07-02-2021, 12:24 PM
Here's my beef: there are TOO MANY options in this wet shaving world!
I buy an old Super-Speed for a buck and use it one day when my Norelco is dead... I'd failed to charge it up. That leads to styptic pencils and alum. That leads to canned foam. That leads to soap and brush. That leads to aftershave balms. That leads to a variety of smelly cologne-ey scents. And the next thing you know, I'm sucked into a world with a baffling array of bewildering options and arcane niches to explore!
Soaps, creams, sticks, powders, etc. I probably won't LIVE long enough to try them all. Heck, I probably won't live long enough to figure out how to lather the cream, let alone the more complicated hard soaps and sticks! Then there's the face lather, bowl lather, palm lather. And which ones must be "bloomed" and which are best just wetted? It's bloomin' crazy to consider the differences between them all, from hard to soft and stick to cream. It puts me in a lather just CONSIDERING the bamboozling options!
Brushes. Who KNEW they came in badger, boar, horse, and synthetic? And variations and blends as well! Then there are subcategories of silvertip and horse tail versus mane. With substantial performance differences depending on height, loft, and other fancy new vocabulary words. And the virtues of synthetic handles versus wood. And the "dunk 'em" versus the "Oh No! Only get them 50% wet" schools of thought.
And the aftershave balms. Tons to try, and they all seem to come in gallon sizes. To try a few different options, I've accidentally laid in enough aftershave balms to equip a battalion with balms and aftershave lotions for a decade, at least! (I had to tell my wife I was a prepper now and had to have enough aftershaves to "live off the grid" in case civilization crumbles and I can't find aftershave balm online anymore.)
Razors. Why did I decide that it'd be fun to try a different razor? Just a few months ago, I owned two. A buddy kit I never used the old $1 Super-Speed. Now I have eight... EIGHT... razors. And one more on the way from fleabay (because I thought I needed a Flare Tip, though I have no Earthly idea WHY). What kind of odd obsession IS this anyway? Why are old Gillettes, travel razors, and olde tyme shaving kits so interesting?
Blades. Another confusing world of chaos. This one's sharp, but only for its first shave, that one's sharper after its 3rd shave, and the teflon-ceramic coating isn't as effective as the polymer-kryptonite coating of the competitor. And even though the blades have the same name, one's made in India, imported to China, then sold in America, while the other one (of the same name) comes from Germany. And the differences between the Russian, Turkish, and Japanese manufacture of blades, each carrying considerations warranting careful analysis upon which weighty decisions must be made in order to optimize a particular razor's performance. And within a manufacturer there are "good" and "bad" blades, so knowing not only make, but model, of each razor blade becomes a consideration of enormous importance.
Why are there so many darned options in this wet shaving world? And why does each niche have a bazillion SUB-niches to explore? And why did WeiganWarrior get me interested in looking up old patents and razor history trivia? Why is it fascinating?
And is there help for those of us newly lost in this Wet Shaving lunacy that will get us to return to the innocent, simpler time, like it was "back in the old days" when all you needed was a Norelco electric razor with a full charge... and shaving was a morning duty that took a minute (two, tops), rather than a long, drawn-out process of whipping up foamy concoctions to spread across my manly chin with a soothing warm brush, followed by a satisfying close shave with a 70-year old antique DE razor... and ENJOYING it? Since when were we supposed to ENJOY shaving before getting out the door?
It's lunacy, I tell you... LUNACY!
Sheesh!
None of this would have happened if I'd just kept that darned Norelco charged up...
There's my complaint.
- Lunatic Bax
I buy an old Super-Speed for a buck and use it one day when my Norelco is dead... I'd failed to charge it up. That leads to styptic pencils and alum. That leads to canned foam. That leads to soap and brush. That leads to aftershave balms. That leads to a variety of smelly cologne-ey scents. And the next thing you know, I'm sucked into a world with a baffling array of bewildering options and arcane niches to explore!
Soaps, creams, sticks, powders, etc. I probably won't LIVE long enough to try them all. Heck, I probably won't live long enough to figure out how to lather the cream, let alone the more complicated hard soaps and sticks! Then there's the face lather, bowl lather, palm lather. And which ones must be "bloomed" and which are best just wetted? It's bloomin' crazy to consider the differences between them all, from hard to soft and stick to cream. It puts me in a lather just CONSIDERING the bamboozling options!
Brushes. Who KNEW they came in badger, boar, horse, and synthetic? And variations and blends as well! Then there are subcategories of silvertip and horse tail versus mane. With substantial performance differences depending on height, loft, and other fancy new vocabulary words. And the virtues of synthetic handles versus wood. And the "dunk 'em" versus the "Oh No! Only get them 50% wet" schools of thought.
And the aftershave balms. Tons to try, and they all seem to come in gallon sizes. To try a few different options, I've accidentally laid in enough aftershave balms to equip a battalion with balms and aftershave lotions for a decade, at least! (I had to tell my wife I was a prepper now and had to have enough aftershaves to "live off the grid" in case civilization crumbles and I can't find aftershave balm online anymore.)
Razors. Why did I decide that it'd be fun to try a different razor? Just a few months ago, I owned two. A buddy kit I never used the old $1 Super-Speed. Now I have eight... EIGHT... razors. And one more on the way from fleabay (because I thought I needed a Flare Tip, though I have no Earthly idea WHY). What kind of odd obsession IS this anyway? Why are old Gillettes, travel razors, and olde tyme shaving kits so interesting?
Blades. Another confusing world of chaos. This one's sharp, but only for its first shave, that one's sharper after its 3rd shave, and the teflon-ceramic coating isn't as effective as the polymer-kryptonite coating of the competitor. And even though the blades have the same name, one's made in India, imported to China, then sold in America, while the other one (of the same name) comes from Germany. And the differences between the Russian, Turkish, and Japanese manufacture of blades, each carrying considerations warranting careful analysis upon which weighty decisions must be made in order to optimize a particular razor's performance. And within a manufacturer there are "good" and "bad" blades, so knowing not only make, but model, of each razor blade becomes a consideration of enormous importance.
Why are there so many darned options in this wet shaving world? And why does each niche have a bazillion SUB-niches to explore? And why did WeiganWarrior get me interested in looking up old patents and razor history trivia? Why is it fascinating?
And is there help for those of us newly lost in this Wet Shaving lunacy that will get us to return to the innocent, simpler time, like it was "back in the old days" when all you needed was a Norelco electric razor with a full charge... and shaving was a morning duty that took a minute (two, tops), rather than a long, drawn-out process of whipping up foamy concoctions to spread across my manly chin with a soothing warm brush, followed by a satisfying close shave with a 70-year old antique DE razor... and ENJOYING it? Since when were we supposed to ENJOY shaving before getting out the door?
It's lunacy, I tell you... LUNACY!
Sheesh!
None of this would have happened if I'd just kept that darned Norelco charged up...
There's my complaint.
- Lunatic Bax
07-02-2021, 12:59 PM
(07-02-2021, 12:24 PM)Bax Wrote: Now I have eight... EIGHT... razors. And one more on the way from fleabay (because I thought I needed a Flare Tip, though I have no Earthly idea WHY).
....lightweight
Current rotation is, hmm, pared down to sixteen. A couple I have as spares. The one I keep at work. Two in Khaki Kit (original WW1 one and a modern reproduction with a Yaqi). Half a dozen or so I PIFed away. And the Laurel Ladies Boudoir Razor which I'll probably never find new blades for.
Just wait until you find out about injectors and other single edged fun
07-03-2021, 01:03 PM
Well, yes & no .. not sure whether all the options were spawned by the interweb discussions, or what, I'm just an old dude having fun shaving - and I started "wet shaving" cir ca 1962 I think. Over a decade ago I got pissed off because the Fusion carts at the drug store were locked, which took a search for something better .. down the rabbit hole. It is fun, much more pleasant than dragging a cart & smelling the same old Barbasol .. in my case no Norelco ever worked to give me even a SAS, let alone the BBS I regularly achieve now.
And I once werked with a guy who went by "Bax", but he'd be pretty old now
And I once werked with a guy who went by "Bax", but he'd be pretty old now
07-03-2021, 07:12 PM
(07-03-2021, 01:03 PM)garyg Wrote: Well, yes & no .. not sure whether all the options were spawned by the interweb discussions, or what, I'm just an old dude having fun shaving - and I started "wet shaving" cir ca 1962 I think. Over a decade ago I got pissed off because the Fusion carts at the drug store were locked, which took a search for something better .. down the rabbit hole. It is fun, much more pleasant than dragging a cart & smelling the same old Barbasol .. in my case no Norelco ever worked to give me even a SAS, let alone the BBS I regularly achieve now.
And I once werked with a guy who went by "Bax", but he'd be pretty old now
SAS, somewhat acceptable shave, Gary?
07-04-2021, 03:52 AM
(07-03-2021, 07:12 PM)chazt Wrote:(07-03-2021, 01:03 PM)garyg Wrote: Well, yes & no .. not sure whether all the options were spawned by the interweb discussions, or what, I'm just an old dude having fun shaving - and I started "wet shaving" cir ca 1962 I think. Over a decade ago I got pissed off because the Fusion carts at the drug store were locked, which took a search for something better .. down the rabbit hole. It is fun, much more pleasant than dragging a cart & smelling the same old Barbasol .. in my case no Norelco ever worked to give me even a SAS, let alone the BBS I regularly achieve now.
And I once werked with a guy who went by "Bax", but he'd be pretty old now
SAS, somewhat acceptable shave, Gary?
Socially or somewhat acceptable - no electric, (and I have tried them on several occasions stretching back decades) has ever given me anything close to a DFS, let alone BBS ..
07-04-2021, 04:42 AM
I had to look them up with DuckDuckGo.
BBS - baby bottom shave. Smooth with no discernible stumble no matter which way you feel it.
DFS - damned fine shave. Not as good as a baby bottom but close!
CCS - close comfortable shave, near as I can tell, is the same thing as a DFS for people who don't want to use words like "damn" that will make their sweetie scowl at them.
SAS - socially acceptable shave would be a quick one you give yourself on the way out the door in the morning if you're running late. Probably nobody will notice, but at that one important moment when the intoxicating moonlight is making your lovely date swoon, and she transforms from demure to tigress... and rests her hand on your cheek, it'll probably ruin the magic of the moment.
But what do I know? I'm new here.
- Bax
BBS - baby bottom shave. Smooth with no discernible stumble no matter which way you feel it.
DFS - damned fine shave. Not as good as a baby bottom but close!
CCS - close comfortable shave, near as I can tell, is the same thing as a DFS for people who don't want to use words like "damn" that will make their sweetie scowl at them.
SAS - socially acceptable shave would be a quick one you give yourself on the way out the door in the morning if you're running late. Probably nobody will notice, but at that one important moment when the intoxicating moonlight is making your lovely date swoon, and she transforms from demure to tigress... and rests her hand on your cheek, it'll probably ruin the magic of the moment.
But what do I know? I'm new here.
- Bax
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