Who here is a minimalist

Plenty of threads for those with huge shave dens but this is for those few that keep it simple.

I have a 23c razor, tub of TOBS Avocado, random boar brush and 10 pack of feather blades. That's all I have and will have until I run out of soap or need more blades.

Me. I have a whole bunch of stuff in boxes, but I generally only use one razor, strop, soap, brush, AS these days. But it did take me several years, and many thousands of dollars to be comfortable scaling back to that.

Let the savings begin...

I bow to you sir.

You are now where I am headed. And you are where it started.

Perhaps with the exception of aftershave, for which I like a little variety, the current-day approach to wetshaving, buying tons of stuff and stocking a formidable "den" or whatever, leaves me longing for the simplicity of the 50s and 60s, when men were apt to do it your way.

I maintain 2 residences so enjoy a little leeway in striving for minimalism. I now stock a boar and badger in each as well as one modern and 2 vintage razors. I alternate between Feathers and Personna Meds and have a total of 3 soaps that I'm trying to whittle down to 2.

I will get there as I hone my tastes.

Thanks for the inspirational post!

Razor: 1934 Gillette Aristocrat
Brush: Morris & Forndran "Chief"
Blades: 100 Perma-Sharp Supers
Soap: QCS Iced Key Lime puck - Mike's Orange, Cedarwood, & Black Pepper stick (for travel)
Balm: QCS unscented

Other than that I have a few soap/blade/balm samples. I plan on buying 1 or 2 more soaps for a little variety, but everything else is the same day to day.

I think it is good to have a decent stockpile of blades, like minimum of 50, plus it is cheaper to buy in bulk anyway.

But no real need for more than one of anything else.

I was a minimalist (1brush, 1 razor, and 1 cream) but since joining B&B things have expanded BUT very slowly and I now want to simplify again:
At the moment I use only three soaps (MDC, MWF and Klar Kabinett). I want to get that back down to one which would be MDC as this is the soap I intend to use for the next few years.
I have now the two razors that do the job for me. I have 5 razors from experimenting, but now only really use two - a Pils and a Mergress XL. The rest (Fatboy, Fatip and Tech) are actually stored away now.
I have two brushes: a Kent BK8 and a small TOBS silvertip. But I only ever use the Kent brush as the TOBS is in my travelling bag.
Razors in a drawer: I have 100 Astra and 100 Wilkinson swords. I change blades once a week so this will last well over a few years!
For my skin and post shave, I've simply have a tub of Shea butter. I was never into after shaves.
I face lather so dont really use a bowl, but I do have a scuttle stored away.

The only shaving stuff on display is the MDC ceramic (lidless) bowl in the window, and my shaving stand (brush and razor) by the bath.

Life is good.

I think I am. Or at least almost.

I have a travel kit, and a home kit, and both contain the minimum of items for a good shave.

I don't care for trying many different soaps, cremes, brushes, blades, and so on ... I do enjoy reading about them though.

I'm working my way there. I generally alternate my BK8 and SOC - but I'm not going down to one brush.

I'm generally between Castle Forbes and Ultimate Comfort, and it's possible I could go down to just CF - but I probably won't.

Just the Mergress, but I buy blades by the 100's and have three. I could go down to just Med Preps and be happy.

I too like the minimalist approach, Watchiekong your 1 x Brush 1 x Razor 1 x Cream sounds like a Blues Number!(one bourbon one scotch one beer) I have 1 x Merkur Progress 1 x Badger Brush 1 x TOBS Cream and several packs of Feather Blades

Legion said:

Me. I have a whole bunch of stuff in boxes, but I generally only use one razor, strop, soap, brush, AS these days. But it did take me several years, and many thousands of dollars to be comfortable scaling back to that.

Let the savings begin...

Click to expand...

That's the way I feel, except suddenly some vintage soap beckons or a nice brush, or some new aftershave....

I'm down to a pretty core set of brush, soap, razor, blades, and aftershave. And sometimes I don't even use aftershave - I won't splash water on my face or wipe off the leftover lather but will just rub it back into my face. It works pretty well.

So far I've been able to keep my shave den from getting out of hand. I like to keep things simple.

I'm getting there. The ADs seem to have passed.
Astra SPs
New Deluxe (the others have not gotten wet in 2-3 months)
Arko in winter
Proraso green in summer
Frank's Finest-Bestshave Horsehair-Semogue 1305...my only un-minimalist point. I grab whichever one I like that day.
Aqua Velva in summer
Mandom in winter

Now and then I'll use another soap just to use them up, but I've found what works for me

Having two brushes makes sense, btw ... that means you can leave each brush to dry for 48 hours before using it again.

I have three, two at home, and one in my travel kit (I don't want to travel with two brushes).

I'm enjoying a month of one razor,one brush and one cream and a pre shave everything else has been stored away, but i like a choice of 3 aftershaves.

I currently own two razors, Merkur HD and a Futur, two brushes, EJ Medium Best and a B&B Essential Boar, three creams, Proraso Green and Blue plus TOBS Sandalwood, Astra blades (100) and Proraso White Crème ASB. No soaps however; going to Paris in September and I'm itching to buy MdC. Trying my best to resist a buying spree.

I only have what I need - Merkur slant, Rooney badger, Proraso pre, Proraso green, Proraso aftershave, and Gillette blacks. I do keep a stash of all that under the sink, but that is only to save on shipping (I usually order once a year from Italian Barber).

i'd call myself a minimalist. I look for the minimum price of an item before I buy it.

I use 1 razor for 99% of my shaves, I have 4 soaps, 2 shave sticks, 5 aftershaves, and around 150 blades and 2 brushes (I use one 99.9% of the time)

My only AD has been blades. Mostly blade samplers, I'm addicted to trying new blades. Also I like to PIF them.

Depends on whom I'm being compared to I guess.

For over 45 years I was.

One razor
One brush
One shave mug
One brand of soap
One brand of blades..

HEY... I thought it was only shaving!?!?!? I didn't know any better... My bad

In terms of what gets used regularly, I only have one razor, a SOC brush (and a boar semouge for travel) AoS lavender cream, pinaud aftershave, and a variety of blades.

In terms of what sits in my collection, well over 50 razors from the past 100 years, 5 brushes, some other fun barber shop stuff. But the collection is more of a show piece. Every once in a while I will rotate something in but I collect mainly because I like the way the stuff looks.

Regards
Dave