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Big Changes and myths and legends

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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Nice. I don’t think there is one best way for everyone. Our journeys and paths are all unique. The way that works best for you is the way you should go.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Before I started SR shaving, I didn't enjoy shaving so I just shaved three times a week. Now that I am well into SR shaving (over 300 shaves), I enjoy it so much that I shave at least every day.

I restrict myself to only two passes per shave (WTG & XTR) for a DFS+ result, otherwise I have nothing to shave the next day. I have also settled down to just five different soaps, three brushes and only five different matching seven-day sets of SR's and a few other odd razors.

I'm becoming a minimalist. I have probably spent less than USD 4k on shaving gear since I started with SR shaving.
 
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I have had several similar epiphanies.

1) I shaved every single day religiously and couldn’t imagine shaving less than that. Now, similar to you, I am shaving less, but I am shaving 4 times a week, which is slightly more than every other day.

2) I very recently (within the past two weeks) figured out that I could get just as good a shave with two passes on the neck as I was getting with three, so I cut down to two on the face and two on the neck. One pass on the face is almost close enough; certainly would be if I were shaving every day.

3) I narrowed my gear down considerably; so much so that I have used nothing but AC shavettes since last September. Never say never, and I don’t know the future, but I can’t imagine that I will go back to DE, SE, or (gasp!) cart shaving now that I’ve found my happy place with AC shavettes.

4) I have discovered that shaves in the evening that start with just a couple of splashes of water on the face are pretty much the same as morning shaves that follow a shower. So I agree with you that prep is generally overrated.

5) I still love my shaving soaps, though, and will not be going back to propellent creams or gels anytime soon. I 3017’d my stash down to a much smaller assortment, with about 4 lathering products currently in my den, one of which is a cream that I only used for travel but I have decided to put into the rotation. I am HOPING that my selection will broaden over the next 6 weeks, which contains both my birthday and Christmas. Yes, I have given hints, very specific hints, about what I would like to get.:001_smile

I do feel, however, that this way of shaving is definitely greener. I get at least a month of shaves out of every single tiny little AC blade, and the blades are recyclable. I am adding no plastic to landfills at all. I am not throwing out used cans of foam or gel. When I buy new soaps I try to buy pucks that are not in jars; I have old jars at home that I use over and over again, filling them with new soaps when they arrive, grating them if I have to. I dare say that my waste from shaving over the course of the last year is lower than the average guy’s in a month. I gave up a long time ago on the idea that I would save MONEY this way of shaving, but I am definitely decreasing my carbon footprint as much as I can without growing a beard.
 
Indeed is great to find what works and also realize that doesn't have to be so fuzzy to achieve great results.

I too ditched the alum block as it was also very drying on my face, specially when the weather here is already dry (I am guessing people who likes alum live in humid places?) and did away with preshaves when I started face lathering since the process preps both whiskers and skin for the shave.

I have what I believe is a complete set of different types of traditional razors (DE, SE, Injector, Shavette and Straight) about 10 in total, but I only use about 2 regularly.

Same with soaps, I‘ve tried plenty of samples but I always come back to the same couple of soaps and creams that I know will produce exceptional lather and great shaves time after time.

As for brushes I have 4 (badger, boar, horse and synthetic) and 90% of the shaves is the synthetic one that gets used for how easy and simple it is to use.

All in all I think is exciting in the beginning cause we want to try everything and sometimes we fear we are missing something special if we don't have a certain item that everyone talks and raves about but the reality is each one of us finds what brings comfort and happiness and thats what is all about, beyond that is pure hobby and entertainment.
 
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.


great to hear from another penny-minded shaver!!

proraso omega gillette tech pinaud clubman march 23 2015.jpg
 
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