I guess that either the last cart is wicked sharp… or the guy who made this simply forgets to buy new blades.
How long does a cart last?
Reply
Tag Archives: Thoughts while shaving
Bowl or face?
When you boil it down, there are two ways to build lather; in a bowl or on your face.
Both have pros and cons, but the main difference is the dreaded YMMV – different strokes for different folks, it comes down to what you prefer.
- Doing it in a bowl tends to minimize the variables, and lets you get a better grip of what’s going on.. if you need more or less water, more or less soap, more or less vigorous pumping etc, etc, etc.
- Doing it on your face lets you get the lather right into the follicles and gives you a nice little face massage as well… but can be messy if you’re brush is too wet.
For the most part I’m a bowl latherer through and through – so it’s kinda funny that this week have seen me use nothing but shave stick and face lathering…
To soak or not to soak…
…that is the question of traditional lather making.
There is a lot of talk about soaking: Should you do it? What brushes should you do it with? For how long? Hot, warm or cold water?
Personally I soak all my brushes, for about five to ten minutes, since then I have a consistent baseline to do a bit of contrast and compare. YMMV off course so if you are happy with just dunking yours in water before shaving, that is great as well.
Pondering shavettes
I am seriously considering dipping my toes in the pool of straight razors, despite the possibility of reenacting scenes right out of Sweeney Todd in my own bathroom. Just to be clear up front; I’m not planning to give up on DE-razors – just pondering the possibility of expanding my horizon a bit. With that in mind I’m looking at shavettes, in particular the ‘butterfly’ ones from Parker (SR-series).
I raised the issue in a thread on my favorite shave forum, and it seems shavettes is the redheaded stepchild of the shaving world… double so the cheaper ones. It is hard to make up ones mind on the suitability and quality of a razor when no one talks about it – even if the few and far between reviews I’ve found online seems generally favorable towards the Parkers shavettes.
One suggestion – from a fellow shaver I respect quite a bit – was that I should go full out and head straight for, er, straights; complete with the honing, stropping and the whole nine yards.
Another suggestion – again from shavers I respect – was to invest in a Feather SS shavette; which looks good, has raving reviews and costs five to eight times more than the Parkers.
As much as I want to “embrace the colourful ritual” (which is nice turn of phrase by the way) it’s impractical for me; perhaps when I’m retired I can devote that time, but as things stand now I can’t. It’s a bit of a bummer to realise that, admittedly.
I really cant justify spending a hundred US or more on a proper straight and strop, since even the cheapest option at Whipped Dog runs to 80USD for a straight and a strop – plus shipping and VAT. Double so when I don’t know if I’ll like it or not… By the same logic, I can’t justify spending that amount on a Feather SS either – at least not until I know I can use and get a good shave out of a shavette.
I guess that for now I keep pondering.
Things to remember about traditional wetshaving as a hobby
YMMV.
Experiment.
Find what works for you.
Experiment.
Find what works for you.
Experiment more.
Enjoy the journey.
Enjoy the journey.
Make mistakes, and learn from them.
Keep experimenting.
High end and bargain bin can be just as good.
Try a new soap / blade / brush / razor.
Try your very first soap / blade / brush / razor again.
Embrace your Acquisition Disorders – within reason.
Shaving is most enjoyable when it is about the process, not the goal.
Shaving is most enjoyable when it is about the process, not the goal.
Shave with a shirt?
There is a thread on my favourite shave forum, discussing if you should shave with your shirt on or off… seems like most traditional wetshavers are a bit messy and prefer shaving bare chested…
Bizarro Razor
After I switched to using a single blade – even if it has two edges – I’ve been somewhat puzzled as to why you would need 2, 3 or 8 blades. Recently I found this drawing which offer an explanation:
Mixing and matching
What happens if I use a shave stick on my face and some cream on the brush? I decided to find out:
Arko stick with…
- Arko Cool Mint: Lots of lather, good for shave, needs lots of water – and nice scent too.
- Dalen d’Men Energetic: Very dense, very thirsty. Subtle scent of menthol
- Derby Lavender: Very thirsty and dense – almost too dense – lather. No particular scent.
Derby stick with…
- Arko Cool Mint: thirsty, dense lather with a very noticeable citrus scent.
- Dalen d’Men Energetic: dense without being overly thirsty, noticeable but not too strong menthol scent.
- Derby Lavender: dense, rich lather, smelled mostly like soap. Took a bit of work to get going.
GzD stick with…
- Arko Cool Mint: Made for a dense, thirsty lather – seems like the scents cancelled each other out.
- Dalen d’Men Energetic: Dense without being overly thirsty – quite strong menthol scent and feel.
- Derby Lavender: Dense and thirsty lather, but surprisingly good glide and cushion.
Lea stick with…
- Arko Cool Mint: A thicker, denser lather than either product makes on their own.
- Dalen d’Men Energetic: Thick, somewhat thirsty. Sort of a soapy menthol scent.
- Derby Lavender: A thick, but not too dense, lather that smells mostly of soap.
Result? Encouraging – but I’m not the first to try this; after the experiment got under way I was rereading Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving where he describes the combination of shave stick and cream as “superlather”.
Just add another blade
Occam’s razor
Occam’s razor (also written as Ockham’s razor from William of Ockham, and in Latin lex parsimoniae) is a principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctness used in logic and problem-solving. It states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected.
The term “Occam’s razor” first appeared in 1852 in the works of Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet (1788–1856), centuries after William of Ockham’s death. Ockham did not invent this “razor”; its association with him may be due to the frequency and effectiveness with which he used it. Ockham stated the principle in various ways, but the most popular version “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity” was written by John Punch from Cork in 1639.
So what does a philosophic principle have to do with shaving? Read that last paragraph again, and pay extra attention to “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity”… in short, Occam’s Razor tells us that you’ll only really need one blade (straight, SE or DE) to shave; having two or more introduces needless complexity to the process.
