I picture book of my first 5 weeks of Addiction

[nickelsig229]

Five weeks ago today, I entered Gentleman's Best in CT looking for a starter DE razor kit to see if I could get a better shave and save money. After only a few days I was not expecting to achieve the types of shaves that I am performing now. I owe all of my shaving enjoyment to the members of this board who taught a 37 year old man how to shave.

Unfortunately, I'm the type of person who throws himself head first into activities when I feel a twinge of enjoyment. Having felt that spark on my first DE shave, the idea of saving money was completely tossed out of the window like a McDonald's double cheeseburger wrapper during the lunch rush hour. I've tried to remain frugal, and capitalize on good deals and quality items, but I have to face the fact that after a few hundred dollars, I just don't care about costs and want to enjoy myself.

So let me show you my journey as it unfolds.

Five weeks ago I picked up a starter kit which came with a Boar hair brush, Feather Portable, Dorco St301's and Gentleman's Best sampler of Soap, Creme and some witch hazel. Thank you Ray for the pointers and sending me off on my journey.

Boar Brush that I cut my teeth on, I thought it was doing the job but was in for an awakening when I upgraded.


The Feather Portable. I would recommend anyone use this as a learning tool. It performed excellent from the first time it touched my face and scalp. I very fond of this little guy. If it was longer I'd use it daily.


At this point I was looking to branch out. Originally I wanted a new manufacture TTO adjustable. I didn't want a vintage or used item thinking it was disgusting and beaten up. A lot of members here suggested to just try it and clean it up myself. After a little thought I realized that metal can be sterilized easily and other then not having a new shiny toy, it would fit the bill. So off I went looking for a fat boy.

This became an instant classic for me. It use it 3 times a week, and try one of my other (to follow) razors on the other 2-3 days so I can explore my options.
The Dirty guy just got used a few hours ago, the other is his back up.


So this is about 3 weeks in now, and I'm exploring things like blades, after shaves, and soaps. I'm not really a cream user having only tried it twice. I like the idea of soap, so in comes the idea of getting a better brush. I didn't want to spend a lot of money as So far I was getting old razors of ebay for dirt cheap, so the saving idea was still in line at this point. Low and behold GlobalDev was offering very inexpensive brushes as a favor to people in the BST. I jumped on that and found that Boar brushes, at least the one I had, were an inferior tool. I used the Shea brush and noticed an increase in the quality of my lather. It no longer turned to a clear see through layer on my face, the lather would stay white.


This is about the time I lost my cool. I wondered what else is out there. What is the difference with all these other Gillette razors. After all, I''m getting them for anything from 5 to 20 dollars, so I might as well try them all right? If the better brush made such a difference, maybe one of these other razors that people on the forums are always talking about will too. So here is the aftermath.

Blue tip


TV SS - This was a smooth shave. I'm looking forward to its next turn. I scored this from hypo_style in the BST.


Red tip - I scored this from Cpool222 in the BST


Early SS. This gave me 2 Really nice peaceful shaves. I like this razor a lot. The Adjustable Fat boy allows me to increase aggressiveness so I can get a hard to reach spot on the back of my head which this doesn't get as close, or this would probably be the daily user.


Super Adjustable, I like it but the handle is a bit light in heft.


My mother's uncle tossed me one of these Black SS's along with this brush in the middle of acquiring all these razors. I haven't used the brush, god knows the last time it was used or cleaned, but I haven't tossed it out. I love this old man and I just like having something a family member used.




It's about 4 weeks in and I'm trying AOS, Cella, Tabac and MWF that I scored from Xezmer. I found a sampler of Thayers from their website as well.


I got these next to for free and cleaned them. There brassed out but I plan to give them a run anyway. It wont hurt the shave, just the appearance.

Fat Tech?


Bell tech?


At this point I was ready for another Brush upgrade. I also wanted some more Gentleman's Best signature soap. I like it's light baby powder like scent. So I went back to see Ray.

The Brush exceeded expectations. It's not a very expensive brush, but the difference in feel, lather and water retention is night and day over the Shea. I am truly enjoying this brush, and want to use it a bit before I try a more expensive one.





I do enjoy this scent.


Slim - Haven't used it yet but I like the way it feels, if it performs like the fat boy there may be a power struggle in the bathroom while I'm away.


Lady - I used this on my head only, and only once. I like the extended grip and its balance for head shaving. It allows me to smoothly come up my neck to the top of my head without applying pressure like I had to with the super adjustable. This is beckoning another turn as well.


So here I am in CT, relaxing on a Friday night and preparing for a trip to providence tomorrow. I'm already thinking about what to use tomorrow, which soap, which blade, which razor, which hazel, how many passes etc etc. I must sound like a fool to many of you, but I'm willing to bet the majority of you are thinking "yeah he got bit, I remember when that was me" or "DUDE! I do the same thing!"

I'm thoroughly enjoying myself, my girl's sweaters aren't being ruined by my whiskers and she's loving the scents that I have, not that I didn't smell good before, but there is a distinct difference between putting on some cologne, and building a scent from the soap/as/cologne.

I'm already anxious to receive my latest purchases, a all stainless feather and custom ordered Dirty bird 1.5. I'm especially looking forward to the Dirty bird as by the time I get to my second pass the lather is cooling, the third cold. The 6'th on my head, almost as if I never used hot water to begin with. I'm hoping that DB fixes this problem.

For the future, I'm going to try different soaps and blades, possible some different aftershaves for after my witch hazel and possible some matching cologne for that "building scent" that seems to really be making the women around here happy.

Thanks for reading, thanks for teaching, and thanks for allowing me to share my new found pleasure. Like mike72 said "no shame in my game" I'm addicted to shaving, and I'm not ashamed of it.

[brianw]

Ray has that effect on people !!!!!!

A pleasure to read your journey..... we have all been there as well....enjoy the ride!!!!

[ouch]

Nice travel kit.

[TMH478]

Very nicely done! You got this!!

[Lando]

That was enjoyable to read, and I think we're all addicts!

Gotta get some of that GB signature soap

[Dude123]

ahaha, Sounds like me, I'm in roughly the same place, though not quite as far ahead on the razors. Only three DE's and a straight and three brushes, but I'm working on it. Got a new boar coming from the custom thread, and if xmas wasnt coming up, probably a bunch of other things would be on the way. Three soaps and a cream right now too, plus trumpers samples, 5 or 6 different blades and some other samples.

And maybe a Lady gillette is coming too.

[FL shaver]

Thanks for the show and tell!

[DFrancis]

Nice pictorial, thank you for sharing.

[canuckerr]

enjoyable read!

Thanks!

[Fletch]

Good read, I think you're going to love the slim. I had a Fatboy and a slim. I gave the fatty a number of chances but the slim (for me) dominated that fatty. So much in fact that the fatty has left my collection.

I will tell you to stay away from the Gillette NEW razors. They're like crack, I now own 4 and still get excited when I see one for sale.

[LionelHutz]

Yet another purchase-inducing-post. I didn't know thayer's had a sampler pack, I'm now officially awaiting its arrival. Thanks!

Also, not to stoke the flames, but while your on the trail of all these gillettes, I've got to say that I sure do love my late 40's superspeed...just sayin'.

Cheers!

[LionelHutz]

I will tell you to stay away from the Gillette NEW razors. They're like crack, I now own 4 and still get excited when I see one for sale.

I recently scored a NEW for 3 bucks from a vendor on the street in brooklyn. I ALMOST felt bad offering him 3 for it when he had it marked at 5. Such a beautiful razor. I Can't wait to try it out, but I'm still in my self-imposed newbie "one razor, one brush, one soap" stage. My self control is admirable, I know.

[grump]

Nice write-up and pictorial!

Have fun and enjoy your shaves.

[Drybonz]

Nice post... it was fun to follow the path of your addiciton.

I didn't realize Thayer's had that many fragrances. Now I'm wondering if they have an unscented one... must remember to investigate further.

*edit* http://www.thayers.com/store/index.p...f509ab4de8d988 ... want.

[wimbouman]

Excellent story, thanks.

AD reares its ugly head once more

[michiganlover]

I jumped on that and found that Boar brushes, at least the one I had, were an inferior tool.

Please don't judge the quality of all boar brushes based upon one lower end example. Try out an Omega, or a Semogue to see what a good quality boar brush can do. I own several badger brushes, and two Omega Boar brushes, and for the most part prefer my boar brushes.

Also, I notice that your Blue Tip came with some Gillette Spoiler blades. Make sure you give those a go. Those are highly regarded vintage blades, and considered to be some of the best blades ever made.

[D/E Bob]

MAN, have you been busy!

[nickelsig229]

Nice travel kit.

Dear Santa, Please increase my den's holdings 10 fold, apparently my peers mock me for having so few items in it.

I got a huge laugh at your comment, not only becuase it's implies I have only a small Travel kit, but becuase in comparison to you guys, it really is only a small travel kit.

Also, not to stoke the flames, but while your on the trail of all these gillettes, I've got to say that I sure do love my late 40's superspeed...just sayin'.

Absolutely, I have a problem spot on my head where my plates are fused, I have a crease that is hard to get in and maybe with some practice I'll get better using the SS. Other then that one trouble spot, I absolutely love the 40's SS style, feel in the hand, and shave. I grab whatever razor for the day and seem to glance at the SS as if it's secretly smiling at me, taunting me, ridiculing me for letting it sit there.

Please don't judge the quality of all boar brushes based upon one lower end example. Try out an Omega, or a Semogue to see what a good quality boar brush can do. I own several badger brushes, and two Omega Boar brushes, and for the most part prefer my boar brushes.

Also, I notice that your Blue Tip came with some Gillette Spoiler blades. Make sure you give those a go. Those are highly regarded vintage blades, and considered to be some of the best blades ever made.

I suppose your right. I'm going to purchase an Omega and disprove myself. As for the blades, they are old aren't they? I'm sure just from being exposed to air the oxidization would have blunted them over all these years, wouldn't it? Not sure if its worth trying.

[shumanfoo]

Whoa!! 5 weeks into the journey and you're into all that. I guess I'm more of a plodder.

Welcome to the group and I look forward to seeing it all. Might inspire me to get off my duff and buy some stuff. Hey that rhymes!
-------------------------------------------
one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything

[michiganlover]

Also, I wanted to mention, if you find the handle on your Feather Portable to be too short, you can swap it for the handle on any other 3 piece razor, or you can have CooncatBob makes you an awesome custom handle for it!!