I get it -- just now!

[maskaggs]

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!

[brothers]

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

[fallingwickets]

ditto on what Gary said

[John Rose]

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.

[Bill_K]

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.

[maskaggs]

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