A different look at shaving costs

[Roy]

De shaving is often described as a cost saving as an encouragement to get off carts. It's obvious from most posts that the cost ends up higher! Most are tempted by beautiful brushes and razors. As well as soaps in a wonderful range of scents and prices.
However, even if you like the upper price ranges of shaving gear, they only cost the same as a few packs of cigarettes for instance and I know which I'd have!

 

[naughtilus]

A hobby is a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area. A list of hobbies changes with renewed interests and developing fashions, making it diverse and lengthy. Hobbies tend to follow trends in society, for example stamp collecting was popular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as postal systems were the main means of communication, while video games are more popular nowadays following technological advances. The advancing production and technology of the nineteenth century provided workers with more availability in leisure time to engage in hobbies. Because of this, the efforts of people investing in hobbies has increased with time.

Shaving isn't a hobby according to Wikipedia. However, soapmaking is.

 

[Twelvefret]

My observation is that several members, including me, are into this for adding to our collections of vintage razors so that cost savings for shaving is not a primary goal.

I can only imagine the cost of smoking and additional health risk including increased insurance premiums, mortality and morbidity. If shaving helps, wonderful.

 

[Bakker1964]

I tell people that traditional shaving IS cheaper than carts. I also tell them than costs are NOT my primary motivation and that I have spent a fair bit of $$$ on my toys. I know one of my converts is using a Weishi (sp?) razor purchased through Amazon along with 100 Astra SP blades and some Nivea Shaving Cream. From our FB messages back and forth, I am left with the impression that this is how far the "hobby" will go for him. Nothing wrong with that, or with how I choose to approach it.

 

[Raissermesser]

I've seemed to have settled on my shaving gear. My last shaving purchase was a pack of SE blades when I couldn't find the ones I bought previously (have since found those). At the moment, I'm going through my stock, using even the marginal stuff. That's what brought me back to DE (I prefer SE now).

This led me to the discovery that I'm getting one pass DFS regardless of razor. This is good. I was pressed for time this week and almost reached for my Harry's razor, but used the Weishi I'd put in rotation. The results were better that cartridge, and took me no longer.

Of course, when my shaving stock thins outs I'll be buying more. But my RAD is gone. A cake of shaving soap or a can of foam and a pack of blades as needed. Those blades are where I'll shave money. But, as it stands now, it may be a few years before I have to buy more, so yes, even taking into account the front-end purchases, I'll be saving money in the long haul.

 

[Invicta]

De shaving is often described as a cost saving as an encouragement to get off carts. It's obvious from most posts that the cost ends up higher! Most are tempted by beautiful brushes and razors. As well as soaps in a wonderful range of scents and prices.

I have no doubt it is a cost saving when you compare the cost of cartridges e.g. 10 months of Fusion ProGlide cartridges for £24 I recently saw in the supermarket. Take it to a hobby or a collection and now you move away from simple comparisons with cartridges; you can have numerous brushes and soaps and still shave with a cartridge razor though.
The Weishi, OneTouch and Baili is still used daily by many who don't post on these forums. Blades are available at relatively low costs too. Shaving with the DE can be completed daily at very low cost.
As for smoking, I am glad I gave it up decades ago.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I think the beauty is in the fact that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a great shave. I didn’t know that there was a high end to this until I found this website and other online resources.

I own razors from $15 to $250, but only because I enjoy the entire process. I don’t need a Rex, but I have the financial ability to purchase some high end gear.

There is room for everyone here!

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Cigarettes were, I think, 23 cents a pack at the PX when I was in boot camp. Now: In Michigan a pack of smokes must be $7 or so today! If you smoke, giving up a bad habit will be like getting a raise in pay + you will live longer. Smell better, too.

Unless you have a den full of badger brushes and artisan razors, this hobby of ours is cheaper than most pursuits, and one you can do even on rainy days.

Happy shaves!

 

[Boar Fighter]

Shaving isn't a hobby according to Wikipedia. However, soapmaking is.

I have never considered wetshaving as hobby. It is a natural necessity, caused by and conditioned, by the growth of hair. Hobby is something that implies, an activity, that you can do whenever you like, to occupy your free time. I just shaved. I can't shave again. I have to wait for the stubble to grow again. So it isn't a hobby, just like having haircut isn't a hobby.

It is an activity, like many others, that you can make less boring. Because, any repetitive activity, is boring. That's why you go to the bathroom for other natural necessities and you take a magazine or newspaper with you. This doesn't mean that those other necessities are your hobbies.

Repetition is the killer of everything. This is also why i have never attempted to find the "holy grail brush". There is no holy grail. Because the novelty, never lasts.

As an old italian classic and wise song says in the ending: "Yes, ok the first year, but the enthusiasm that is left in you, is now only an ugly copy of what it used to be, the evening pauses begin, you are inventing festivities and invite people to home, so that you don't think and at least you do something. Yes, ok. But all the rest is boredom, no, i didn't say joy, but boredom, boredom, boredom, accursed boredom".

Replace everything with "brush", razor" and you will see that no matter how many money you throw, what really works is variety. There is no grail. It's the same reason you don't take the same newspaper with you everyday in the bathroom. It's "old news" after 1 day.

Shaving is accursed boredom. A rotation of 30 brushes is the cure.

One could argue, that visiting the forum is a hobby.

 

[naughtilus]

I have never considered wetshaving as hobby. It is a natural necessity, caused by and conditioned, by the growth of hair. Hobby is something that implies, an activity, that you can do whenever you like, to occupy your free time. I just shaved. I can't shave again. I have to wait for the stubble to grow again. So it isn't a hobby, just like having haircut isn't a hobby.

It is an activity, like many others, that you can make less boring. Because, any repetitive activity, is boring. That's why you go to the bathroom for other natural necessities and you take a magazine or newspaper with you. This doesn't mean that those other necessities are your hobbies.

Repetition is the killer of everything. This is also why i have never attempted to find the "holy grail brush". There is no holy grail. Because the novelty, never lasts.

As an old italian classic and wise song says in the ending: "Yes, ok the first year, but the enthusiasm that is left in you, is now only an ugly copy of what it used to be, the evening pauses begin, you are inventing festivities and invite people to home, so that you don't think and at least you do something. Yes, ok. But all the rest is boredom, no, i didn't say joy, but boredom, boredom, boredom, accursed boredom".

Replace everything with "brush", razor" and you will see that no matter how many money you throw, what really works is variety. There is no grail. It's the same reason you don't take the same newspaper with you everyday in the bathroom. It's "old news" after 1 day.

Shaving is accursed boredom. A rotation of 30 brushes is the cure.

One could argue, that visiting the forum is a hobby.

Epic post, my friend. Words of wisdom everyone should read.

 

[naughtilus]

Shaving is accursed boredom. A rotation of 30 brushes is the cure.

This part especially!

 

[Boar Fighter]

This part especially!

I 've already found enough reviews and one video...By Christmas, Semogue mistura will be #29. Officially approved.

 

[naughtilus]

I 've already found enough reviews and one video...By Christmas, Semogue mistura will be #29. Officially approved.

I didn't want to nag you further with enabling, but that brush is really gorgeous! Glad you're getting one.

 

[Boar Fighter]

I didn't want to nag you further with enabling, but that brush is really gorgeous! Glad you're getting one.

They all look gorgeous when you haven't used them for months. Even the EUR 7 boars. Trust me, i know! I simply liked the Vulfix and this is the only other mix and i thought it would be suitable to end by honouring at least by 50% my nickname!

 

[naughtilus]

They all look gorgeous when you haven't used them for months. Even the EUR 7 boars. Trust me, i know! I simply liked the Vulfix and this is the only other mix and i thought it would be suitable to end by honouring at least by 50% my nickname!

I could have gotten a Mistura when you suggested it but you have the primacy of seniority. I'm trailing behind you, slowly but surely. I need some play time with the new toys I got before leaping forward.

This is a really sexy brush.

 

[BigJ]

I save plenty of $!! (At least compared to other hobbies that I have been involved with.)

 

[Boar Fighter]

I could have gotten a Mistura when you suggested it but you have the primacy of seniority. I'm trailing behind you, slowly but surely. I need some play time with the new toys I got before leaping forward.

This is a really sexy brush.

There is no reason for you to wait for me! What is this? Cooperative shaving session? You had asked me for a brush suggestion and i made that, because i had thought it for myself. There is no point in waiting for my purchase to do yours. I have several brushes with only 5 shaves on them. 2 are Semogues and these take a long for full break in. Even my 2 older Semogues, aren't as broken in as i would have liked. This month i have in rotation a badger that is now at 7 shaves. The Simpson has 5 and it is out of rotation. The Boker has 1. And so on. I want a cool down period because i have been buying brushes faster than i can break them in.

Go ahead and buy it, i may wait for Christmas, as a "last hurrah" brush. One more guinea pig for me, just in case... Because i have read some worrying reviews but i finally found a video and it looks fine. I don't know if you will find the old mistura. I intend to buy the "reborn" mistura, in the SOC handle, that comes in Ash Wood, Cherry Wood and Taj resin. And i am not decided on which handle to buy either. If i like the brush much, i may buy a spare with a nother handle. Contrary to Simpsons, which being a cult brand and neverchanging, you will probably be able to buy the exact brush in 50 years, the mistura has always been for short periods in production and the handles change every time.

What if i change my mind and never buy it? You shouldn't let others influence your decisions nor postpone your decisions waiting for others. My mother when i was a boy, used to tell me: "If your friends decide that it's good to jump from a cliff, will you join them too?" (and she didn't mean bungee jumping, i don't think it was invented back then).

P.S.: Most of the time, you see a brush with lather on. They look surprisingly similar then.

 

[naughtilus]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. Have you watched Olympic games marathons? There's a tempo leader that keeps a pace and they flock in a group. If robots did marathons they would all be scattered on the track based on their algorithm and predictive capabilites.

I got the 404b, my first pure badger. No doubt I'll try hybrid bodgers in the future. I'm in no rush.

 

[Boar Fighter]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. Have you watched Olympic games marathons? There's a tempo leader that keeps a pace and they flock in a group. If robots did marathons they would all be scattered on the track based on their algorithm and predictive capabilites.

I got the 404b, my first pure badger. No doubt I'll try hybrid bodgers in the future. I'm in no rush.

No objection there. I just wanted to make sure that you don't wait for me. Because that would be something different.


In case you are interested in the modern mistura, here is a video:

I was a bit worried, because i have read in past misturas, comments like "extreme rigidity, the most rigid brush i have ever used" (and this coming from a very experienced spanish wetshaver, with loads of brushes that have passed from his hands). I started worrying that it might not splay at all and be just "painting brush". But it seems that the "modern" mistura, does splay. And if you pay attention, you can even see the knot, splaying "elastically". This is a behaviour that one can see in the not very well broken Semogue 830 all the time. The bristles can even bulge at the middle, outwards, before splaying. I also call it "splaying indecisiveness", because the knot behaves somewhat like a synthetic, that tries to move away from you instead of splaying right away.

It's going to be a very unique brush, that's for sure. It might not be my most successful buy ever (the splaying indecisivess, is something negative for me, that i hope disappears over time), but it will certainly be a unique brush.

Interestingly, the SOC mistura was at least for a long period of time, the only daily brush of the owner of the spanish shop Vintage Scent.

When i decide to buy it, i will make a thread, entitled: "Semogue SOC Mistura - The Caravela reborn". And i will post my impressions.

If you are willing the do the "guinea pig" before, you are most welcome. There are not many reviews of the current mistura. There is only 1 in the italian Amazon and it's a 1 star review, that only says "overrated for the price, poor quality to performance". But Amazon reviews have relative value and often people think that everything should be a silvertip.

 

[naughtilus]

What? A rigid Semogue???? I'm skeptical, to say the least, but it can only be a good thing because with ongoing use it will develop to a sweet spot. Semogues start perfect and eventually overshoot into mush.

Using conditioner on new firm brushes helps the less patient, but doesn't affect the brush like harsh breaking-in with quick cures might.