This first post will be a recap of everything I've done until now. Mostly just me rambling...so warning your now, it may not be anything special.
2016 First Wet Shave
Razor: Van Der Hagen
Soap: Barbasol
My curiosity for wet shaving came from the Art of Manliness video that I came across on Youtube. Being in the military, I shave on a daily basis in the morning. I never experienced irritation or anything negative from shaving with a cartridge razor (Mach 3), but my intent with wet shaving was to save money. Even though I watched that video back in 2012, I didn't come across the Van Der Hagen Razor until 2016. It was cheap and if I didn't enjoy it, I would go back to carts.
So the razor came with 5 blades. Man was I terrified I was going to tear my face up. I did little research prior to my first shave and all I knew was to apply little to no pressure and let weight of the razor do the work. Didn't know about doing 3 passes and only really shaved with the grain. Surprisingly, the razor was pretty mild and I didn't cut myself up. The shave was definitely not BBS, nowhere close to a Mach 3, but the shave overall was presentable. Although by noon, I would probably need to shave again.
Prior to wet shaving, I've been using carts since 2006. Carts gave me great shaves, so after the blades that came with the DE, I kinda gave up on them. I didn't really know where to buy the blades and I didn't want to go through that inconvenience. Back to the Mach 3...
2020 Wet Shave
Razor: Van Der Hagen and Merkur 34C
Soap: TOBS Sandalwood Cream
Blade: Amazon Sample Pack
Brush: $10 Perfecto Badger
November of 2020 I finally got back into DE shaving. I had found my old Van Der Hagen, but this time did some heavy research on youtube on how to actually use this thing. Came across some channels like geofatboy, nickshaves, and others for techniques. This honestly changed everything...
With Amazon Prime and their 2 day shipping, hardly anything could be an inconvenience ordering anything online. I ordered the Merkur 34C, blade sample pack, brush, bowl and a stand.
My shaves were lookin good, especially with a feather blade. I was dedicated this time went a year strong with just the Merkur/Feather/and the TOBS cream.
2021 Wet Shave
Razor: Merkur 34C
Merkur Progress
Merkur 37C
Rockwell 6C White Chrome
Blades: Various
Brushes:
Parker Synthetic
Parker Silvertip Badger
Semogue 620
Omega 10098
Omega Proraso Professional Brush
Simpsons Chubby 2 Best
Simpsons Chubby 2 Super
Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic Bristle
Simpsons Emperor 3 Super
Simpsons Trafalgar T3
This is the year where I found B&B, got interested in artisan soaps, Simpsons brushes and where everything pretty much went downhill
. Probably don't even need to explain what happened because I'm sure you all understand what I'm talking about. Acquisition disorder was mainly for the brushes. Simpsons brushes are soo classy and look good next to each other.
I got my 3rd Razor, the Rockwell 6C. Thought it was the best razor ever, soo smooth & efficient. Plate 3, and Plate 4 were my go to's. Used Derby Voskhod and Feathers blades. All gave me fantastic shaves. Gave my Merkur 34C to my father as I didn't see myself using it anymore.
2022 Wet Shave
Razor: Rockwell 6C White Chrome
This is the year where I wanted a more minimalistic approach, and just keep the thing that I wanted as far as hardware. For my razor, I easily settled on the Rockwell 6C. Thought it was the best razor ever, soo smooth & efficient. Plate 3, and Plate 4 were my go to's. All blades I threw in it gave me fantastic shaves. I loved the adjustability, essentially giving me 6 different razors.
Gave my Merkur 34C to my father, and sold the others away.
As far as brushes: I don't think I can let go of my Simpsons. In my mind, each have their own purpose. I have one boar, 2 synthetics, and my 6 badgers. I'll eventually drop a picture. If you have SBAD, you know they look amazing all lined up beside each other.
Omega 10098 Boar
Simpsons Trafalgar T3 Synthetic
Simpsons Chubby 2 Best
Simpsons Chubby 2 Super
Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic Bristle
Simpsons Emperor 3 Super
Simpsons Classic 1 Best
Simpsons Duke 2 Best
Simpsons Captain 2 Best
2023 Wet Shave
(February) Sadly, I stripped the threads on the top cap on my Rockwell overtightening it. Super sad, and now I was without a DE. This was the night before I was going out of town for a 2 week trip. Thankfully, I was able to quickly overnight a Edwin Jagger Travel Razor. I also ran to a local store to get a Mach 3 incase I didn't get it in time before my trip.
Thankfully I received the new razor the next morning. Throughout my trip I ended up mainly using the Mach 3. For the life of my I could not get a close shave with the Edwin Jagger to save my life, that is unless I did more than 3 passes and clean up passes. I don't normally get irritation at all, unless I'm overly shaving my face raw. This razor was simply not efficient enough for me.
During my freetime, I was doing extensive research for my next razor. This time I wanted a quality razor replacement. Maybe something Stainless Steel and that would last a lifetime.
2023 March Wet Shave (present)
Back from the trip and not satisfied with this Edwin Jagger. The Rockwell was still fixable, and it turns out the Edwin Jagger top cap had the same threading for the Rockwell. Although it was a good enough bandage to get me by, I did end up ordering another top cap for it.
I had also ordered the Timeless Titanium. Polished Crown Handle, Stand, and the .68 SB, .68 OC, and .95 SB plates in a Master Kit. All received today, and as you've all heard. Their customer support is amazing. Late evening email questions responded almost immediately. Super fast shipping if your CONUS, because they keep a stock of everything.
Todays shave was with the .68 OC. Good smooth shave, although I need more use with it to improve. I was pretty intimidated by the Open Comb but the .68 plate really felt mild. Almost no blade feel. I was surprised, mostly from what I've read. Can't give my full review on it just yet, but I think I'm definitely going to love this razor.
Anyways, this is my journey so far. Still have lots to learn and new things to try. Thanks for reading.
B&B is an awesome community and have now found myself an amazing new hobby.
2016 First Wet Shave
Razor: Van Der Hagen
Soap: Barbasol
My curiosity for wet shaving came from the Art of Manliness video that I came across on Youtube. Being in the military, I shave on a daily basis in the morning. I never experienced irritation or anything negative from shaving with a cartridge razor (Mach 3), but my intent with wet shaving was to save money. Even though I watched that video back in 2012, I didn't come across the Van Der Hagen Razor until 2016. It was cheap and if I didn't enjoy it, I would go back to carts.
So the razor came with 5 blades. Man was I terrified I was going to tear my face up. I did little research prior to my first shave and all I knew was to apply little to no pressure and let weight of the razor do the work. Didn't know about doing 3 passes and only really shaved with the grain. Surprisingly, the razor was pretty mild and I didn't cut myself up. The shave was definitely not BBS, nowhere close to a Mach 3, but the shave overall was presentable. Although by noon, I would probably need to shave again.
Prior to wet shaving, I've been using carts since 2006. Carts gave me great shaves, so after the blades that came with the DE, I kinda gave up on them. I didn't really know where to buy the blades and I didn't want to go through that inconvenience. Back to the Mach 3...
2020 Wet Shave
Razor: Van Der Hagen and Merkur 34C
Soap: TOBS Sandalwood Cream
Blade: Amazon Sample Pack
Brush: $10 Perfecto Badger
November of 2020 I finally got back into DE shaving. I had found my old Van Der Hagen, but this time did some heavy research on youtube on how to actually use this thing. Came across some channels like geofatboy, nickshaves, and others for techniques. This honestly changed everything...
With Amazon Prime and their 2 day shipping, hardly anything could be an inconvenience ordering anything online. I ordered the Merkur 34C, blade sample pack, brush, bowl and a stand.
My shaves were lookin good, especially with a feather blade. I was dedicated this time went a year strong with just the Merkur/Feather/and the TOBS cream.
2021 Wet Shave
Razor: Merkur 34C
Merkur Progress
Merkur 37C
Rockwell 6C White Chrome
Blades: Various
Brushes:
Parker Synthetic
Parker Silvertip Badger
Semogue 620
Omega 10098
Omega Proraso Professional Brush
Simpsons Chubby 2 Best
Simpsons Chubby 2 Super
Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic Bristle
Simpsons Emperor 3 Super
Simpsons Trafalgar T3
This is the year where I found B&B, got interested in artisan soaps, Simpsons brushes and where everything pretty much went downhill
. Probably don't even need to explain what happened because I'm sure you all understand what I'm talking about. Acquisition disorder was mainly for the brushes. Simpsons brushes are soo classy and look good next to each other.I got my 3rd Razor, the Rockwell 6C. Thought it was the best razor ever, soo smooth & efficient. Plate 3, and Plate 4 were my go to's. Used Derby Voskhod and Feathers blades. All gave me fantastic shaves. Gave my Merkur 34C to my father as I didn't see myself using it anymore.
2022 Wet Shave
Razor: Rockwell 6C White Chrome
This is the year where I wanted a more minimalistic approach, and just keep the thing that I wanted as far as hardware. For my razor, I easily settled on the Rockwell 6C. Thought it was the best razor ever, soo smooth & efficient. Plate 3, and Plate 4 were my go to's. All blades I threw in it gave me fantastic shaves. I loved the adjustability, essentially giving me 6 different razors.
Gave my Merkur 34C to my father, and sold the others away.
As far as brushes: I don't think I can let go of my Simpsons. In my mind, each have their own purpose. I have one boar, 2 synthetics, and my 6 badgers. I'll eventually drop a picture. If you have SBAD, you know they look amazing all lined up beside each other.
Omega 10098 Boar
Simpsons Trafalgar T3 Synthetic
Simpsons Chubby 2 Best
Simpsons Chubby 2 Super
Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic Bristle
Simpsons Emperor 3 Super
Simpsons Classic 1 Best
Simpsons Duke 2 Best
Simpsons Captain 2 Best
2023 Wet Shave
(February) Sadly, I stripped the threads on the top cap on my Rockwell overtightening it. Super sad, and now I was without a DE. This was the night before I was going out of town for a 2 week trip. Thankfully, I was able to quickly overnight a Edwin Jagger Travel Razor. I also ran to a local store to get a Mach 3 incase I didn't get it in time before my trip.
Thankfully I received the new razor the next morning. Throughout my trip I ended up mainly using the Mach 3. For the life of my I could not get a close shave with the Edwin Jagger to save my life, that is unless I did more than 3 passes and clean up passes. I don't normally get irritation at all, unless I'm overly shaving my face raw. This razor was simply not efficient enough for me.
During my freetime, I was doing extensive research for my next razor. This time I wanted a quality razor replacement. Maybe something Stainless Steel and that would last a lifetime.
2023 March Wet Shave (present)
Back from the trip and not satisfied with this Edwin Jagger. The Rockwell was still fixable, and it turns out the Edwin Jagger top cap had the same threading for the Rockwell. Although it was a good enough bandage to get me by, I did end up ordering another top cap for it.
I had also ordered the Timeless Titanium. Polished Crown Handle, Stand, and the .68 SB, .68 OC, and .95 SB plates in a Master Kit. All received today, and as you've all heard. Their customer support is amazing. Late evening email questions responded almost immediately. Super fast shipping if your CONUS, because they keep a stock of everything.
Todays shave was with the .68 OC. Good smooth shave, although I need more use with it to improve. I was pretty intimidated by the Open Comb but the .68 plate really felt mild. Almost no blade feel. I was surprised, mostly from what I've read. Can't give my full review on it just yet, but I think I'm definitely going to love this razor.
Anyways, this is my journey so far. Still have lots to learn and new things to try. Thanks for reading.
B&B is an awesome community and have now found myself an amazing new hobby.
.
