DE shaving is a rabbit hole

[Rhody]

View attachment 1089058

You found where my wallet went!

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

Sure, I’m not great with the camera but these are my regular rotation razors. My ‘64 slim is my daily driver but not in this shot. The razors in the stands (I’m a machinist) are from left to right; 1916 Gillette (my grandfathers birth year), 1954 Gillette super speed (fathers birth year), 1982 black beauty (my birth year) and a 2019 EJ 89 (my sons birth year). There is also a valet auto strop and a Star in the picture. The green bowl was hand made for my sister I acquired

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

LOL ... This was my exact thought when i first decided to try wet shaving as a "protest" at the exorbitant cost of those cartridge things that i have been buying most of my adult life! And on top of that i also felt that using cartridges was very wasteful and not particularly environmentally friendly. But by far the biggest driver was trying to reduce costs! Boy was i mistaken! (but in a good way) Being a bit OCDC it only took me about 1 week to figure that i had fallen into a huge "rabbit hole" ..



And then another week after that i realized that there were in fact MULTIPLE rabbit holes!

But despite that, i'm learning heaps and having great fun spoiling myself after many years of hard work. At least that's how i justify it to myself anyway!

It's a great journey however, so enjoy it all

That’s a good way to put it, spoiling yourself. I’ve always used the most basic inexpensive items and never put aside any time for myself. Wet shaving has provided an experience. The process of warming the bowl, brush and razor, Taking the time whipping up a wicked lather, smelling the soap, taking your time shaving and really paying attention to what your doing. It gives me time to reflect, relax and enjoy the moment. Taking the time to enjoy the small things.

 

[RigelDust]

And in other news water is wet.
My daughter’s college fund may never recover.
Welcome and watch your step.

 

[Razorburne]

It is truly a rabbit hole. Nine years later, I’ve been through the fads, and the trial and error. I spent five of those years selling off, PIFing, using up, and tossing most of my collection in order to settle in to what works for me while maintaining a small aftershave and soap variety. The goal was to save money, which I failed at for a long time. There’s nothing wrong with a hobby but I developed an awareness of excess and I wasn’t comfortable with it. Balance comes with time.

Purely out of curiosity, did you try the “Method Shaving” fad?

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

Purely out of curiosity, did you try the “Method Shaving” fad?

In all honesty I’ve never heard of Method shaving. I’m still pretty new to this. To start I watched some YouTube videos by Geofatboy and Razor Emporium then just dove in. I will read up on method shaving though.

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

I have read up on method shaving.

Purely out of curiosity, did you try the “Method Shaving” fad?

It sounds like it would make sense for some but I’m less structured

 

[Razorburne]

I have read up on method shaving.

It sounds like it would make sense for some but I’m less structured

I completely agree. I never did the Method Shave process. I watched the videos and even thought about purchasing the products at one point but never did. Plenty of people used some of the products in a regular 2-3 pass shave and said the products worked well.


I didn’t like how it seemed like the “founder” of Method Shaving seemed to take a process and terms everyone knew and changed those names, to make everything way too technical, wordy, and proprietary. And as you said - structured.

 

[Fawkes007]

Hello all, I just joined B&B this is my first post. I’ve been DE shaving for about a year now so still bit of a noob. I bought my first DE (Edwin Jagger 89) when I found out my wife and I where having a boy, figured I could pass it on to him when he’s old enough. I liked the idea of wet shaving, it’s classic and more inexpensive than cartridge shaving.... so I thought! In about a year I have acquired almost 20 vintage razors, currently have 2 shaving soaps on the go and just won an eBay bid for a straight razor last night guess I need a strop and stone now. Oh and now I’m on a shaving forum. This wet shaving thing has opened up a rabbit hole! A rabbit hole I’m thoroughly enjoying.

Bruh - you have a serious problem. Get help. And when you find it, let me know where it is.

 

[xiletero]

Welcome !!

If you have money to spare, enjoy the ride, it's fun.

But if not: just join one of the gentleman restraint groups and use few items (specially now that hard times are ahead)

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

Bruh - you have a serious problem. Get help. And when you find it, let me know where it is.

Still looking. I work with a few guys who DE, straight razor or use a shavette. We all seem to be chasing the same rabbit down different holes . When we peg down what we are looking for we will create a PowerPoint to end all Power points and share

 

[Mar1978]

It definitely can be a rabbit hole. I’ve been wet shaving with a DE and brush somewhere around 16-17 years now. I’ve gone through periods of getting on the acquisition kicks and winding up with large amounts of stuff and then having periods of getting down to one razor with the same brand blade, one brush, and one or two shave preps. I personally seem to get my best shaves when I’m sticking with a setup that works well for me. Too much variation tends to result in inconsistent results and then I’m not so happy. So, for me, it’s about finding the right balance of keeping it fun with trying different things out, while also getting the satisfaction of getting consistent shaves.

 

[ajkel64]

It is one of many rabbit holes that exist for us to fall into. Beware my friend, beware.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

In all honesty I’ve never heard of Method shaving. I’m still pretty new to this. To start I watched some YouTube videos by Geofatboy and Razor Emporium then just dove in. I will read up on method shaving though.

Method shaving, IMO like a lot of other shaving related ideas, needlessly complicated a simple process. Soap, razor, brush and water. That’s it. Lather’s dry? Add water. Lather’s thin? Add soap. Still doesn’t work? Buy new soap. The best method is the one that works for you.

 

[steveclarkus]

Hello all, I just joined B&B this is my first post. I’ve been DE shaving for about a year now so still bit of a noob. I bought my first DE (Edwin Jagger 89) when I found out my wife and I where having a boy, figured I could pass it on to him when he’s old enough. I liked the idea of wet shaving, it’s classic and more inexpensive than cartridge shaving.... so I thought! In about a year I have acquired almost 20 vintage razors, currently have 2 shaving soaps on the go and just won an eBay bid for a straight razor last night guess I need a strop and stone now. Oh and now I’m on a shaving forum. This wet shaving thing has opened up a rabbit hole! A rabbit hole I’m thoroughly enjoying.

Take care not to step in all that rabbit poop at the bottom of the hole.

 

[razorhead63]

I thought I was done buying blades.
You know how that goes. Then purchased 100 more GSBs. One of my favorites. Got about 750 blades now.
I’ll get more later... why not?
It is a rabbit hole. Lol

 

[RookieGuy]

Just wait till you see all the bay rum products in the world!

 

[Your Majesty]

I have discipline. Something which many here don't have.

 

[seattleshaver]

I have discipline. Something which many here don't have.

Haha... I agree, not that I haven't bought more shaving stuff than I "need" but sometimes these discussions remind me of an alcoholic telling a non-alcoholic..."Just have one more drink, everyone else is drinking, why fight it!"

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

Then I got a SR. Loved it then got a strop... got a hone on order... DE, SE, SR. Have had Fendrihand, 1 soap and 1 cream on rotation for what seems like a long time, liking them but have about 15 (conservative estimate) soaps I want to try..... rabbit hole indeed.