Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid lavender
Lather: Prairie Creations’ Walter Lemon
Brush: Turkish No7
Razors: Merkur 39C slant, Cadet TP-01, both with a Derby Extra blade (4)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
A DFS with a well performing puck of soap – that was delivered ten minutes before by the mail man.
Another backdated post – such is life.
One of the members over at my favorite wetshaving forum pointed us all to a little thing he wrote about cheap brushes and how they are NOT made by machine. The discussion it sparked is an interesting read as well.
It’s an interesting read – I did honestly assume that cheap and cheerful brushes were at least machine assembled, even if I did assume (correctly in that instance) that the hairs were graded by people. And while machine made brushes might hold true for the ones made with man made fibers*, it’s apparently not true when it comes to boar and badger brushes.
I guess that even in 2012 labour is cheap enough in China to not make it worthwhile inventing a knot-making machine…
*) Not to far fetched an idea; some of the really cheap brushes are made with nylon – all the softness and backbone of a painters brush…
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Arko stick
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock (5) and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum (5)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, and Alum
Somewhat rushed shave, but still very nice.
Backdated post – Real Life interrupting my hobbies again.
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 millimeters 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 enviroment’ 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.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mama Bear’s Awakening
Brush: Vie Long 14033 horse-badger brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock (4) and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum (4)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, and Krampert’s Finest Prototype Menthol
A DFS and a refreshing start on the new week.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid lavender
Lather: RazoRock XXX
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE
Razors: Merkur 39C slant, Cadet TP-01, both with a Derby Extra blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
A damn fine Friday shave before spending the day cleaning and re-stacking the attic.
Sometimes on the shave forums I visit – and even the one I post on – someone will ask what a good shave is.
In my opinion there is only one answer to that question, and only one person who can answer it.
A good shave is a shave you feel happy with – and only you can tell when you had one.
Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: Nivea Mild shaving cream
Brush: Vie Long 14033
Razors: Merkur 39C slant, Cadet TP-01, both with a Derby Extra blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
First time I used the Nivea in a while – still makes good lather. A DFS all around.
Acquisition Disorders is something many traditional wetshavers seems to gain as part of their hobby – probably because there is just so many brushes, razors and soaps out there to try.
My main AD seems to be centred on soaps and creams, which admittedly is cheaper than razors and brushes.. still, I surprise myself at times. Yesterday I went ahead and ordered a replacement Turkish No6 – having PIFed my original one away – and a order for a 2.45$ brush ended up at just over 20$;
– Wilkinson Sword Classic razor w/ extra blades
– A cheap Plastic Safety razor; if nothing else it’ll be good for laughts
– Dalan d’Men shaving cream
– Derby shaving cream
– Tweex shaving stick
and
– Tuskish No6 shaving brush.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mike’s Unscented Soap
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE
Razors: Merkur 39C slant, Cadet TP-01, both with a fresh Derby Extra blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s 80 Below
The Derbys ain’t the smoothest of blades, but still a DFS with a refreshing end to it.