guard. Second pass, much better. I went for a third pass, started thinking about going against the grain, but then thought better of it and just did another across.
I rinsed and then rubbed some after shave balm on my face. I was pleased, there wasn't any redness, no irritation. It wasn't a perfect shave, especially around my neck and chin, but my cheeks felt fantastic. And the last thing I felt was, man this smells good. I remember sitting at my desk later that day enjoying the scent and feeling excited about the adventure.
In the end, I was glad I did the research before trying to shave this way, because I either would have been very disappointed with the immediate result, or I would have hacked my face to death pressing the razor hard on my face to get the last bit of stubble. I've since gotten better, but that is more for another day.
Monday, February 11, 2008
My Start-Up Kit
The hardest part of getting started in wet shaving for most guys is putting together a kit that won't break the bank, but will give you enough quality that you won't be too frustrated to continue. I did a lot of reading on the shaving forums and realized that I didn't want to go the cheapo route, nor did I have the leeway with the wife to spend a couple of hundred dollars on the top of the line equipment.
Obviously there are a ton of choices out there and I'm not saying that my decisions were the only right ones, but I am enjoying my wet shaving experience so far, so I'd like to share how I put together my kit, where I got it all and a few of my thoughts on what I've gotten.
Being a part of the "instant gratification" generation that grew up in the 80's, I prefer to run out to a store and come home with everything I need. Unfortunately that's not really possible, because I have yet to find a Brick and Mortar store that sells quality safety razors or straights for that matter. So I was forced to order from online retailers.
I made the following orders from online retailers. I bought a Merkur Heavy Duty Classic razor from classicshaving.com. Then I bought a razor blade sampler pack from westcoastshaving.com. Both retailers were responsive and I received my goods within a week of placing the orders. I came to find out that the proprietor of westcoastshaving.com was the author of the article that piqued my interest in wetshaving to begin with, so I took the opportunity to thank him.
I have since found blades at Dollar General, Walgreens and Publix all at reasonable prices. I haven't tried most of them yet, so I can't vouch for quality, but that'll come in the future.
Classicshaving was chosen because they had the item I wanted in stock. I had originally attempted to contact Lee at Leesrazors.com for some information, intending to buy my entire kit from him, but despite the raves on the boards about his service, I never received a reply. Probably got lost in the holiday shuffle. It was a shame because I had heard such good things about his service.
So once this stuff was ordered, I twisted the wife's arm and dragged her kicking and screaming to the mall. I stopped at Crabtree and Evelyn and picked up the Best Badger Brush for $35. It is by far the cheapest price for a quality brush that I found. There are a lot of good brushes available, heck I've even seen some going for upwards of $300. But to start up, I couldn't find anything that had reviews better than this bursh for the price. While there I also picked up a tube of their shave cream, a jar of After Shave Balm and a soap in a bowl, all in the Nomad scent. The scent of course was picked out by my wife. Of these, my only current regret is the soap. So far I haven't had much luck getting good lather from the soap. Everything else is so new, I haven't really had the desire to pick it up and do much trying. I am enjoying the lather I'm getting from the cream too much.
I also picked up as many samples as I could from Nordtroms (Art of Shaving Sandalwood cream, excellent, Kiehl's creams, not so much) and L'Occitane. I also saw the C.O. Bigelow shaving cream at Bath and Body works, but this is the same as the Proraso, and I'd ordered a tube of that with my razor for $10.
So that was it, in a week I picked up brush, blades, razor, creams and aftershave. I had spent $35 on the razor, $15 on the blade pack, $35 on the brush, and about $75 on creams and ASB. $160 to start, which could have been brought down to $90 if I hadn't gone overboard on the creams in C&E, but I'm blaming that on my wife.
6 weeks later, I think my usage patterns are showing that this stuff should last me at least 6 months before I'll need to reload on shaving cream. So if you're looking for the cheap way out, you could definitely get started with quality product and a good experience for way under $100.
Obviously there are a ton of choices out there and I'm not saying that my decisions were the only right ones, but I am enjoying my wet shaving experience so far, so I'd like to share how I put together my kit, where I got it all and a few of my thoughts on what I've gotten.
Being a part of the "instant gratification" generation that grew up in the 80's, I prefer to run out to a store and come home with everything I need. Unfortunately that's not really possible, because I have yet to find a Brick and Mortar store that sells quality safety razors or straights for that matter. So I was forced to order from online retailers.
I made the following orders from online retailers. I bought a Merkur Heavy Duty Classic razor from classicshaving.com. Then I bought a razor blade sampler pack from westcoastshaving.com. Both retailers were responsive and I received my goods within a week of placing the orders. I came to find out that the proprietor of westcoastshaving.com was the author of the article that piqued my interest in wetshaving to begin with, so I took the opportunity to thank him.
I have since found blades at Dollar General, Walgreens and Publix all at reasonable prices. I haven't tried most of them yet, so I can't vouch for quality, but that'll come in the future.
Classicshaving was chosen because they had the item I wanted in stock. I had originally attempted to contact Lee at Leesrazors.com for some information, intending to buy my entire kit from him, but despite the raves on the boards about his service, I never received a reply. Probably got lost in the holiday shuffle. It was a shame because I had heard such good things about his service.
So once this stuff was ordered, I twisted the wife's arm and dragged her kicking and screaming to the mall. I stopped at Crabtree and Evelyn and picked up the Best Badger Brush for $35. It is by far the cheapest price for a quality brush that I found. There are a lot of good brushes available, heck I've even seen some going for upwards of $300. But to start up, I couldn't find anything that had reviews better than this bursh for the price. While there I also picked up a tube of their shave cream, a jar of After Shave Balm and a soap in a bowl, all in the Nomad scent. The scent of course was picked out by my wife. Of these, my only current regret is the soap. So far I haven't had much luck getting good lather from the soap. Everything else is so new, I haven't really had the desire to pick it up and do much trying. I am enjoying the lather I'm getting from the cream too much.
I also picked up as many samples as I could from Nordtroms (Art of Shaving Sandalwood cream, excellent, Kiehl's creams, not so much) and L'Occitane. I also saw the C.O. Bigelow shaving cream at Bath and Body works, but this is the same as the Proraso, and I'd ordered a tube of that with my razor for $10.
So that was it, in a week I picked up brush, blades, razor, creams and aftershave. I had spent $35 on the razor, $15 on the blade pack, $35 on the brush, and about $75 on creams and ASB. $160 to start, which could have been brought down to $90 if I hadn't gone overboard on the creams in C&E, but I'm blaming that on my wife.
6 weeks later, I think my usage patterns are showing that this stuff should last me at least 6 months before I'll need to reload on shaving cream. So if you're looking for the cheap way out, you could definitely get started with quality product and a good experience for way under $100.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Pace Yourself
Today was one of those days when I had to stop but it was hard to do. Time was tight so after my second pass, the kids were already running around and my "me" time was over. To I looked in the mirror and realized that, even though it may not feel as good as I want it to feel, my face still looked pretty good. Good enough to go to the office without anyone thinking that I slept until five minutes before I got there.
It brings me back to my childhood, before free refills were available of every soft drink in every restaurant. I would be lucky enough to be allowed to order a coke with dinner, but that one glass needed to last the whole meal. So instead I had to pace myself, and not go for the entire glass at once, no matter how tempting it was.
So today I had to pace myself. I wanted to keep going and shave for that BBS, but alas it was not to be. I still haven't tried those samples from T&H yet, but I will soon. And I have too straight razors on the way, looking forward to trying them out soon.
It brings me back to my childhood, before free refills were available of every soft drink in every restaurant. I would be lucky enough to be allowed to order a coke with dinner, but that one glass needed to last the whole meal. So instead I had to pace myself, and not go for the entire glass at once, no matter how tempting it was.
So today I had to pace myself. I wanted to keep going and shave for that BBS, but alas it was not to be. I still haven't tried those samples from T&H yet, but I will soon. And I have too straight razors on the way, looking forward to trying them out soon.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Samples Hooray!
I was sitting in my home office last night when my wife popped in. "Are you expecting a package?" she asked, with that "what did you buy that you didn't tell me about know, " tone of voice. Now, I am expecting a couple of straight razors that I recently bought from guys on one of the shaving boards, but this package was from Chicago and I knew they weren't coming from there.
I opened it up and to my delight it was samples from Truefitt & Hill!! Now, if you told me 2 months ago that I would be excited about shaving cream and cologne samples, I would have called you a liar. (And maybe a few other things too.) The padded envelope contained 6 cologne samples and samples of pre-shave oil, shaving cream and aftershave balm from their Ultimate Comfort collection.
My wife immediately went through the 6 colognes to pick out the ones she approved of. She picked the West Indian Limes and the Trafalgar scents as her first impression favorites, so they'll be tried first.
I've never been much of a scent wearer. I had a bottle of cologne in high school that I brought with me to college. I don't remember what kind it was, though I do remember it was in a blue bottle. I knocked the bottle off of my dresser in the first month of school and it broke, so my room reeked of cologne for most of the first semester. That was really the last time I bought cologne until my wife got me a bottle shortly after we moved in together. Its not that I don't like smelling nice, but I was always afraid of being that guy that wears too much and stinks up the room.
But exposing myself to wetshaving has opened my eyes a bit to the way that a good scent can make you feel better. So now comes the rub. One of the reasons I wanted to get away from the disposable cartridges was to avoid paying the high cost of the blades. Of course, now I'm just going to end up taking that money and spending it on shaving creams, after shaves and colognes. Oh well, as my wife says each time she comes back from the MAC makeup shop, that's the cost of beauty.
I had just thought yesterday that I was getting bored with wearing the Nomad aftershave every day and wished I had something new to try. Talk about premonition. I've heard great things about their creams, so I look forward to trying it.
I opened it up and to my delight it was samples from Truefitt & Hill!! Now, if you told me 2 months ago that I would be excited about shaving cream and cologne samples, I would have called you a liar. (And maybe a few other things too.) The padded envelope contained 6 cologne samples and samples of pre-shave oil, shaving cream and aftershave balm from their Ultimate Comfort collection.
My wife immediately went through the 6 colognes to pick out the ones she approved of. She picked the West Indian Limes and the Trafalgar scents as her first impression favorites, so they'll be tried first.
I've never been much of a scent wearer. I had a bottle of cologne in high school that I brought with me to college. I don't remember what kind it was, though I do remember it was in a blue bottle. I knocked the bottle off of my dresser in the first month of school and it broke, so my room reeked of cologne for most of the first semester. That was really the last time I bought cologne until my wife got me a bottle shortly after we moved in together. Its not that I don't like smelling nice, but I was always afraid of being that guy that wears too much and stinks up the room.
But exposing myself to wetshaving has opened my eyes a bit to the way that a good scent can make you feel better. So now comes the rub. One of the reasons I wanted to get away from the disposable cartridges was to avoid paying the high cost of the blades. Of course, now I'm just going to end up taking that money and spending it on shaving creams, after shaves and colognes. Oh well, as my wife says each time she comes back from the MAC makeup shop, that's the cost of beauty.
I had just thought yesterday that I was getting bored with wearing the Nomad aftershave every day and wished I had something new to try. Talk about premonition. I've heard great things about their creams, so I look forward to trying it.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Good Shave or Good Enough?
One of the best pieces of advice I've gotten in my early endeavors into traditional wet shaving was from one of mantic59's videos. I'm going to have to paraphrase, but the point was "shoot for par." Many of us weekend golfers aren't going to be able to go for the green in two on most Par 5's. Heck, even Tiger can't go for the green in two on every par 5 in the world. So you can't expect to get a perfect shave everyday, but if you know when you have done enough, you're going to feel better than going for too much and getting burned.
Today was a day where I decided to settle for good enough. I had a late night at the office last night and had to start an early one today. Stress level was pretty high this morning, and while the time spent shaving was helpful, I decided to skip my finishing pass. The results were good enough, looking good to the outside world, but as I run my fingers over my face, I notice spots where I could have done better. Knowing my state of mind this morning though, I probably would have just hacked at my chin and left myself with a very red neck.
I have been doing a 3 pass shave (one with the grain, one across the grain and one against the grain) followed by a finishing pass. Picking up a hint from LeisureGuy, I have been using a jojoba and eucalyptus product from JackBlack for a finaly pass. Now he has been experimenting with different types of oil for this pass, but I've been using this "Beard Lube" because its easy to apply and its clear (also because I got samples of it at Nordstrom). I examine my face for rough spots with my fingers and check for dark spots and polish those up with my razor. For me, this pass is the difference between a good shave and a good enough shave.
SOTD
Merkur HD with Derby Extra blade (3rd day on the blade)
Crabtree and Evelyn Nomad Shave Cream
Crabtree and Evelyn Best Badger Brush
Crabtree and Evelyn Nobad ASB
My wife loves the scent of the Nomad products, so considering it was a late night last night, I am trying to make her happy to see me tonight.
Today was a day where I decided to settle for good enough. I had a late night at the office last night and had to start an early one today. Stress level was pretty high this morning, and while the time spent shaving was helpful, I decided to skip my finishing pass. The results were good enough, looking good to the outside world, but as I run my fingers over my face, I notice spots where I could have done better. Knowing my state of mind this morning though, I probably would have just hacked at my chin and left myself with a very red neck.
I have been doing a 3 pass shave (one with the grain, one across the grain and one against the grain) followed by a finishing pass. Picking up a hint from LeisureGuy, I have been using a jojoba and eucalyptus product from JackBlack for a finaly pass. Now he has been experimenting with different types of oil for this pass, but I've been using this "Beard Lube" because its easy to apply and its clear (also because I got samples of it at Nordstrom). I examine my face for rough spots with my fingers and check for dark spots and polish those up with my razor. For me, this pass is the difference between a good shave and a good enough shave.
SOTD
Merkur HD with Derby Extra blade (3rd day on the blade)
Crabtree and Evelyn Nomad Shave Cream
Crabtree and Evelyn Best Badger Brush
Crabtree and Evelyn Nobad ASB
My wife loves the scent of the Nomad products, so considering it was a late night last night, I am trying to make her happy to see me tonight.
Monday, February 4, 2008
The Beginning
Like many men, I have to shave in order to maintain my boyish good looks. That meant buying the latest multi blade cartridges and foam in a can to scrape my face clean every day, or really just any day I needed to, because if I didn't have to shave, I wasn't going to do it. I had tried an electric or two when i was younger, but they didn't work for me and I wasn't aware that there were any other.
Then one day at the end of last year, I found a post on lifehacker.com linking an article explaining the benefits of "wetshaving." I started reading about this "new" form of shaving. i could shave without having red bumps all over my neck? I wouldn't have to spend $20 a pop for cartridges? There was soup and cream that didn't come from a can?
I found several amazing forums dedicated to wetshaving and a community of men who are devoted to helping each other get better shaves. I went out and bought a safety razor, badger brush, some blades and wonderful smelling creams and after shaves and I've spent the last few weeks learning to shave again and marvelling at how smooth my face can be.
In this blog I'd like to tell my stories, share my experiences to serve two purposes. I'd like to record my experiences so that I can recall them, knowing which blades I liked, which scent combination worked well and which did not. Second, I'd like to be able to share so that other guys who want to give this a try can see its not as scary as it first appears.
Then one day at the end of last year, I found a post on lifehacker.com linking an article explaining the benefits of "wetshaving." I started reading about this "new" form of shaving. i could shave without having red bumps all over my neck? I wouldn't have to spend $20 a pop for cartridges? There was soup and cream that didn't come from a can?
I found several amazing forums dedicated to wetshaving and a community of men who are devoted to helping each other get better shaves. I went out and bought a safety razor, badger brush, some blades and wonderful smelling creams and after shaves and I've spent the last few weeks learning to shave again and marvelling at how smooth my face can be.
In this blog I'd like to tell my stories, share my experiences to serve two purposes. I'd like to record my experiences so that I can recall them, knowing which blades I liked, which scent combination worked well and which did not. Second, I'd like to be able to share so that other guys who want to give this a try can see its not as scary as it first appears.
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