Scentsless Shaver
Oakland, ME
Since I started shaving with a double edge razor in mid-November of '15, I've been enjoying a "chore" in ways that baffles most folks and quite frankly has me questioning myself, too! I am still planning out what to use, and looking forward to that clean shave every day, but now with less time wasted thinking if I just had this other thing, today's shave would be better.
One of the aspects of this forum that drew me in immediately was the camaraderie and openness to questions. I learned techniques and tips from many posts here as well as some personal communications. In that spirit, I decided to write out some of the things I have observed in my shaves, just for the fun of sharing experiences, laughing at setbacks, and maybe share something that some other new shaver could learn from me or experience for themselves.
I recently was made aware of a feature of the standard windows calculator: it can calculate the time between to dates! This feature is in the menu for the 4 function calculator. We use it a lot at work these days in figuring how many days of medication a patient needs, so to get from today to June 23. Well, while looking at some shaving stats I keep on myself, I decided to plug in the date I started and see how many shaves ago that was! 515 was the answer at that time. And that led me to wondering what I'd learned. And here we are!
Probably what startled me the most was learning myself that my technique had improved to the point that a razor I first dismissed as too mild was in fact quite capable of doing a fantastic job. It was the newbie using it not quite as efficiently as he could use it that made that razor too mild. Same for some blades. Trying one brand months later was such a different experience than when I first tried the brand during my first weeks. On the other side, some brands were still not for me.
I had read about folks revisiting things that had been delegated to the back of the cabinet and finding those things to be much better than remembered. It was having it come home to me that made me realize how much my technique must have grown. Oddly, early on I didn't "get it". I wanted or assumed I was "good enough".
And I got caught up in all the buying and trying. So many blades, so many soaps, and the waiting, waiting, waiting, to be able to try a different item or technique. Either waiting for the mail or waiting for the next shave! To remain somewhat sane, I learned (from some folks here!) that I just need to slow down, enjoy the ride, enjoy what you have. The next razor or brush or soap or blade will not make today's shave bad. Not paying attention to the shave WILL make today's shave bad! So enjoy the time, learn my technique and tools, and be content with what I am using. Sure you can add more stuff, but can you use what you already have? I learned that some of my tools could help someone else, that I gravitated towards certain razors so why not sell or PIF the things I have that I don't use rather than horde them?
I learned that I LOVE vintage razors. I get great results with the ones I have, up to and not including a razor given to US GIs heading off to Europe to fight in the War to End all Wars. The 1918 Old Type is testing me severely. I struggle to get a comfortable shave with it. But I will persist for a bit more. Being a bit of a history buff, I will horde this razor, even if it bites me more than others!
For modern razors, I am awaiting a Rockwell 6C. I hope to like it. I hope I don't like it so much my wonderful vintage razors become collectibles instead of daily tools!
What was once a chore now is a quarter of an hour of relaxation before work, of practicing skills like lather building and shave technique, and appreciating the tools of the trade! Those minutes help carry me through my days, oddly enough. Whether at work or on a day off with family, it just makes me feel better and maybe even behave better. Odd, but that is how it seems from where I sit right now. This looking back reminded me of when I started out stargazing. I remember wanting to see the coolest "faint fuzzies" that folks were seeing. I remember the difficulty finding some far away galaxy in Leo, and not being too impressed at the smudge in eyepiece. Really, that's a galaxy? Am I sure I didn't just fog the lens or dirty the eyepiece by my nose touching it?! Then two years later I am looking for that galaxy again, same scope, same backyard, similar eyepiece, and now it stands out and takes my breath away. I had more experience and technique had trained my eyes to see things better, to spend time observing and not checking boxes. To me, my shaving has taken a similar path. Technique improved and what I thought was okay equipment turns out to be damn fine equipment!
Thanks for reading!
One of the aspects of this forum that drew me in immediately was the camaraderie and openness to questions. I learned techniques and tips from many posts here as well as some personal communications. In that spirit, I decided to write out some of the things I have observed in my shaves, just for the fun of sharing experiences, laughing at setbacks, and maybe share something that some other new shaver could learn from me or experience for themselves.
I recently was made aware of a feature of the standard windows calculator: it can calculate the time between to dates! This feature is in the menu for the 4 function calculator. We use it a lot at work these days in figuring how many days of medication a patient needs, so to get from today to June 23. Well, while looking at some shaving stats I keep on myself, I decided to plug in the date I started and see how many shaves ago that was! 515 was the answer at that time. And that led me to wondering what I'd learned. And here we are!
Probably what startled me the most was learning myself that my technique had improved to the point that a razor I first dismissed as too mild was in fact quite capable of doing a fantastic job. It was the newbie using it not quite as efficiently as he could use it that made that razor too mild. Same for some blades. Trying one brand months later was such a different experience than when I first tried the brand during my first weeks. On the other side, some brands were still not for me.
I had read about folks revisiting things that had been delegated to the back of the cabinet and finding those things to be much better than remembered. It was having it come home to me that made me realize how much my technique must have grown. Oddly, early on I didn't "get it". I wanted or assumed I was "good enough".
And I got caught up in all the buying and trying. So many blades, so many soaps, and the waiting, waiting, waiting, to be able to try a different item or technique. Either waiting for the mail or waiting for the next shave! To remain somewhat sane, I learned (from some folks here!) that I just need to slow down, enjoy the ride, enjoy what you have. The next razor or brush or soap or blade will not make today's shave bad. Not paying attention to the shave WILL make today's shave bad! So enjoy the time, learn my technique and tools, and be content with what I am using. Sure you can add more stuff, but can you use what you already have? I learned that some of my tools could help someone else, that I gravitated towards certain razors so why not sell or PIF the things I have that I don't use rather than horde them?
I learned that I LOVE vintage razors. I get great results with the ones I have, up to and not including a razor given to US GIs heading off to Europe to fight in the War to End all Wars. The 1918 Old Type is testing me severely. I struggle to get a comfortable shave with it. But I will persist for a bit more. Being a bit of a history buff, I will horde this razor, even if it bites me more than others!
For modern razors, I am awaiting a Rockwell 6C. I hope to like it. I hope I don't like it so much my wonderful vintage razors become collectibles instead of daily tools!
What was once a chore now is a quarter of an hour of relaxation before work, of practicing skills like lather building and shave technique, and appreciating the tools of the trade! Those minutes help carry me through my days, oddly enough. Whether at work or on a day off with family, it just makes me feel better and maybe even behave better. Odd, but that is how it seems from where I sit right now. This looking back reminded me of when I started out stargazing. I remember wanting to see the coolest "faint fuzzies" that folks were seeing. I remember the difficulty finding some far away galaxy in Leo, and not being too impressed at the smudge in eyepiece. Really, that's a galaxy? Am I sure I didn't just fog the lens or dirty the eyepiece by my nose touching it?! Then two years later I am looking for that galaxy again, same scope, same backyard, similar eyepiece, and now it stands out and takes my breath away. I had more experience and technique had trained my eyes to see things better, to spend time observing and not checking boxes. To me, my shaving has taken a similar path. Technique improved and what I thought was okay equipment turns out to be damn fine equipment!
Thanks for reading!
- Eric
Put your message in a modem,
And throw it in the Cyber Sea
--Rush, "Virtuality"
Overloader of brushes, Overlander fanboy, Schickhead, and a GEM in the rough!
Put your message in a modem,
And throw it in the Cyber Sea
--Rush, "Virtuality"
Overloader of brushes, Overlander fanboy, Schickhead, and a GEM in the rough!
