Anyone start Safety or Straight shaving just because??
- Thread starter smarks
- Start date
I started because I wanted a closer shave. I always thought that the Gillette Fusion have the closest shave, but when I started realizing the shaving was not that close, I looked into alternatives and found DE shaving.
Yeah I'm pretty much of a "just because" guy.
I got very little irritation with a cartridge. I've posted here before that one of the main reasons to switch was the price of a cartridge, but to be honest I didn't use them that much, only when the weather was hot and sticky, otherwise I was fine with an electric. Plus everyone here knows that price isn't a real reason to switch to safety razors when you buy 40+ of them and hundreds of blades anyway.
So it's a "just because" answer for me, because I like having vintage safety razors and trying different things (the whole safety razor thing and trying new razors with new blades)
I got very little irritation with a cartridge. I've posted here before that one of the main reasons to switch was the price of a cartridge, but to be honest I didn't use them that much, only when the weather was hot and sticky, otherwise I was fine with an electric. Plus everyone here knows that price isn't a real reason to switch to safety razors when you buy 40+ of them and hundreds of blades anyway.
So it's a "just because" answer for me, because I like having vintage safety razors and trying different things (the whole safety razor thing and trying new razors with new blades)
I had gotten tired of my 5 o'clock shadow with my Remington Electric and I had a 1930's Gillette DE Razor just laying around looking pretty. One day I was checking out my Shave Den stash and found my mug and brush my parents bought me from Sears back in 1978. A guy at another site gave me the link to B&B and raved about the joys of a DE shave. Like many shaving had got to be another morning chore. So I came over watched the video's went out picked up some DE razors and started shaving like Grandpa.
The selling point for the me is the comfort, quality of the shave. Plus it does help the Earth and cuts down on filling our landfills.
The selling point for the me is the comfort, quality of the shave. Plus it does help the Earth and cuts down on filling our landfills.
I was on another forum and stumbled across a thread that asked the members what they shave with. Almost every member in the forum mentioned a DE razor. So, then I asked some specific questions and a member referred me to this site. At first I thought "Gee, thanks, but I don't think I'm going to be that addicted to it like these guys seem to be." A week later, I was already ordering my first DE razor from a vintage safety razor website and now I'm looking to order another one, as well as a Merkur set, so I can tell I'm already hooked and I haven't even had my first DE shave yet!
Also, I just think it is going to be a cool concept to shave every day or every other day with a razor that is older than my own mother! Any guy aged 18-35 can shave with the newest, highest-bladed Gillette creation that costs $11.99 and $23.99 for 4 refill blades....but not many of my friends have even heard of the term "safety razor".
So, a little of it is "just because" and for the novelty and "coolness" of it, but some of it is also the fact that I'm looking for a closer shave too.
Also, I just think it is going to be a cool concept to shave every day or every other day with a razor that is older than my own mother! Any guy aged 18-35 can shave with the newest, highest-bladed Gillette creation that costs $11.99 and $23.99 for 4 refill blades....but not many of my friends have even heard of the term "safety razor".
So, a little of it is "just because" and for the novelty and "coolness" of it, but some of it is also the fact that I'm looking for a closer shave too.
I get shaving bumps really badly, so I had abeard for a lot of years.
I ran across the wet-shave world through Art of Manliness, and started shaving with a Feather razor and WalMart Personna blades. That was far better than cartridges, and so I shaved in the summer last year. this Spring I had started buying vintage Gillettes and then started straight shaving "just because".
Another 'just because' here.
Mostly electric shaver, once a week with a mach3, hated shaving. I wanted to pick up a brush and soap because it seemed cool and manly. Didn't know where to find the stuff locally, so went looking on the internet. I stumbled on B&B, and decided to try a DE and wetshaving. I'm loving it.
Mostly electric shaver, once a week with a mach3, hated shaving. I wanted to pick up a brush and soap because it seemed cool and manly. Didn't know where to find the stuff locally, so went looking on the internet. I stumbled on B&B, and decided to try a DE and wetshaving. I'm loving it.
+1just because i had tried everything else with marginal results.
Then stumbled on b&b and wondered how i could of overlooked safety razors for so long.
I now get consistantly good shaves!
I've been interested in shaving properly since I started shaving. So I started looking into straights, but my brother informed me on his plan to switch to a safety razor because he was having irritation problems, and I balked at it. However, I decided that it was probably the better way to go (for now), and as is such, I am currently on the way to getting my first DE razor. I currently use a M3 disposable (I have a fusion, but it's so hard to find blades for it at a reasonable price, without buying a new handle), which is... well.. crap. I get a decent enough shave, but I find that my skin is a bit rough afterwards. Even switching to a shaving soap, I find my skin is smoother, but there's more stubble left behind. I'm anxiously awaiting my first DE to take my shave to yet another level of awesome.
Just because. Because it kills me to pay $32 for a box of Sensor Excel cartrdges that get tossed in the trash. I started by getting a Merkur DE on ebay for $9 plus a couple of 20 count boxes of blades for $4 each. Used those for about a year and then decided to try a straight razor. Now I have a nice collection of vintage (100-200 year old) straight razors that cost me about 2 years worth of cartridges, and these can be handed down to others or...if the world came to an end and the zombies started to come after us...they could be sold!
My very first razor was an electric, which I never really liked, because it always left a lot of stubble, which I could feel. I then switched to a Mach 3 and used that for most of college, until I "upgraded" to the Fusion. I hated the fact that blades were so expensive (and thus, being a poor college kid, I used them for way too long). I could, however, get a decent, close shave, but at the cost of irritation and pain under my chin. But I dealt with it, because I didn't know better.
Finally, after looking into it, I decided to go to a DE razor, and although it's only been a week, I'm loving it. I get a clean, close shave (BBS in most places), and without the pain the cartridges brought. Not to mention that blades are dirt cheap, so I don't feel guilty going to a new one after 3-4 shaves. I genuinely enjoy shaving now, and look forward to it as a relaxing part of my morning ritual.
Finally, after looking into it, I decided to go to a DE razor, and although it's only been a week, I'm loving it. I get a clean, close shave (BBS in most places), and without the pain the cartridges brought. Not to mention that blades are dirt cheap, so I don't feel guilty going to a new one after 3-4 shaves. I genuinely enjoy shaving now, and look forward to it as a relaxing part of my morning ritual.
I'm sure nice and sharp straight razors would fetch a fair price in a world where beheading zombies was neccessary to survival.
Beheading Zombies is all about the use of a baseball bat... Although I guess straight razors would work =p
L
Lo'Tek
Electrics burn & cartridges just plain SUCK, and that's a good reason to switch for me. I feel like a rebel every time I shave! It's my small way of stickin it to da' man when I don't have to buy another cartridge and my battery never dies - YEAH!!!
Up to the start of this year, I had been an electric razor guy for 40 years with just an occasion wetshave with a Mach 3 and canned foam to tidy up stray hairs.
At Xmas I got sick and didn't shave for a month. To remove that beard, I tried my Mach 3 and Fusion, and it was like trying to hack through a weed patch.
So I thought: "I wonder if I can still get a old DE or Schick Injector like I used in the sixties. I know those old razors would make short work of a one month beard."
So I went to the drugstore. No luck. Then I thought about eBay. Doing a Google search I learned about the resurgence in wet shaving and saw all the old razors on eBay. I started collecting the old Gillettes and the the old Schick injectors. I found that I still liked the Schick SE better than the double edge -- as I had 40 years ago.
I read about making lather from soap. I had always wanted to do that and tried it two different times in the sixties with Old Spice and a cheap boar brush. No luck - no lather. Reading B&B, I thought maybe it was the brush -- so I bought a Rooney 3/1 super and some soap. What do you know? I can make lather as good as those oldtimers!
I don't use my electric or fusion anymore, plus I have converted six others to wet shaving -- including my daughter and three of her girlfriends!
I'm hooked and have just bought my fourth brush -- a Chubby 2. No more RAD, but still have SBAD and SSAD.
At Xmas I got sick and didn't shave for a month. To remove that beard, I tried my Mach 3 and Fusion, and it was like trying to hack through a weed patch.
So I thought: "I wonder if I can still get a old DE or Schick Injector like I used in the sixties. I know those old razors would make short work of a one month beard."
So I went to the drugstore. No luck. Then I thought about eBay. Doing a Google search I learned about the resurgence in wet shaving and saw all the old razors on eBay. I started collecting the old Gillettes and the the old Schick injectors. I found that I still liked the Schick SE better than the double edge -- as I had 40 years ago.
I read about making lather from soap. I had always wanted to do that and tried it two different times in the sixties with Old Spice and a cheap boar brush. No luck - no lather. Reading B&B, I thought maybe it was the brush -- so I bought a Rooney 3/1 super and some soap. What do you know? I can make lather as good as those oldtimers!
I don't use my electric or fusion anymore, plus I have converted six others to wet shaving -- including my daughter and three of her girlfriends!
I'm hooked and have just bought my fourth brush -- a Chubby 2. No more RAD, but still have SBAD and SSAD.
I always had a fascination with DE razors since I was little. My father has a small collection of them. In fact, my first DE was given to me by him. It belonged to his father. For a few years, I went to cartridge razors, and seven years ago, I bought a DE. Last year, a friend of mine told me how he liked using shaving soap and brush, and I eventually bought a set.
That's what pushed me over to start getting into this scene, I had a goatee and accidentally trimmed a bit farther than intended and damaged it beyond repair. This was with a brand new blade too, a Mach 3 disposable, and it was completely dull by the time I was done, and the whole way through it was pulling hairs and was in general an unpleasant experience.
I did it out of curiosity. My grandfather always talked about it, but I used to say "eh, too much work."
Just because ... the cost of cartridges left me open to other options. So there was a specific reason at first. Discovering the better shave, however, will keep me here, even though the soaps and aftershaves are multiplying and the presumed savings are draining away ...
Now it's just because I like it.
Now it's just because I like it.
I have to chime in here! Let's face it, there is a 'cool' factor going on here too.
Started 45+ yrs ago w/a Gillette Techmatic and never looked back! Gillette rocked my world, everything they came out with was the best, IMO. Then I thought it would be cool to shave with a safety razor and started buying , using, and selling many of them. All of a sudden, straight razor shaving looked like the nuts!!! I started shaving with straights and even refinishing many of them. Something about shaving with a 150+ yr old razor was just too cool!
Now I have come nearly a full turn back to safety razors. I do love the straights, but where I live, the upkeep on the blades is just too much!(I hate to see my beloved straights get those damned black spots on them). So I have come back to the world of DE's. At 60+ yrs, I find that it is imperative not to fall into a rut but to experience just exactly what I want!!! After all, there is no fool like an 'old' fool...LOL
Fred
Started 45+ yrs ago w/a Gillette Techmatic and never looked back! Gillette rocked my world, everything they came out with was the best, IMO. Then I thought it would be cool to shave with a safety razor and started buying , using, and selling many of them. All of a sudden, straight razor shaving looked like the nuts!!! I started shaving with straights and even refinishing many of them. Something about shaving with a 150+ yr old razor was just too cool!
Now I have come nearly a full turn back to safety razors. I do love the straights, but where I live, the upkeep on the blades is just too much!(I hate to see my beloved straights get those damned black spots on them). So I have come back to the world of DE's. At 60+ yrs, I find that it is imperative not to fall into a rut but to experience just exactly what I want!!! After all, there is no fool like an 'old' fool...LOL
Fred
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