I have been shaving with a blade for over 50yrs, and did not realize that a once simple and easy task had evolved into something so elaborate and complex. Rules,standards, procedures, methods, rotations, disorders, technique, advanced technique, hardware, software, acronyms, videos and full time advocates. I guess I'll see how it shakes out.
From someone who's been at it for nearly 60 years, many things have gotten better over time (my tallow shave soap is FAR better than the
Rise shave foam I started on) despite the apparent over complicated nuances. One reason Shave My Face appeals so much to me is that
so many here are rooted in the simpler, more basic and traditional elements of wet shave blade shaving.
Check out the posts, for instance, on products like Williams shave soap, Palmolive Shave Stick, Brylcreem, Jeris, Wildroot and other
products from your 'formative" years (i.e., when we were all a lot younger)!
Not to say we aren't interested in "new things" to improve the quality of this ritual, but like me, many here tend to stick to more traditional
means and methods, the way you most likely remember fondly.
Your participation and input will make this site ever more inclusive and helpful!
Welcome Jack. It's about finding ways to add a bit of enjoyment to a routine grooming activity. Here's hoping you'll be able to uncover a few new ideas. It's good to have you among us.
Gary
SOTD 99%: soaps & creams, synthetic & badger brushes, General V2 by Colonial, Kai & Schick blades, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
It looks like I'm the junior poster here. I started (wet)shaving around 1967, but then I was something of a late bloomer. Until I joined these forums, I just shaved to get the job done. I didn't even have any sense that one could do a better job of it by applying a little skill. I suppose this is because no one taught me how to shave. I was just handed a razor, blades, and a can of shaving cream and told to go do it. When I switched from a Schick Injector to a Gillette Adjustable, I set the razor on a high/aggressive number, wondering why anyone would want anything but the closest shave. I didn't realize that my sensitive skin would have benefited from a milder setting. No wonder I found such an improvement in the Atra.
I had used a boar brush, shaving soap, and lathering cream before, but I had had no idea what to expect from them or what constituted good lather from these media. I assumed that it would be different from what came out of a can, but I didn't know how it would be. I learned that here through printed descriptions and videos.
Now I use a very mild razor (Gillette Tech or a Merkur Progress/"Mergress" on the lowest setting), one of the sharper blades, and I make a lather with maximal glide and minimal cushion to get just the right function and the best results for me. You undoubtedly have a lot of experience under your belt and you may already have all of this worked out to your satisfaction. Your participation and sharing of your experience here will be a welcome contribution.
Hey Jack, welcome aboard. What can I say other than we as a group share the human capacity for over complicating the simple with a determined refusal to leave well enough alone. Having fun doing it though.
I suppose other folks have pretty much written what I'm going to write.
First, welcome to the forum.
We exist to turn boredom and a shave "only when we look too unkempt to go out into public", into actual enjoyment. It's that simple. If anyone had ever told me 6 (?) years ago that I would enjoy shaving I'd have quite vociferously called them a liar. I hated shaving and did it only because after 3-4 days it began itching. At one point I considered using the hair cutter and keep a perpetual growth on my face.
Brian
Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite http://www.krampertsfinest.com/
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
Welcome to SMF, and I hope you find this to be an enjoyable and worthwhile place to hang out.
There's real satisfaction in doing anything with good technique. SMf can certainly step up one's technique. Also, there's a vast world of product out there, not sold in mass market outlets, and it's enormously helpful to exchange views about soaps, blades, etc. Finally, there are just inherently so many variables (water temp, razor angle, type of blade, water softness, soap brand, razor setting, razor pressure, length of stroke ... The list goes on and on). SMF can help work through all that.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it here. Stick around and be sure to join in often!
One of the beauties of this activity is that you can keep it simple or make it as complex or complicated as you want. Moreover, you can move from simple to complex or complicated and vice versa as your taste evolves. I like to dabble, experiment and try new things and wet shaving allows me to do this. There may come a point, however, when I'm satisfied and I move to the less complex end of the spectrum. I've been wet shaving for over 45 years, but it was only about 10 years ago that I ventured from simple and uncomplicated to being more adventurous. I think I've satiated my experimentation with razors and have moved back to using a Mach3 or Sensor, but I'm still exploring brushes, creams, soaps and aftershaves and don't see this ending soon.
you forget the complexity hasn't truly changed, what and how we do it has.
grandpa never used or bought exfoliating face pads, balms, special soaps. he never thought about that crap. why?
well when grandpa got up, hed rinse his face off, grab a somewhat coarse brush and make some lather. and lather his face up. lathering up did all the exfoliating crap for him.
think, 5 dollar badger brush, 2 dollar puck of shaving soap replaced by 7 dollar exfoliating face wash soaps and 8 dollar exfoliating pads. god, grandpa coulda bought a really nice badger back then... and a Gillette ..and 20 years worth of razor blades.
Grandpa also probably shaved on one day of the week if he was like most folks back then. That would have been Saturday night. Or he would have gone to "his" barber where the barber would have grabbed Granddad's mug from the wall to lather him up.
Brian
Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite http://www.krampertsfinest.com/
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
...[r]ules,standards, procedures, methods, rotations, disorders, technique, advanced technique, hardware, software, acronyms, videos and full time advocates...
Sex, for instance is pretty simple but labors under the same variables enumerated above. Our species seems to talk about sex at even greater depth and length than we talk here about shaving! I'll bet there are way more sex fora than on-line shaving communities. I could be wrong about that.
