Greetings Folks,
Proving that you should listen to your mother and pay attention in school (or in reading your PM's), apparently I've been a Steward on the General Shaving Discussion for a few days. To be clear, the Mod's were clear, but frankly I was having so much fun hang'n out in the different forums as an "Infield Utility Steward" that I wasn't really paying attention.
Having said that, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I'm old enough to have watched the original Mission Impossible (the good one, with Peter Graves). Used a dial telephone, a record player and know how to check vacuum tubes on a TV set. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to be interviewed by actress and singer Julie London about wet shaving.
Julie London: How long have you been wet shaving.
Bob: Julie, thanks for having me. Looking back, in my adult life, I started wet shaving May 2009. Before that after realizing that the electric razor that my father had bought me for Christmas wasn't going to cut it, I found what must have been a Gillette Super Adjustable razor and some Schick Super Platinum blades along with some Noxzema shave cream and found that my splotchy raw first experiment was better than the hot, tugging action of the electric razor. I think that I was a freshman in High School and was trying to clean up to impress the young ladies at school.
Julie London: What was it like to go back to shaving with an old fashioned razor with double edge blades?
Bob: It was a bit of a strange trip. After watching Mantic59's videos and lurking on various shave forums, I ordered a Parker 91r, a Tweezerman brush and 100 "Sharp" Razor blades from Amazon and picked up two pucks of Williams Mug soap at CVS.
I liked the idea of using a brush to make lather, but between the clipped ends of the Tweezerman and the meat cleaver gap on the 91r it wasn't as pleasant as I had remembered and my face showed it.
Julie London: Yet today your face doesn't look like a meat cleaver has been taken to it, how did you go from being abused with Willams mug soap scrubbed in with a scratchy brush to the soft, glowing handsome face that I see sitting in front of me?
Bob: >>blushing<< Thanks Julie, after a few months of focusing on the basics and switching to Van Der Hagen Deluxe and discovering C.O. Bigelow shave creams and aftershave Balms, my face started to look better after I shaved than it had covered with stubble. When my lovely bride found a birth year Gillette Fat boy and some Red pack Personna blades I really understood that different razors and blades make a difference. These changes plus an Omega Pro 49 made all the difference in the world.
Julie London: Pardon me for saying this, but If you were reading B&B with all of it's great product reviews, real time feedback about wonderful shave gear why were you hacking at your face so long with such a rough kit.
Bob: Well Julie, my version is that I was enjoying the recession too much to focus on buying good shave gear. My wife's version is that I"m a cheap bast#$%&rd.
Julie London: You must have gotten over your cheapness, because you regularly comment, seemingly with some knowledge, about a variety of shave soaps, creams, brushes and all of the shaving goodies.
Bob: Despite my wife's derogatory characterization of my being cheap, I do have an innate frugality. One thing that I've learned on B&B is that some shave soaps seem to last for months and months. In fact Mitchell's Wool fat actually seems to get larger with regular use and Tabac may be actually impossible to finish. (In fact I have actually finished pucks of both MWF and Tabac)
Julie London: What were some real epiphany, knock your socks off moments of wet shaving?
Bob: Early on, switching to the Omega Pro 49 brush from the Tweezerman. C.O. Bigelow, Tabac, MWF. I think that I'm in love the Merkur 34 HD. More recently Old Spice shave cream, Mike's Natural and Mystic Waters shave soaps, unrefined shea butter as an aftershave Balm followed by Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum and GEM SE razors.
Julie London: Now that you're on the cutting edge of the West Shaving world, has it affected your marriage in any way?
Bob: I'm very lucky. My wife has been very supportive of my "hobby". She appreciates that I regularly am "cleaned up", that I smell good and she says that my face looks younger than it actually is. Last year after she was asking questions, I picked her up a Lady Gillette and showed her how to use it.
Julie London: It sounds like you really enjoy shaving, tell me how Badger and Blade has affected your shaving world?
Bob: Well Julie, B&B is really where I learned to shave. Mantic59 is great, but here I could read about men who were having the same problem as I was. I was able to see almost real time suggestions to fix the problems. I found some great fellowship, positive people who were looking to build a better mousetrap, if you will. Plus there's some great humor here.
Julie London: Do you have any funny shaving stories or B&B stories.
Bob: One evening my wife walked past me in the kitchen with the laptop, noted that I was looking at one of the lovely photo montages of a members shave brush and without loosing a beat, said, "why can't you look at porn like other men"?
Julie London: Well, our time is winding up so my last question: what are your plans as the newest Steward of the General Shaving Discussion?
Bob: B&B is a lot of fun for me. I learn about wet shaving and a variety of other topics. I hope to share my enthusiasm for wet shaving and this community in the forum. When I have an experience or knowledge about something, I hope to clearly share that information in a manner that lives up to the Gentlemanly standard that my fellow members show every day.
So General Discussion participants, If you have any questions, please write them on the back of a blank check and send them to...
Julie London: Good Night Bob
Proving that you should listen to your mother and pay attention in school (or in reading your PM's), apparently I've been a Steward on the General Shaving Discussion for a few days. To be clear, the Mod's were clear, but frankly I was having so much fun hang'n out in the different forums as an "Infield Utility Steward" that I wasn't really paying attention.
Having said that, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I'm old enough to have watched the original Mission Impossible (the good one, with Peter Graves). Used a dial telephone, a record player and know how to check vacuum tubes on a TV set. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to be interviewed by actress and singer Julie London about wet shaving.
Julie London: How long have you been wet shaving.
Bob: Julie, thanks for having me. Looking back, in my adult life, I started wet shaving May 2009. Before that after realizing that the electric razor that my father had bought me for Christmas wasn't going to cut it, I found what must have been a Gillette Super Adjustable razor and some Schick Super Platinum blades along with some Noxzema shave cream and found that my splotchy raw first experiment was better than the hot, tugging action of the electric razor. I think that I was a freshman in High School and was trying to clean up to impress the young ladies at school.
Julie London: What was it like to go back to shaving with an old fashioned razor with double edge blades?
Bob: It was a bit of a strange trip. After watching Mantic59's videos and lurking on various shave forums, I ordered a Parker 91r, a Tweezerman brush and 100 "Sharp" Razor blades from Amazon and picked up two pucks of Williams Mug soap at CVS.
I liked the idea of using a brush to make lather, but between the clipped ends of the Tweezerman and the meat cleaver gap on the 91r it wasn't as pleasant as I had remembered and my face showed it.
Julie London: Yet today your face doesn't look like a meat cleaver has been taken to it, how did you go from being abused with Willams mug soap scrubbed in with a scratchy brush to the soft, glowing handsome face that I see sitting in front of me?
Bob: >>blushing<< Thanks Julie, after a few months of focusing on the basics and switching to Van Der Hagen Deluxe and discovering C.O. Bigelow shave creams and aftershave Balms, my face started to look better after I shaved than it had covered with stubble. When my lovely bride found a birth year Gillette Fat boy and some Red pack Personna blades I really understood that different razors and blades make a difference. These changes plus an Omega Pro 49 made all the difference in the world.
Julie London: Pardon me for saying this, but If you were reading B&B with all of it's great product reviews, real time feedback about wonderful shave gear why were you hacking at your face so long with such a rough kit.
Bob: Well Julie, my version is that I was enjoying the recession too much to focus on buying good shave gear. My wife's version is that I"m a cheap bast#$%&rd.
Julie London: You must have gotten over your cheapness, because you regularly comment, seemingly with some knowledge, about a variety of shave soaps, creams, brushes and all of the shaving goodies.
Bob: Despite my wife's derogatory characterization of my being cheap, I do have an innate frugality. One thing that I've learned on B&B is that some shave soaps seem to last for months and months. In fact Mitchell's Wool fat actually seems to get larger with regular use and Tabac may be actually impossible to finish. (In fact I have actually finished pucks of both MWF and Tabac)
Julie London: What were some real epiphany, knock your socks off moments of wet shaving?
Bob: Early on, switching to the Omega Pro 49 brush from the Tweezerman. C.O. Bigelow, Tabac, MWF. I think that I'm in love the Merkur 34 HD. More recently Old Spice shave cream, Mike's Natural and Mystic Waters shave soaps, unrefined shea butter as an aftershave Balm followed by Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum and GEM SE razors.
Julie London: Now that you're on the cutting edge of the West Shaving world, has it affected your marriage in any way?
Bob: I'm very lucky. My wife has been very supportive of my "hobby". She appreciates that I regularly am "cleaned up", that I smell good and she says that my face looks younger than it actually is. Last year after she was asking questions, I picked her up a Lady Gillette and showed her how to use it.
Julie London: It sounds like you really enjoy shaving, tell me how Badger and Blade has affected your shaving world?
Bob: Well Julie, B&B is really where I learned to shave. Mantic59 is great, but here I could read about men who were having the same problem as I was. I was able to see almost real time suggestions to fix the problems. I found some great fellowship, positive people who were looking to build a better mousetrap, if you will. Plus there's some great humor here.
Julie London: Do you have any funny shaving stories or B&B stories.
Bob: One evening my wife walked past me in the kitchen with the laptop, noted that I was looking at one of the lovely photo montages of a members shave brush and without loosing a beat, said, "why can't you look at porn like other men"?
Julie London: Well, our time is winding up so my last question: what are your plans as the newest Steward of the General Shaving Discussion?
Bob: B&B is a lot of fun for me. I learn about wet shaving and a variety of other topics. I hope to share my enthusiasm for wet shaving and this community in the forum. When I have an experience or knowledge about something, I hope to clearly share that information in a manner that lives up to the Gentlemanly standard that my fellow members show every day.
So General Discussion participants, If you have any questions, please write them on the back of a blank check and send them to...
Julie London: Good Night Bob
Congrats, Bob!
