SMF

As my profile will attest, I started wet shaving over 10 years ago (the same time I started my account here). I've stayed "in the groove" to varying degrees over the years but always had the sense that I still wasn't doing something quite right. The shaves were never as close as I got with a cartridge and I always ended up way more cut up after using a safety razor.

The problem, of course, was user technique.

Over the weekend I stuck a new Derby Extra into my Parker 90R to take another pass. I took my time in beard prep, took my time lathering, took my time on the shave itself. And, most importantly, I let the razor do the work, with the goal of reducing stubble with each pass rather than wishing I could get it all off in one go.

What was the result? If not BBS, then pretty damn close. That was a delight in itself. But then in bed that night -- a good 13-14 hours later -- I happened to reach up and put my hand on my face, and noticed I didn't have anything growing back nearly to the same extent as I would with a cartridge. This was a shave that literally lasted all day. I don't know what combination of things came together to relax me enough to slow down, take short strokes, and let the razor do the work, but was effective.

So here I am, a decade after starting, and NOW I get it!

Hi Mike! It's great to see you back here. It's inspiring to hear that you found your own best shaves ever!

ditto on what Gary said

Moments like that remind me of Caravaggio's painting of Saul/St. Paul in "The Conversion on the Way to Damascus".


After a few years of trying more and more aggressive razors, I found that I got better results with milder razors.
And by using lots more soap to make the lather.

Nice choice in Renaissance artists - Caravaggio is one of my favourites, and his mastery of chiaroscuro (“light and dark”) is something I try to incorporate into my photography.

Man, talk about a long train of follow ups that riff in many different directions