I have recently gone back to DE shaving after 40 years of cheap disposables.
I started out using Gillette DE razors, like most people at the time, but I soon switched to disposables and canned foam because they were cheap, easy to get and fast - important considerations when I was 17. By comparison, DE razors were a big ritual that I simply didn't have time for.
I accepted the fact that the nicks and raw, red areas on my neck were a normal consequence of not having a beard. I dealt with that by only shaving every other day - straight down, top to bottom, and out the door.
This went on for 40 years.
All that changed when I had to start taking an anti-clotting drug.
Those annoying little nicks became a major pain in the butt because they would bleed for half the day, and the irritated areas would weep for hours. I tried every styptic on the market but spent A LOT of time taking blood stains out of the collars of white dress shirts.
I dealt with that by going over my whole face with an alum block, but it was only marginally effective and made my skin look like hell.
I also started shaving the night before, instead of in the morning. This helped, but by mid-day my bad shave looked like a cartoon hobo from L'il Abner, and it would still bleed sometimes anyway.
In frustration, I tried using better canned foam - Nivea or Neutrogena - and it actually helped.
I was onto something ! Better products worked . . . BETTER !
So I upped the ante, and ordered some DR Harris Marlbourough Soap in a wooden bowl and an Edwin Jagger Super Badger brush.
And it worked . . . EVEN BETTER !
I decided to try using better razors, even though I was sure that they were all the same, because I had used every brand of disposable over the years - the cheap blue ones, yellow & white, even the green ones - and they were all about the same.
I bought a Schick Quattro in complete confidence that it was a huge waste of money, but . . . it worked BETTER !
I kept pressing my bets and did a little research, and stumbled over the idea of shaving "with the grain."
It was a revelation.
Now that I had been forced to put some thought into shaving, instead of just scraping the hair off my face with a .25 cent plastic toy, I was getting MUCH better results.
Like, night-and-day better. I was perfectly content for about six months.
Then I recently said, "Maybe an old-fashioned DE razor might be worth a try - how hard can it be ?" and ordered a Muhle R-89 and a few packs of Astra SP blades. (And some more soaps. I really like the brush-and-soap aspect of this
)
I have been using this setup for about a week and it is MUCH easier to use than most people online make it out to be
I take my time and spend about 20 minutes shaving before bed every night. I have the time for it and it's relaxing. I've been getting really good shaves (by my standards
) that look good the whole next day, and I haven't nicked myself once or seen one drop of blood. My skin looks 100% better, especially my neck.
So that's where I'm at with it - Happy to be here !
I started out using Gillette DE razors, like most people at the time, but I soon switched to disposables and canned foam because they were cheap, easy to get and fast - important considerations when I was 17. By comparison, DE razors were a big ritual that I simply didn't have time for.
I accepted the fact that the nicks and raw, red areas on my neck were a normal consequence of not having a beard. I dealt with that by only shaving every other day - straight down, top to bottom, and out the door.
This went on for 40 years.
All that changed when I had to start taking an anti-clotting drug.
Those annoying little nicks became a major pain in the butt because they would bleed for half the day, and the irritated areas would weep for hours. I tried every styptic on the market but spent A LOT of time taking blood stains out of the collars of white dress shirts.
I dealt with that by going over my whole face with an alum block, but it was only marginally effective and made my skin look like hell.
I also started shaving the night before, instead of in the morning. This helped, but by mid-day my bad shave looked like a cartoon hobo from L'il Abner, and it would still bleed sometimes anyway.
In frustration, I tried using better canned foam - Nivea or Neutrogena - and it actually helped.
I was onto something ! Better products worked . . . BETTER !
So I upped the ante, and ordered some DR Harris Marlbourough Soap in a wooden bowl and an Edwin Jagger Super Badger brush.
And it worked . . . EVEN BETTER !
I decided to try using better razors, even though I was sure that they were all the same, because I had used every brand of disposable over the years - the cheap blue ones, yellow & white, even the green ones - and they were all about the same.
I bought a Schick Quattro in complete confidence that it was a huge waste of money, but . . . it worked BETTER !
I kept pressing my bets and did a little research, and stumbled over the idea of shaving "with the grain."
It was a revelation.
Now that I had been forced to put some thought into shaving, instead of just scraping the hair off my face with a .25 cent plastic toy, I was getting MUCH better results.
Like, night-and-day better. I was perfectly content for about six months.
Then I recently said, "Maybe an old-fashioned DE razor might be worth a try - how hard can it be ?" and ordered a Muhle R-89 and a few packs of Astra SP blades. (And some more soaps. I really like the brush-and-soap aspect of this
)I have been using this setup for about a week and it is MUCH easier to use than most people online make it out to be
I take my time and spend about 20 minutes shaving before bed every night. I have the time for it and it's relaxing. I've been getting really good shaves (by my standards
) that look good the whole next day, and I haven't nicked myself once or seen one drop of blood. My skin looks 100% better, especially my neck.So that's where I'm at with it - Happy to be here !
