A wonderful midweek shave. The early Schicks are underrated, probably because so few shavers use them.
Remember a few years ago when Gillette and the other big multinationals came out with vibrating, plasticy, multiblade horrors cartridge razors? Turns out the idea wasn’t new. Fernan Conill, a Cuban living in New York, patented an electric vibrating horror safety razor back in 1916.
A new week, a new razor from the rotation. And I’m excited, because it is Injector time again!
Wrapping up the work week with a lovely shave.
Razor: Asylum Shave Works Evolution
Blade: Treet Platinum
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Pereira Shavery Orange Blossom w/ activated charcoal
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care:
Alum Block
A repost from a dozen years ago that still holds true today.
Your face is one of a kind – a testament not only to your parents (and your parents parents, and your parents parents parents etc etc etc) but also to your life so far and your daily wear and tear. The contours and beard of your visage have been subtly moulded by forces internal and external… so off course it will react differently to soaps, creams, blades, and aftershaves than my face does.
When you come down to it, that is one of the things I like about good old fashioned wetshaving: There is no One True Way™. Despite what the major international shaving industry giants try to tell you there is no one perfect combination of lather, blade and razor that will magically give everyone a perfect shave (and it’s funny how the combo they try to push is always a little bit more expensive than what they tried to sell you last year… with a little less foam in the can, one more blade in the cartridge and one more pointless gimmick in the handle – most of it probably in the name of the all mighty bottom line).
No One True Way means you can, nay; must, experiment – not just with the equipment you use but more so with the ways you use your tools. It’s a upwards spiral, really: Procure tools, learn to use them properly, find a better tool, relearn your skills, rinse and repeat – always improving, always learning, always getting better.
Building a consistently good lather was something it took me a while to master, but I still like to try out different ways of doing it. Some work better, some work less good – but I’ve found a few tricks that I’ve rolled into my ‘everyday lather’. I am still searching for the perfect combo of blade and razor – right now I would say I’m 95% there, maybe a little less. That might be as close as I’ll get, but again part of the fun is the experimentation. Brushes is a science all it’s own – or perhaps closer to black magic. Some prefer badger, some swear to boar, some of us like horse the best… but synthetic is good too. And don’t get me started on pre- and post-shave… all I know is that it’s important.
What I’m driving at is that since you’re one of a kind, your perfect blend of kit and technique will be one of a kind too. No one can tell you that what you’re doing is wrong if it gives you a good shave – but many wetshavers out here will be happy to point you in the right direction if you can’t get a good shave.
Your Mileage May indeed Vary… but that is the way it should be!
A quick Wednesday shave.
A repost from a dozen years ago that still holds true.
Shaving time is – at least to me – a quiet, reflective moment. It’s me-time; the time when I can close the door and just enjoy myself without a worry in the world. It’s also a very manly time; if by manly you mean “waving a very sharp blade around millimetres from your jugular veins… heck, spin that right and it sounds like you’re cheating death every time you shave…
On a more serious tone, it is the time each morning I can ‘let go’ of everyday worries and simply enjoy the ‘now’ – a perfect moment caught between lather and blade as it were. It’s a moment that flushes the system, in a manner of speaking, and lets me put things in perspective. I think that traditional wetshaving have helped making me a better man, as well as a better looking man.
I’m far from the first to notice this off course; a quick search on google will reveal a few hundred thousand hits on the subject. But even so it’s something worth keeping in mind, especially when the cartridge-and-canned-goo brigade wonders why we prefers the old fashioned, traditional art of wetshaving.
Forget the ‘better shave’ spiel; they have heard it a million times before – every time one of the huge multinationals adds another blade they promise the consumers a better shave than ever before.
Forget the whole ‘saving money’ thing too; most of us succumbs to one or more ADs shortly after we pick up a decent brush and a safety razor.
You might want to quickly bypass the ‘better for the environment’ issue as well; yes, traditional shaving is greener and wastes less plastic, but most people honestly don’t care as much about the environment as they claim to do.
But do tell them about that perfect moment caught between lather and blade – those precious minutes every time you shave that lets your worries and concerns simply drain away. The little breathing space where it’s you, your razor and perfection.
New week means next razor in my rotation.
A fine Friday shave to round out the work week.
This is a repost from Thursday, 10 September 2015, for the enjoyment of readers new and old.
Every man remembers his first shave, according to the internet…
I don’t.
I do remember my first shave with a traditional safety razor though, and how my face looked afterwards… was hooked right away, despite several nicks. Thinking about it, I do believe my first shaves as a pimply teen was with an unremarkable electric razor… a no-brand rotary.
First experiments with carts and canned goo came a little later as I was gearing up for boot camp – I believe my logic was that you can’t find an outlet while on exercise in the deep forests. The main takeaway from the first few years was that I dislike canned goo; left my face feeling dry and funky.
Enter stage right; a cheap brush and cream from BodyShop. Much better, even if ingrown hairs and shaving rash still plagued me.. at the time I though that was just how it was.
Over the next couple of decades I waffled between carts (Sensor and Sensor Excel), various electrics, and growing beards… until I was pointed in the direction of traditional wetshaving while I was gearing up for a one year Tour of Duty as a UN Military Observer in Africa – the logic at the time being that you can’t always find an electrical outlet nor reliable buy carts while in a third world country… seems to be a common theme with why I switched to a cart years before.
The anticipation when I slid the Feather blade into my Parker R22 and slowly twisted it closed was palatable… and I promptly opened and closed it a few times to make 100% absolutely sure I had put it in right. I was happy with the lather I had made with my brand new Omega boar brush and my just as new tube of Proraso Green… even if looking back it was frankly not particularly good. And the less I say about my pre-shave, the better… because there is not much to say about splashing some warm water on ones face.
The feeling of sliding a traditional safety razor over my cheeks for the first time? Unforgettable. The actual sound of stubble being sliced through by a piece of wicked sharp steel? Simply wonderful.
Yes, there was several nicks. Blood was drawn – the Feathers is, in hindsight, way to sharp for an aggressive razor like the R22. My lather was too watery and provided little cushion. But despite all that I knew one thing for sure when I rinsed the bright red remains of watery lather of my face:
I wanted more. Much more.
To summarise:
I think my first shave was forgotten because it wasn’t anything special.
I do remember my first traditional shave because it was quite simply unforgettable.