A Close Shave

[Dinosaur]

Absolutely nothing to do with golf but.....

 

I recently purchased an old fashioned double edge razor online, went to Rite Aid and found a mug and soap and Boar Bristle Brush. Unbelievably closest shave I have had in years and the experience itself most relaxing. Its a ritual and feels just so good! About the only thing that might be even remotely related to golfing, would be starting out feeling good, maybe the breeze flowing across bare skin, or the bathing your face in the afternoon sun. A lot to be said for the euphoric feeling and that in of itself *might" help in having a better than usual round. Cost is an advantage also. Double edge blades (if you can find them) are a lot less expensive than the new 5 blade fusions etc. Actual shaving soap or cream is better than the modern gels or foams too, not to mention "going green" with not having a can to dispose of.

 

Ok...done!

[dan360]

I don't always have time in the morning for a hot soap shave, but when I do.......

[Wriggles]

I saw that commercial on TV regarding the double edge retro razor. Prompted me to look for my Dad's old Gillette (I don't know why I kept it), I remember he bought it in 1958. He used it until around 1972, when I was in the service. When I was in the Army hospital, they gave us Schick injectors, had a few and gave a couple to my Dad. I was then shaving with a Gillette Techmatic, the worst razor in the world.

I guess the injectors went out sometime in the 1980's, so Dad and I went with Schick double blade disposibles. I've used them ever since, along with the cheap canned foam. Works pretty well.

Will have to look for the regular shaving soap, brush, and the double edge blades, just for nostalgia. Like everything else, probably costs an arm and a leg. Years ago, the brush and soap cost less than a dollar total.

A story, a few years before my Dad died, I had to take him to the ER. We were in the ER, where the nurses were checking him over. He hadn't shaved for 4 or 5 days, so he looked pretty scruffy. The nurse tells him he needs a shave, where he promptly tells her that I brought him to the ER and wouldn't let him shave.

When I think of Dad that day, I think of the movie, The Dirty Dozen, when Major Reisman asks, "Who is refusing to shave?"

Shave well!

[ping rat]

welcome to the club. I have been wet shaving for a few years now and you can't beat it in terms of closeness and keeping your skin in good shape. I use a mekkur with Astra blades and a Baxter silver badger brush, you may want to try the Probraso product line of soaps and creams they are excellent and not to expensive, there's a lot of sites that sell the products don't get sucked in to The Art of Shaving's products they are over priced and mediocre at best. modern multi blade razors are nothing but hype and don't get nearly as close no matter how many blades they have and after a couple of weeks you will be just as fast with wet shaving as you were with a multi blade and can of foam.

[esketores]

A couple years ago I went a quest. A shaving quest. Spent quite a bit of $$$.
The end results...
Jack Black Bread Lube.
Schick Hydro 5 disposables. And these came about purely by happenstance. Was at an Energized plant (Energizer owns Schick) and the plant manager gave me a pack telling me I'd not be sorry.

[Dinosaur]

[quote name='ping rat' timestamp='1398513479' post='9174497']
welcome to the club. I have been wet shaving for a few years now and you can't beat it in terms of closeness and keeping your skin in good shape. I use a mekkur with Astra blades and a Baxter silver badger brush, you may want to try the Probraso product line of soaps and creams they are excellent and not to expensive, there's a lot of sites that sell the products don't get sucked in to The Art of Shaving's products they are over priced and mediocre at best. modern multi blade razors are nothing but hype and don't get nearly as close no matter how many blades they have and after a couple of weeks you will be just as fast with wet shaving as you were with a multi blade and can of foam.
[/quote]

Yep, I also researched a little online and saw the Mekkur and others. The initial investment can be a little higher, but then its economical. I went ahead and got that one as advertised on TV, but you can also find the old Gillettes on ebay for only a few dollars. I seem to recall having seen Wilson Sword Blades at some of the pharmacy stores. I might take a look at the mall locally as I saw there was a specialty store and I want to get a Badger. I was surprised to see how much the mugs cost. I found a cheap set at Rite Aid, but you could simply find an expresso mug at a 99c store I imagine.

[gambit]

[quote name='ping rat' timestamp='1398513479' post='9174497']
welcome to the club. I have been wet shaving for a few years now and you can't beat it in terms of closeness and keeping your skin in good shape. I use a mekkur with Astra blades and a Baxter silver badger brush, you may want to try the Probraso product line of soaps and creams they are excellent and not to expensive, there's a lot of sites that sell the products don't get sucked in to The Art of Shaving's products they are over priced and mediocre at best. modern multi blade razors are nothing but hype and don't get nearly as close no matter how many blades they have and after a couple of weeks you will be just as fast with wet shaving as you were with a multi blade and can of foam.
[/quote]

I use a Merkur Progressor and Feather blades. Love it. I actually like the Art of Shaving creams, oils, aftershave. Haven't true the soaps though. I will say I don't like their brush. They have great customer service and I've exchanged 3 of them because the hairs were coming out too much within a couple of months after purchase. I ended up getting my money back and wasn't given a hassle about it.

[Ogre41]

I recently switched to the Harry's razor. This has honestly been the best for me. I shave my face and head every morning. I tried all of the Gillettes and Schicks and they were just too high. Gave Dollar Shave Club a chance and these were awesome until I started shaving my head. Then, they were a bit harsh. I actually found a solid badger brush from Vitamin Shoppe for 10 bucks. As for the soaps, I tried the Williams soaps for a buck and they were horrible. The Vanderhagen soaps from Wally World and such worked pretty well. I tried the Bigelow Eucalyptus stuff made by Proraso and while the lather was great, the cooling sensation defeated the purpose of a warm wet shave. I tried the Proraso Sandalwood as well and wasn't really thrilled with it. My favorite cream is the Taylor or Old Bond Street. It really has no equal for me. It's 15 a tub, but that tub lasts a couple months. I've heard great things about Dreadnought and the Art of Shaving stuff. But I haven't seen a need to switch from the Taylor and Harry combo. The Harry's blades are 2 bucks a piece at their most expensive. I bought 16 for $25 shipped.

[mtgrizinmn]

I started using the merkur heavy safety razor about 3 months ago, and absolutely love shaving now. I use the Art of Shaving pre-shave oil, cream and balm. Don't think I'll ever go back to the space age type razors. I've also noticed a closer shave and way less irritation.

[Graymulligan]

I have a beautiful "proper" razor that used to by my uncle's, and it's an amazing shave when I use it. However, being a guy who shaves me head, it usually is my Panasonic electric on the weekdays. The blade just takes too long, and I hate to get up early just to shave.

[highergr0und]

dollar shave club 4x blade. just dump a blade a week or so. Works plenty well for me.

[dirtyric]

Going on 3 years this july for wet shaving. I suffer from really bad ingrown hairs and I find it helps out a lot. I suggest you get on one of the two major shaving forums. Tons of information. I use older Gilletes DE razors from the 50's and on the weekend I will use my straight razor...

[MiniJ83]

Badgerandblade.com

The shaving equivalent to golfwrx. Enjoy!

[Dinosaur]

[quote name='dirtyric' timestamp='1398577298' post='9179387']
Going on 3 years this july for wet shaving. I suffer from really bad ingrown hairs and I find it helps out a lot. I suggest you get on one of the two major shaving forums. Tons of information. I use older Gilletes DE razors from the 50's and on the weekend I will use my straight razor...
[/quote]

well, while I enjoy it, not enough to pursue a forum. What little I have bothered to explore, provides me with ample insight.

[dirtyric]

Well if your looking to expand, you should check them out. If you enjoy the shave now with a cheap soap and lower end boar brush, you will really enjoy a upgraded soap and brush...

[Dinosaur]

[quote name='dirtyric' timestamp='1398636297' post='9182585']
Well if your looking to expand, you should check them out. If you enjoy the shave now with a cheap soap and lower end boar brush, you will really enjoy a upgraded soap and brush...
[/quote]

Okay, thanks can't hurt to look into them. May I have the URL's ?

[bscinstnct]

I use

Gillette disposable, 2 blade with aloe strip and gillette shaving cream. I think these are fine. Key is

Shave after shower, get the cream into the beard, go with the grain, angle blades away from skin. Don't scrape your face with the razor. Then

Use some toner. Lightly one day, then rub with cotton ball on whole face every few days. Really cleans your face. Depends on your skin, I can use some nutrogena toner with alcohol since I have oily skin but this may be bad for some, you may need more soothing.

[Swoosh-Thud]

When I don't have a full beard I use modern razors.

However, I've been using a silver tip badger shaving brush (Muhle set) and soap (I prefer lavender) for nearly 2 decades. Nothing beats a hot lather.

[moneytalks]

Wet shaving is the way to go. Just watch for a lot of bleeding on bottom chin

[bigred90gt]

[quote name='ping rat' timestamp='1398513479' post='9174497']
welcome to the club. I have been wet shaving for a few years now and you can't beat it in terms of closeness and keeping your skin in good shape. I use a mekkur with Astra blades and a Baxter silver badger brush, you may want to try the Probraso product line of soaps and creams they are excellent and not to expensive, there's a lot of sites that sell the products don't get sucked in to The Art of Shaving's products they are over priced and mediocre at best. modern multi blade razors are nothing but hype and don't get nearly as close no matter how many blades they have and after a couple of weeks you will be just as fast with wet shaving as you were with a multi blade and can of foam.
[/quote]

I use the same razor/blade set up for mine. I have an Edwin Jagger badger brush, but started lathering directly on my neck (I have a beard so only shave my neck these days) with my hands. I find that massaging the shave cream in with some hot water softens the hair a bit more and I get a closer shave.

Regarding the Proraso cream, if you have a Bath & Body Works near you, go there and get the C.O. Bigelow cream. It is the same thing as Proraso (made by Proraso for Bigelow and packaged in a tube with Bigelow branding). It is $5 for the small tube and $10 for the large. I bought 3 of the large tubes for $20 (were running a buy 2 get one free, which incidentally they were also running this weekend) 2 years ago. I just opened my second one, and I shave 2-3 times a week.

Www.classicshaving.com has great products. May not be the cheapest, I don't know as I've never shopped anywhere else, but they have a great selection. I just put in another order for some more blades, proraso afterahave, and a bottle of Fine Classic Aftershave - Snakebite. Never used the snakebite, but the description was intriguing.

[mshills]

One major thing that sucks about business travel is having to leave the real shave kit at home, thanks to our crack anti-terrorist, former pizza delivery driver TSA "officers."

When home, I like to use a mid-1950s Gilette red tip with either Gilette Blue or Feather blades. Proraso shave cream, a Simpson brush, an alum block, and bay rum aftershave. Shaving takes a little while, but it actually feels good, and there's no way I've found to get equal results.

It's probably cheaper in the long run -- after the initial outlay (for the brush in particular), the savings come. Cartridges are costly, and I can only get a couple shaves out of them before they start pulling, grabbing, burning, and just tearing my face up.

[Barto78]

I would love to move to a premium old school razor, but i have to shave both with and against the grain to get a close shave. How often do you guys cut yourself when you use a Merkur or similar style razor?

[dirtyric]

Sorry about the late response, have not been on in a few days. The best forum I have found is http://www.badgerandblade.com/

You don't have to get all that involved in it, but it has a great search function and tons of info available.

[dirtyric]

I would love to move to a premium old school razor, but i have to shave both with and against the grain to get a close shave. How often do you guys cut yourself when you use a Merkur or similar style razor?

 

Just like any razor you can, so a slight learning curve is involved. But they are saftey razors and should provide plenty of relief so you don't cut your self. I cannot shave against the grain, but after a few weeks of getting use to the new method you shouldnt reall cut your self. Merkur makes some good modern style double edged safety razors for good prices. Aprox $20 to $50 in price and the blade cost next to nothing compared to modern 3 or 4 blade razors. You can purchase a 10 pack or double edge blades for say $3 dollars and get aprox 30 to 50 shaves from them.

 

Also a bunch of great shaving creams and brushes can be hand for next to nothing. A tube of cream can cost around $10 and last atleast 6 months. Below is a picture of one of my many setups I use, this is a summer setup for when it's hot out.

 

[Dinosaur]

Hardest part for me was to find shaving soap. Its practically non existent in the stores. I sometimes can find Van der Hagen at a Rite Aid or Walmart, but usually they have only one or two in stock. I only today ordered some Colonel Conk soap online at Amazon since I had some credits. DE blades are also hard to find, but I did find one of the 99c stores carried some Personna blades. I was skeptical at first, but tried one and it was fine. I may try out the cream mentioned available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I don't know if you are supposed to lather it up in a bowl, or just rub into the skin directly. I noticed that some of the "shaving" sites online had minimum orders of $10. Maybe when I want to upgrade to a badger brush, I may do that. Right now the old boars hair works okay.

anyway, sure am liking wet shaving.

[dirtyric]

The cream at Bed Bath and Beyond is very good, it's made by Proraso for C.O. Bigelow. A large tube will last at least 6 months. The personna blades are good quality and can be found at most stores.

[6thFairway]

[quote name='Dinosaur' timestamp='1399495886' post='9252285']
Hardest part for me was to find shaving soap. Its practically non existent in the stores. I sometimes can find Van der Hagen at a Rite Aid or Walmart, but usually they have only one or two in stock. I only today ordered some Colonel Conk soap online at Amazon since I had some credits. DE blades are also hard to find, but I did find one of the 99c stores carried some Personna blades. I was skeptical at first, but tried one and it was fine. I may try out the cream mentioned available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I don't know if you are supposed to lather it up in a bowl, or just rub into the skin directly. I noticed that some of the "shaving" sites online had minimum orders of $10. Maybe when I want to upgrade to a badger brush, I may do that. Right now the old boars hair works okay.

anyway, sure am liking wet shaving.
[/quote]

The thing about being skeptical (and I totally understand) is that this is the stuff our grandparent's used. It's not like it requires new technology to make shaving soap and DE blades. Even the "bad" ones can be pretty good.

[dcmidnight]

I have a shaggy beard so take the following for what its worth. But I still shave/trim once a week and went to a double edge Parker six months ago. Its really incredible. The 100 pack of double edge safety blades was $11 on Amazon. Took a bit of practice to get used to the right angle but after that its definitely far closer than the Fusion blades.

The shaving cream I use is Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream. Had never heard of it but someone pointed me to it on Amazon - fantastic stuff.

[Dinosaur]

haha...maybe we can't play worth a s**t, but at least we look good!

[bmc1979]

[quote name='Dinosaur' timestamp='1399495886' post='9252285']
Hardest part for me was to find shaving soap. Its practically non existent in the stores. I sometimes can find Van der Hagen at a Rite Aid or Walmart, but usually they have only one or two in stock. I only today ordered some Colonel Conk soap online at Amazon since I had some credits. DE blades are also hard to find, but I did find one of the 99c stores carried some Personna blades. I was skeptical at first, but tried one and it was fine. I may try out the cream mentioned available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I don't know if you are supposed to lather it up in a bowl, or just rub into the skin directly. I noticed that some of the "shaving" sites online had minimum orders of $10. Maybe when I want to upgrade to a badger brush, I may do that. Right now the old boars hair works okay.

anyway, sure am liking wet shaving.
[/quote]

I've been wet shaving for 4 years now. Have 9 old Gillette DE razors I rotate through plus a few straights that don't get used nearly as much as they probably should and are more for show now. Like others have said, Proraso is a good Italian shaving cream that can be easily found and works very well. Good lather, nice clean smell. Try it if you can find it. Also, Bath and Body Works Macca Root shave cream is a favorite of mine and they also have a couple of nice aftershaves if you're looking for that as well. All soaps and creams can be lathered in a bowl or directly on your face. That just comes down to preference. The key is not to add too much water too fast (literally drops from your fingers) when bowl lathering and with face lathering, just continue to dip the tips into some water when the lather feels dry until you get it worked up to a point that works best for you. Also, don't be afraid of using a little more product to get a good lather. Too little soap/cream or too much water is a lather killer.