I've been changing up the way I shave for like the last week and a half and have found that I prefer only doing a 2 pass shave as opposed to a 3 pass. I don't use pre-shave before first lathering but only before the second pass and It's just as smooth, just as clean all while being more efficient and consuming less time. I also get 0 irritation to boot. It's strange, in the beginning I couldn't dream of going against the grain without having gone across it as it used to just cut me and give me heaps of razor burn but now, it's basically second nature. I also stopped washing my face prior to a shave (just rinse with water in the shower) and I've noticed my face skin is much nicer before/after a shave. I retired my alum block as it was just drying out my face and causing some pimples and acne to be aggravated (now they're all gone) and I've even re-introduced alcohol based aftershave into my post-shave. Nothing fancy, just Brut aftershave. Smells good, sanitises the face, inexpensive and goes with my cologne. I just use a bit of Nivea sensitive balm on top and I'm done. I feel dumb. It's like I bought into things that didn't really add any benefit into my shaving experience. Alum was nice in the beginning but with sustained daily use my face was paying the price (even with aftershave balm and facial moisturiser). If I get cut I'll just use styptic gel, so it seems the block is being retired indefinitely for now. I'm moving to shaving every 2 days as opposed to daily which means that I'll get wayy more use out of my blades. As opposed to changing them out at the end of every week, I'll probably only need to change them out at the end of the month. (1 less pass per shave plus 3 less shaves per week). I don't even know why I considered buying another razor or brush or even a bowl (the captains choice copper has my heart btw lol). I'll just keep buying sampler packs of blades and soaps and creams and stick to what I've got. I like the idea of a somewhat more aggressive shave but since I get the ideal shaves in 2 passes with limited growth I'm fine. I'll probably have one of every razor type in my collection and one of every brush type and a bowl eventually just for the sake of the hobby but I really do think that most of our community over-emphasises the additional performance gained from a) more expensive products, b) different types of product and c) more aggressive product. They aren't swords, they're all meant to shave faces. I doubt the 37c, R41, 6S etc. would revolutionise my shaves and ditto for shave brushes. My $30 AUD boar is just fine...In fact I probably overpaid but didn't know any better. It's strange, I want a collection of Wet-shaving stuff but can no longer justify the idea of it's existence. Like what is the purpose other than variety especially when what I've got seemingly works flawlessly. I also don't hate cartridges anymore. Used my Mach 3 again a few times with my cheap palmolive shave foam and again a mostly flawless shave. Some more irritation, not as enjoyable and not as close (except on my neck and chin which were fantastic). I find that more and more, I've been suckered into believing that DE shaving isn't a more affordable, more ecologically sustainable method of shaving, There's still plenty of bad ingredients in mass produced shave soaps/creams and now some shave gels come with CFC free propellants etc. and are made of recycled aluminum. Carts are going down in price and they still last like 4 months a piece for me. My heart aches but my wallet cheers I guess or is it the other way around?. Still can't tell. What I can say is that I LOVE DE shaving. It is an experience I look foward to always. I love using different products and trying new things. I love that we have a passionate community who cares. What a year it has been.
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