I was at the gym Tues and noticed a guy shaving with a Power Fusion and canned goo. With my too many years at the shooting range ears I could hear the hum of the razor. It crossed my mind that it was like so many things now. The stark white foam goo-visually striking but with no real tactile enjoyment or refined aroma. The razor humming, preventing hearing the sound of whiskers being cut (no singing razor here). The razor vibrating, obliterating any feeling by your hands or face. It was all visual, no fine touch, no subtle sounds or odors. It was a video game, its was football on TV rather than a multisensory, personal experience. It was a reduced, sterilized, empty exercise.
An increasingly visual world
- Thread starter binowatch
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This is my favorite serious post in a long time.
You've never used one, have you?
"It was a reduced, sterilized, empty exercise"
I almost used that same phrase the other day discussing modern day dining. I am not too fond of this 21st century.
I almost used that same phrase the other day discussing modern day dining. I am not too fond of this 21st century.
While there is a lot of truth in what you are saying I doubt the guy was even visually enjoying his shave.
I would imaging this is the quickest, most foolproof way for him to shave and that's why he chooses it. He doesn't want to enjoy the shave, just get it over and done with. It's like shampooing your hair. How many guys on here buy high end shampoos and specialised conditioners, toners and treatments? How many use the correct massage technique and application techniques?
Most guys grab a bottle of whatever is in the shower, rub it in their hair, maybe make a little sudsy Mohawk , then wash it out and give it a rub with a towel to dry it.
Everyone chooses different things to enjoy and elaborate on.
I would imaging this is the quickest, most foolproof way for him to shave and that's why he chooses it. He doesn't want to enjoy the shave, just get it over and done with. It's like shampooing your hair. How many guys on here buy high end shampoos and specialised conditioners, toners and treatments? How many use the correct massage technique and application techniques?
Most guys grab a bottle of whatever is in the shower, rub it in their hair, maybe make a little sudsy Mohawk , then wash it out and give it a rub with a towel to dry it.
Everyone chooses different things to enjoy and elaborate on.
A very stark observation of what some consider shaving. I have been a convert to wet shaving for a year now. Like you described I love the multi-sensory of wet shaving.
+1 Danielle hit the nail on the head.
Gillette marketing has successfully convinced 98% of the shaving public that shaving is a chore to be completed as quickly and mindlessly as possible, cost be damned!
Yes, that's clearly been the message of Gillette's marketing campaigns over the past sixty years.
i understand what your seeing completely and trying my best to let other guys see that there are other options. I have gone to the gym in the morning quite regularly the pass few months and shaved with my DE. I would get a couple looks of wonder. I was using an Arlington shave stick and tweezerman to lather up with but the pass 2 weeks i changed over to a little treasure long forgotten that i found under my sink, they where 2 small pucks of TGQ in little ceramic dishes that i had bought for them. I noticed that when ever i lathered up with one of these soaps i was getting a lot more looks. I think it might be the strong manly scent of these soaps (oakmoss, highlander) that is gathering the interest. So i will continue doing this and hopefully be able to convert a few guys or at least get the wheels turning in there head.
on a side note a quick funny story, i actually scared a guy out of his shave. I was in the middle of my shave when a guy with only a razor in hand and a weeks worth of stubble came up to the sink next me. Wet his razor with some water and was about to put the razor to his dry face when he took a look at me and i shot back a look of "what the heck are you doing!" he just stopped turn around and left, didn't even give me a chance to offer my soap and brush.
on a side note a quick funny story, i actually scared a guy out of his shave. I was in the middle of my shave when a guy with only a razor in hand and a weeks worth of stubble came up to the sink next me. Wet his razor with some water and was about to put the razor to his dry face when he took a look at me and i shot back a look of "what the heck are you doing!" he just stopped turn around and left, didn't even give me a chance to offer my soap and brush.
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- #10
I used a Power Fusion in the shower with regular shower bar soap for years before my epiphany with trad wet shaving. It was as suggested, a daily boring task to be gotten over with ASAP. When If I ran out of cartridges I grabbed whatever was around-old Bic single edge (not bad really), one of my wifes disposables, etc. I still use it traveling to use up the cartridges I bought at Costco just before changing over!
I can just imagine the poor guy, looking like a deer caught in headlights holding his razor.
Well said. I agree with evandood that many aspects of modern life have become "reduced, sterilized, empty exercises." Case in point, e-mail. No more do we have the tactile sensation and aroma of paper and ink conveying our thoughts. Now, it's a white screen with a hurried, and often grammatically incorrect, demand for a response.
Here's to days gone by, and efforts to revive and relive them. I think that's what a sizable proportion of us traditional wet shavers are trying to do, in some small way, with our shaving routines. I know that's the case for me.
Here's to days gone by, and efforts to revive and relive them. I think that's what a sizable proportion of us traditional wet shavers are trying to do, in some small way, with our shaving routines. I know that's the case for me.
Don't use them. Sell those puppies on eBay! You could probably make some extra money to spend on ADs!
24 years old and I absolutely HATE using email. Any chance I get, I write handwritten letters to friends and family. I even use a Schaeffer fountain pen!
Then I'm surprised you think the motor is loud enough to drown out the sound of your whiskers being cut. It's not. Even electrics don't do that.
- Thread starter
- #17
You probably have better ears than mine-I am at the age that I can hear a pin drop in a quiet room but have trouble discerning sounds in a loud environment--or you have amazingly loud whiskers!
Well said. Nothing beats the sensation of a single sharp edge gliding across the face on a cushion of real lather.
We live in an age that is increasingly sterile - Society's value seems to be what is most expeditious and "productive." Hence, fast food & fast shaves.
People pay handsomely to be vicarious entertained, yet they seem to be completely oblivious to the enjoyment of life that is around them every day.
People pay handsomely to be vicarious entertained, yet they seem to be completely oblivious to the enjoyment of life that is around them every day.
I'm going to pull an "Oh Please" card on you.
Gillette provides good tools to efficiently do a routine task.
YOU decided to make a hobby out of shaving, you can't blame other people for not getting as excited about it as you do.
