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A year and a 1000 posts later.

It has been a little over one year (and just over 1000 posts) since I started shaving with DE (and it turns out, SE) razors. So I thought that it is time to post my “first year” long rambling post:a21:. While looking for information of hats I came across the Art of Manliness web-page, this in turn lead to the Badger & Blade and a variety of articles on shaving. I started with my father’s British Rocket (’59). I then started looking over the B&B forums, and scanned the web pages of Fendrihan’s, and the Italian Barber. Initial plans looked at Merkur Muhle, EJ and Parker, open combs (they have always caught my eye) and some straight bar styles. Those plans never came to fruition, as the lure of history took hold, along with a variety of acquisition disorders (AD’s). I have enjoyed my time, and have improved my skills over the year. Many thanks to the members of the B&B who have helped over the last year. I will give my thoughts on different aspects of DE/SE shaving.

Razors As I stated above I started with a 1959 British Rocket, followed by a RazoRock Jaws. I had looked at the ubiquitous R41, along with other razors from Muhle and Merkur. However the lure of history, along with the beautiful lines of the vintage razors fuelled my RAD and I have not picked up any other modern razors. I enjoy shaving with a piece of history. My collection grew with the addition of Gillette New and Old styles, Superspeed’s (1953 and 1955), Aristocrats (1948), Tech (1961 and 1932), a Fatboy and some unusual ones (Hoffritz slant, Estonian Bakelite, Laurel Dumbell, and Segal).

Originally I had no interest in SE razors, and then curiosity got the better of me. I picked up a GEM Micromatic and some Blue Star blades. I was very apprehensive about using this razor (which had the appearance of a medieval torture device), but after watching some You-tube videos, and reading the B&B forums I gave it a try. I was amazed at how great it shaves, and the sound effects (like buttering toast) are great. So of course it followed that a Damaskeene, GEM Jr., and an Ever-Ready followed (even found a nice Auto-Strop in its case). Then a couple of Schick injectors were added to my collection of SE’s.

At first it is like a kid in a toy-shop, everyday different razor, soap etc. Then I got into a rotation of one razor Monday to Friday with something else on the weekends. This allows one to work on improving technique. Now I am hunting some of the rarer ones (OC Aristocrats, Streamline/Jewels etc).

Soaps/Creams
Had to try both, started with one from Edwin Jagger, and some samples from Gary’s (a great resource). My collection grew with several other soaps (GFT, Dr. Harris, TOBS, Williams, Proraso, QCS, Arko, Williams, Stirling) and creams (GFT, TOBS, Truefitt & Hill, Proraso, Spieck, Arko, Derby). I was happy with all of them, as they all lathered easily (except the E&J), but for me the Stirling had some issues (the smell of the Bonaparte –a bad batch, and all of the samples left a sticky feeling after use).

Here I will use the B&B mantra your mileage may vary (YMMV), so true in DE/SE shaving. Everyone is different and has different tastes. The forum again offers great resources for anyone who has trouble with particular brand of soap/cream. At first it is “try a new soap every day” plan, but soon it was down to the weekly soap/cream. This helps in really finding out how a particular brand works.

Brushes I started with a Semogue 1305 and Vuflix synthetic (for travel). Then the brush restoration caught my attention. I picked up a few handles to restore and ordered badger knots from TGN. These look great, but for me I find the badger brushes a little to floppy; although they do offer a nice dense knot. I prefer the boar knots, but they do require breaking in. I follow the method on the B&B wiki page, and have added to my boar collection (Omegas and the B&B charity). Then to cover all bases I picked up a horse hair brush. It is very nice (between the boar and badger in terms of stiffness/backbone), and did not need breaking in like a boar. Once broken in the boar brushes are fantastic, for both bowl and face lathering. At this time I have 4 boars, 1 horse and 1 badger I use in rotation.

Blades I started with a sample pack (Astra (green), Derby, Lord SS, Lord Platinum, and Feather), and added some 7-O’ Clock yellows and Astra (blue). I kept track through the year, trying them at different stages, and found that the Derby, Lord Platinum, and Feather worked best for me. This then lead to my first big blade order.

Aftershaves This has been my biggest AD, I have just over 20 aftershaves/colognes. There have only been a few that I disliked, and only one that I quickly got rid of. Here again I must thank the members for their input/reviews and suggestions. After reading the forums I picked up some ones I really like (Alt Innsbruck, 4711, Eton College, Spanish leather and Lilac Vegetal). So many interesting fragrances out there and you can only use one a day


Closing thoughts
For new members I would have to bring out the oft used (and over used) mantra YMMV. Everyone is different and has different tastes, techniques, and memories that scents may kindle. What works one may not work for you, and you will never truly know unless you try. There are no really bad products, only ones that do not work for you. I like some controversial products that work great for me (Derby blades, Arko, Tabac, GFT soaps, Lilac Vegetal), but have found popular items that do not work for me (Astra green blades, Stirling soaps, Nivea balms). Also search the forums for the advice and knowledge of our members, they are a great resource, providing help for repairs, cleaning, maintenance, restorations etc. There are many posts of the amazing things they have built (storage cabinets, brushes, new cases etc).


I have managed to entice a couple of friends to the world of DE shaving, and I look forward to expanding my knowledge and experience of DE/SE shaving. Thank you again to everyone here.
 
Thank you very much.

i look forward to improving my techniques, and reading more about the different aspects of razor and shaving history.

Been trying the GRU's; some with success, some not. This is a great community
 
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