Why?

harper · Post by **harper** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:13 am

Ouchmychin: that's one of the reasons I switched from soaps to shave creams years and years ago. I get just as much lather as I want. I also do not believe in whipped cream lather but I have no reason to rub the lather into my beard ... but each to his own.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:48 am

You got it in one Harper. Actually a brunette can become a blonde, I've seen it happen.

harper · Post by **harper** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:23 pm

Squire: I once had Clairol as a client and for a stunt I got a well-known brunette newspaper reporter to wear a blonde wig for two weeks and write about whether blondes do have more fun. She wrote that she did. I did not pursue the matter.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:45 pm

What we do in the pursuit of knowledge and scientific inquiry.

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:03 pm

I'm reminded of the Engineers' Triad: "Good, fast, cheap. Pick two."

Shavex & a cartridge: fast and good (enough).

DE and brush-and-soap: cheap and (very) good.

I find myself reaching for the Shavex maybe once a week. (But never with a DE. Nor brush-and-soap with a cartridge razor. Some weird sense of what's proper, I suppose.)

2clfrwrds · Post by **2clfrwrds** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:02 pm

Bargepole wrote:I'm reminded of the Engineers' Triad: "Good, fast, cheap. Pick two..."

Triads seem to apply in many industries. I'm a convention planner, and for me, it's "Dates, location, cheap. Pick two."

--Glenn

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:32 pm

Shavex appears to be back on the shelves again. It was almost non-existent about 2 years ago, right after I had bought a couple of tubs for the brushless shaving cream project. It reminds me somewhat of Ingram's Brushless in the green and white tube.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:24 pm

Bob, Yeessss....I'm a 'creature of habit' too ( I'm sure that it has NOTHING to do with my age! ) and I have my little routines as well, to which I am rather attached...sigh. Anyway, the thing about canned products is that they don't 'hold' any water, per se. The only wather involved is what remains on one's face after one has wetted it down ( which I too always tried to do thoroughly ) and that usually wasn't all that much compared with the water that a traditional cream like Trumpers can hold. For myself, I can feel the difference as I move the razor across my skin. With the wetter traditional product the blade seems to glide along more smoothly than with a canned product. Some of the newer gels approximate this smoothness but then, the cut isn't as close. At any rate, that's been my experiance. I'd probably use the traditional products regardless simply because I like the whole experiance better, but in addition, I do believe that they also give me a bit better shave.
Regards,
Gordon

defrank · Post by **defrank** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:29 am

Tried to use the atra trac 2 for the same amount of days i use a de ( about ten days) and it barely made it to day 6. With a de, i usually shave every other day. I used the cartridge every day, maybe because it wasn't giving me as close a shave? Also towards the end of the cartridge use, i noticed i was getting "bumps" around my chin (ingrown hairs?)
When i went back to the de, skin felt good, absolutely no irritation or razor burn. Looks like i'm back to the double edge.
I also couldn't resist buying some williams mug shaving soap. I have a vast collection of shaving creams from Truefitt and Hill, Proraso, Taylor of Bond Street, but the williams was so cheap, i figured what's the harm in adding to my lifetime supply of shaving cream / soap? It worked well, but i didn't enjoy it as my favorite T&H. I've even tried swirling my brush on a bar of ivory soap, and that works well too! I think it all works well, its just that i get bored with using the same thing and have to try something new once in a while...

Quarterstick · Post by **Quarterstick** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:05 am

Ultimately, personal experimentation is the only way to determine preferences. Glade you discovered what works.

I am also there with you on the itch to try new or different stuff. Fortunately, there are a lot of options to keep us entertained.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:41 pm

defrank wrote:. . . towards the end of the cartridge use, i noticed i was getting "bumps" around my chin (ingrown hairs?)
When i went back to the de, skin felt good, absolutely no irritation or razor burn. Looks like i'm back to the double edge.

. . . it all works well, its just that i get bored with using the same thing and have to try something new once in a while...

Defrank, when I use the Trac II, which is very rarely, I get ingrown hairs 100% of the time, after the 2nd or 3rd shave. Never fails. Then when I go back to the DE or SR, I have zero ingrowns.

You've got it pegged about getting bored with the same thing and needing to try something new/different occasionally. That's what makes it so cool! We do it because we can.

Raze R. Blade · Post by **Raze R. Blade** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:55 pm

defrank wrote:Tried to use the atra trac 2 for the same amount of days i use a de ( about ten days) and it barely made it to day 6. With a de, i usually shave every other day. I used the cartridge every day, maybe because it wasn't giving me as close a shave? Also towards the end of the cartridge use, i noticed i was getting "bumps" around my chin (ingrown hairs?)
When i went back to the de, skin felt good, absolutely no irritation or razor burn. Looks like i'm back to the double edge.
I also couldn't resist buying some williams mug shaving soap. I have a vast collection of shaving creams from Truefitt and Hill, Proraso, Taylor of Bond Street, but the williams was so cheap, i figured what's the harm in adding to my lifetime supply of shaving cream / soap? It worked well, but i didn't enjoy it as my favorite T&H. I've even tried swirling my brush on a bar of ivory soap, and that works well too! I think it all works well, its just that i get bored with using the same thing and have to try something new once in a while...

You had better results with the Atra than I did. Gillette was giving out free handles with one cartridge back when I was in college, so I grabbed one. The shaves were not anywhere near as good as with the Trac II, and were rather rough and irritating. After two days the Atra got chucked in the trash.

I got reasonably good shaves for 30 years with a Gillette Trac II and goo in a can. Very occasionally, with a particular store brand cartridge and high-quality creams, the shaves were stellar - utterly BBS and zero irritation. The problem was that Trac II cartridge availability was spotty for some time, with the stellar cartridges particularly elusive. They may have been discontinued a few years ago, as I have not seen them in quite some time.

In your original post, you asked why you should continue with double edge shaving. In my opinion, it is because it is possible to get better shaves from a safety razor than from a cartridge razor, and at a lower cost. The reason is the number of blade brands/types available vs. the number of cartridge brands. With a Trac II, there are typically two cartridges options: Gillette and store brand (seems to be ASR made). In marked contrast, there are about 80 different blades available for safety razors. Your chances of finding just the right razor-blade combination are much greater with double edge blades. Rather than buy 100 of the same blade, why not buy single packs of 10 or 12 different blades? You can put together a do-it-yourself sampler and go from there. When you find the blades that work best, then ordering larger quantities makes sense.

There is also the issue of cost. Double edge blades are usually the least expensive in most stores, and far less inexpensive online. Trac II cartridges are getting ever more costly, and don't seem to be discounted much online.

Just my 2 cents. I hope you find a solution that gives consistently great shaves.

SMF

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