Shaving soap, shaving brush, and shaving.
Over at Project Gutenberg – which is an awesome site for free books, by the way – I found a gem from 1905:
Next to the razor, the most important article of the shaving outfit is the soap. In its proper use lies the real secret of easy shaving.
If you desire a really clean shave, you must go over the face the second time.
It’s a highly enjoyable read, and I urge you to take a few minutes to grab a copy.
BBC News: Should men shave their faces up or down?
The correct answer is as we all know BOTH – as well as ACROSS.
For those who visit fark.com, there is a thread about this article there as well.
Mark – also known as mantic59 – has written an interesting article on the history of shaving mugs and scuttles.
For instance; did you know that back in the day people though that shaving rash came from using sharing the same soap, so people could buy their own personalised shaving mug for use in the barbershop?
A good read, all told – more so since I’m playing with the idea of buying a scuttle.
Or, more correct, a reproduction of one?
Ravn Forhistorisk Støbeteknikk (Raven Prehistoric Casting Technique) offers many neat reproductions for sale, and this bronze age razor (13-1200 BCE) caught my eye. One can be yours for just 44€ – cheap all things considering. If I was into straights, I would be ordering one right now – but even if I’m not I can show of a shiny piece of workmanship.
Over at my favorite shaveforum, there is a short article on the how and why of horse hair brushes, by none less than the owner of Vie Long. A bit on the short side, but a good read.
Did I mention I love my Vie Long brushes?
Continuing from Tuesday; I’m still poking at the internet to figure out just how much cheaper traditional wetshaving can be, compared to cartridges, and I’ve found another article that takes shaving cream into account.
Caveat; it’s from a online retailer of shaving gear… so there will be a bias. The math is sound though, and his data on the longevity of carts is from the manufacturer.
Im getting ready to be on the Go for a short while, so I decided to re-evaluate what goes in the GoBag as far as shaving goes. As I mentioned before, part of the issue in my GoBag is space – or rather lack of space. If I put something in, something else have to come out… I have however replaced the liquid shampoo with a travel sized bar of Mike’s Natural Shampoo Bar, so there is some free space. Even so, there is not any huge changes since my last time on the Go:
I may or may not change things further… but for now, it’s a den away from the den.
I found and interesting post over at The Art of Manliness, going into some details on shaving and grooming across the world and across time.