Cutting down to the essentials

Wet shaving can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.  I am in a phase in my life where simple is more desirable.  So I have cut down on my hardware - razors specifically - and decided to just shave with one razor for a while and see how I like it.

I decided I would use only the pictured razor.  It is a 1930's model New style Gillette razor.  It has an open comb instead of a solid safety bar but I have yet to cut myself with it.  I've been using it, or another one just like it, pretty much since the end of May and it always delivers a great shave.

I sent it off to Sport Shaving to replate it from tarnished, worn and chipped to its current shine.  Here is what it looked like before.  Not bad, but it could look better.

I'm sure its not true, but it seems to shave a bit smoother with it being all shiny.

Back to being simple.  All that is really needed is a razor, some blades, a brush and some soap.  Not 25 razors, 3,000 blades, 45 different hard soaps, 3 dozen creams, 4 pre-shave face washes and 7 pre-shave oils, alum blocks, witch hazel splash, aftershave balms, aftershave splashes and moisturizers. 

I wash my face with soap, make lather on my face using 1 shaving soap and my brush, shave, rinse, lather and repeat, then rinse off the soap and splash on some aftershave to tighten the skin and make me smell damn good.  No pampering, no metrosexual obsession with a "system" and what not.  I'm a man and if I must shave, I will do it right and not worry about anything else.

7 a.m. Plus blade shave #2

The second shave with the 7 a.m. Plus blade was an uneventful shave.

Wow, blogging about shaving is pretty boring.  I mean, I shave every day, pretty much the same way, with the same tools and its pretty much the same....

But, man, does my skin look good!  And I smell good too!

Gillette Weekender

SoTD - 2/22/14

Today's shave was not great.  Not bad, but not great.  This was my first use of this particular blade.  I can't say that I liked it.  Will try again tomorrow with better face preparation.

Gillette Tech

Gillette Super Thin

Stirling Glacial soap

Omega 31025 boar bristle

Captain's Choice Bay Rum aftershave.

Sort of straight and narrow

I purchased a Parker SRB shavette this week.   It takes replaceable blades.  I thought I wanted to give a try at shaving with it and see if straight razor shaving might be something I want to do.

I realized that I likely wouldn't want to do a complete 3 pass shave with the Parker, so I kept my Merkur 34HD handy.  I prepped up with a warm face wash and started soaking my brush and the Stirling Glacial soap.  I also soaked up my puck of Van Der Hagan glycerin soap to help cut down on the menthol eye burning. 

It worked!  I made a good lather in the mugs and painted up my whiskers.  I opened up the Parker and got going.  It really wasn't as hard as I expected.  I was fairly tentative but did not open any gaping wounds or cause any weepers.  I had absolutely no issues with using my left hand to shave the left side of my face.

After pass 1 with the Parker, I picked up the Merkur and finished up the shave in easy fashion.  I completed the whole shave with an application of Captain's Choice Cat O 9 Tails.  The combination of ice cold Glacial and the sting of the Captain's Choice made for a wonderful face feel.  I really liked it.

SOTD - 2/18/14

Quiet shave this morning.  No issues at all.  Paired a Gillette Fat Handle Tech with a Wilkinson Sword blade and it worked well.  The tech is a nice razor.  Face lathered the soap sample and got along fine.

Shave of The Day - February 15

One of my motivations for this blog is to keep track of what I am shaving with and how it works.  So I will be doing an occasional "Shave Of The Day" post.  I hope to write compelling copy and take some decent photos to go along with it.

So let's get going!

February 15 SOTD

Today I used the following:

Razor: Gillette PreWar Fat Handle Tech

Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum

Soap:  RazoRock for Captain's Choice

Brush and Bowl: Van Der Hagan starter set

Captain's Choice Bay Rum aftershave

I received a sample of the shaving soap from Captain's Choice when I purchased the aftershave and was not sure how much to use.  As you can see, it appears I may have used enough, but upon shaving with it, I'm not certain.  It didn't really last on my face, but the shave was fine.  I added some more soap to my bowl for the 2nd and 3rd passes and still did not have a long lasting lather.  It felt slick but not very cushioning. 

Regardless, good shave to keep my day going.  Can't wait to shave again tomorrow!

Welcome to my Wet Shaving, Old School Double Edged Razor blog

Well, I have a new "hobby". Don't laugh. Its known as wet shaving or perhaps more appropriately as traditional wet shaving. Yes, that's right, someone decided that trying to enjoy the everyday thing that most men have to do and quite honestly, hate, ought to be a new type of pastime. I have found many message boards, forums and websites dedicated to the pastime of shaving using soap, brush and old style razors. Apparently I caught the bug.

Here is my disclaimer. I have been shaving my face for more than 35 years. I have pretty much hated this daily obligation for most of my adult life. I have worn a variety of facial hair features from a full beard to a goatee to a simple mustache. The mustache has been pretty constant since I was 19 years old. I've used double edge razors, 2, 3 or 4 bladed cartridge razors, and electric razors. From my first shave at age 14 or 15, I've always used some sort of canned shaving cream, gel or the like. I've fought ingrown hairs, razor burn and piss poor shaves. I grew beards to avoid shaving. When I didn't have a beard I would typically shave every 3 to 4 days, if even that often. I hated it!

This all changed right after Christmas 2013. I purchased a couple of DE razors and shaving set-ups for my two grown sons for Christmas. I looked it all over and thought I might want to try it out myself.

I purchased a starter set from a vendor, Garry at Badger and Blade and got going. The kit included a razor,some blades, an Omega boar bristle brush, a sample of soap and some aftershave samples. I read a great many threaded discussions at B&B, The Shave Den and The Shave Nook while I waited just a few days for the starter kit to arrive and was good and ready to get rolling.

If you must shave and have not used a brush and some soap to prep your beard for shaving, you are missing out. I think just the soaping up of the face is worth it. It feels so good. The shave with a DE razor is really nice as well, even if it takes a little longer than scraping a 5 bladed monstrosity across your skin, but the shave from my DE is smoother and lasts longer.

I think I received my starter on January 6. That first shave was a little sketchy and left me with a little blood in a few places on my face. I let my face recover for 1 day and I proudly say that I have not missed a single day of shaving since then! That's right, I even shave on the weekends.

I also shave my head pretty regularly. I started using the DE razor to shave my head about 3 weeks ago and I really like the smoothness of my scalp when I am done.

Here is what I used today. Pretty simple set up. Prewar Gillette Fat Handle Tech razor, Gillette Silver Blue blades, an Omega boar bristle brush, Williams Mug Soap and Captain's Choice Bay Rum aftershave.

I don't know how often I will post on this fledging online journal. I don't know if anyone will find it. But if you do, please say howdy in the comments!