What I've learned in 6 months of traditional shaving

I realized this morning that I have been shaving in a more traditional way for 6 months now.  It has been an enjoyable journey.  I wanted to take a few minutes and write down some of the things I have learned.

I really don't need too much stuff to shave every day.

Shaving cream and a brush feel really good on my face.

Using a shaving scuttle to have warm lather does not automatically  make one some sort of metrosexual.  Pampering is good, isn't it?

Simple soap, brush, blades and an old fashioned razor will get the job done.

What have you learned?

Using Up Soaps

Amazingly, in the past 6 months, I've been able to accumulate more soaps and creams than is reasonable.  I would talk about razors and brushes, but I've bought too many and sold most of them.  I have 4 razors at the moment with plans to reduce that number to 3 in the near future.  And blades, well, I ought be good for a couple of years and regularly engage in trades and PIFs to reduce the load on the wall cabinet. But soaps, now that is another story.

I've been fortunate enough to receive at least 3 batches of soaps as the recipient of PIF's from other enthusiasts in the wet shaving community.  I have gifted some away and started playing around with the lathering arts.  However, I realized that I would not truly find out how a soap could do unless I actually used it for more than a day at a time.  You can see what I am up against here.

So, in mid-March, I joined in a group over at Badger and Blade that is committed to only using 1 soap at a time during any given month, unless you can completely use up the soap then you would start on a new one.

My first choice was a puck of Stirling Barbershop.

I forced the puck down into my Old Spice mug and started shaving with it every day.  It lasted 28 days of daily face shaving and every other day head shaving. 

Next up was a tube of Godrej Cool Menthol direct from a new friend in India.  This cream was fun to use and it made it for 3 weeks.

I worked in a sample of puck of Stirling Glacial Wintergreen for 3 days.  Then I added in a homemade sample from a member of The Shave Den.

This little guy actually made it for 3 days and did a nice job. 

Now I am into my last sample of a soap from The Shave Den store.  I expect it to make it to mid week and then I have to make a decision - go for soap or get after using up creams.  

I'll let you know what I am doing when I do it.

I've been using this old style technology for about 2 months now.  Shockingly, I'm shaving my face every day and shaving my head every other day.  Anyone who ever talked to me about time wasting habits would know that I've always considered shaving to be a massive waste of time.

Well, that has changed!  I'm not quite a traditional shaving evangelist, but I am close.  I don't really talk to people about it, but I will drop an occasional comment about getting a "damn fine shave" every so often.  I do encourage my child bride to feel my face at least once a day.

One of the constants in this new found enjoyable habit is this Old Spice Mug.  It is pretty old, older than me anyway.  It was manufactured sometime after 1943 and before the mid 1950s.  It isn't too big or too small.  It has nice crazing in the glazing and well, it just looks cool.  It was manufactured by Hull Pottery.

New Brush- Riding a Horse!

Vie-Long 13061 

I made a final purchase this week (famous last words) of some blades and a Gillette Slim Adjustable and this new Vie-Long 13061 horsehair shaving brush.  Yes, it was impulsive, but it arrived and well, being a good product tester, I put it right to work.

Some of the real sissy face shavers just can't stand the smell of the horse hair brush.  It doesn't bother me.  I've been around horses enough to know that horse hair smells like, well, horse hair.  Don't be a girl about it!  I'm the father of 3 sons, so I am used to the smell of animals.

The Vie-Long is a little "scritchy" feeling when applied to your face, but again, what would you expect?  This isn't a make-up brush! It's a shaving brush.  I expect Ghengis Khan ripped the tails off horses to lather up before he shaved with some giant sword.  So I'm just carrying on the tradition of well-shaved barbarians! (insert appropriate manly grunting noises here in your mind)

I've used the brush about 5 times so far.  I've head lathered and face lathered and mug lathered with it.  The slightly stiffer hairs do pick up the soap rather nicely but I am trying to learn how much water is proper for the soaps.  It seems to want to hold more water than the boar bristle brushes I've been using, although "boar" may be an oversimplification.  I expect that "boar" hair also may come from sows, but that's a topic for another post.  Anyhoo, today I shook more water out of the well soaked brush before I started on the soap and ended up getting a much better lather overall.

So, on behalf of the well groomed marauder line of Ghengis Khan, I wish you all a great day and a great shave!

Weapons of beard destruction

Sterling Glacial - Mini Review

In a previous post, I mentioned that I received a huge package of soaps as the recipient of a PIF thread on the Shave Nook.  I chose the sample of Stirling Glacial to start out.  I've used the soap 5 times and have about 1 more shave to go before it is all done.

 I used it for 2 full head shaves and 3 full face shaves.

My initial impression upon peeling off the wrapping was that it smelled minty.  I also noticed that the soap was much softer than I expected, not that this was a problem.

I pressed the soap down into my shaving mug and pondered what I ought to do.  I decided to put a little water on it and let it set for a few minutes while my brush soaked.

When I took the brush to the mug, the scent of mint became much stronger.  It took quite a while to make much lather and the lather, while slick and creamy looking, seemed a bit thin.  I brushed it on my head for the first shave and my eyes started watering and my skin felt cold!  I finished up the shave in somewhat stunned cold silence.  I was impressed by how cold it was.

My subsequent shaves were very similar, however, I was able to get a thicker lather each time.  The last two lathers were augmented with the addition of a bit of Van Der Hagan glycerin soap with the thought that I might be able "thicken" up the lather.  I think it worked.  I also think that it cut the menthol and mint down just a bit as my eyes did not water as much.

All in all, the Stirling Glacial was a superb introduction to Stirling Soaps.  Stay tuned for the next installment when I review the next sample in line.

Wet Shavers are so generous!

The wet shaving brotherhood (can I say that?) is really wild.  We all buy too much stuff and then feel the desire to share with others.

I won a little Pay It Forward (PIF) contest over at the Shave Nook late last week and this massive amount of shaving soap arrived in the mail today!  Apparently a group of wet shavers in the Austin, Texas area actually break the "virtual" mold and get together in person to talk about shaving and sharing their loot.  They brought together a bunch of stuff and put together 2 similar sized giveaways.  I happened to be fortunate enough to win this one!

I have no idea about the retail cost of this, but it is huge.  And, Bob covered the postage cost to boot!

I hope to give a few mini reviews of each product as I try it out and use it up.  That ought to cover the next several years!

Better go start shaving!