Do you turn the hobby off?

[Raven Koenes]

Wet shaving, Water+Shaving=Wet Shaving. Dry Shaving, Shaving-Water=Dry Shaving. I'm a confirmed user of everything Fatip. I love Creams, Soaps, and Brushes. I used a Gillette Heritage, five blade, Cartridge I got for my Birthday. It was fun. It was wet. I shaved.

 

[dil_5]

I use nivea canned foam/gel when I don't have time to lather. If I'm really rushed I've been known to do a one pass with one of the wifes pink bic disposables.

 

[Badgerstate36]

All of my adult life, I have shaved. Even when I wear a beard, there is still some trim to do. Most of that time was in the shower, with a cart and bath bar soap. It’s fast and effective. But is it considered part of the hobby we call wet-shaving? I still use it when I need to do a quick get out of the door shave. Do you have a simulator way that might be considered turning the hobby off?

Technically, any time you shave with water, its wet shaving. I think that most only think of using a brush, soap/cream and DE razor as wet shaving but thats really more traditonal wet shaving, IMO.
If you use a brush and DE, thats wet shaving. If you use a cart and canned foam/gel, thats wet shaving. If you use an electric with canned foam/gel, thats wet shaving too.
IMO, theres sometimes a lot of snobbery in the wet shaving world in that you have to use traditional gear and if you dont, thats not wet shaving and that simply isnt true.

 

[mattps1]

Turning off the hobby is being efficient, minimal and spending less time in bathroom than your wife. Time is not spent smelling soaps or admiring the softness of artisanal brushes.

1 pass, maybe 2 passes if going into work where you might get checked out and need to be presentable. If you cut and bleed put a piece of toilet paper on the wound and call it a day.

Time is saved in denial of all choice, no matching blade to razor, no matching razor to day of week or month.
No time spent pre-soaking your face with oil, pre-soaking pucks, pre-soaking brushes, no 2-minute loading brushes, no usage of vessels that could be confused for a vintage bedpan, no SOTD mood-lighting or photos.

 

[Alohawyatt]

Earlier I'd mentioned that for me, turning the hobby off meant that I was shower shaving. I have recently thrown a corkscrew in my theory. Going on an unexpected camping trip. Can test a persons shaving skills. I know, what do you mean by unexpected camping trip? I was traveling and had to stop for the night without a hotel. The reasons why and all the circumstances that surround it is a long story, and maybe I'll tell it someday but not today. The point that I'm trying to make here is that I did have a lot of my travel shaving equipment with me. I guess the big exceptions are that I had no sink and no mirror. Not to mention no walls or roof either. I did have a bottled of water, an Arko stick, a shave brush and my Fatip. I was able to shave. But, boy did the whole thing feel different. Did I have to shave? No. Did I want to shave? yes. So I guess that means that I was back in the hobby. It has made me think about bringing the hobby to the shower.

 

[Rhody]

Interesting story there.

When I’m pressed for time I use cream from a tube to save some steps. When I’m feeling lazy I just don’t shave.

 

[DCRIII]

Wet shaving, for me, isn't the hobby regardless of the tools used.
Collecting vintage shaving related items, making shaving brushes, and making shaving soap however is the hobby. Using said iteams to shave just happens to be a pleasant byproduct of the hobby.

 

[Ruva]

I consider any form of shaving that uses water to be wet shaving.

Do I turn the hobby off? Yes, every shave. I don't consider this a hobby.

 

[Whilliam]

My enthusiasm varies. Sometimes, I'll stop posting for a while, and just gel up and shave by rote. But I always return to B&B, as I quickly miss both the ritual of a satisfying shave and the fellowship of the forums.

 

[Old Hippie]

I was just thinking along these lines the other day. I've picked up a number of hobbies over the years. Most of them eventually go away.

I have a bit of a blade fetish. Axes, crosscut saws, knives, scythes, swords, razors. Only so much wood you can cut. Scythes are great tools but I only use them lately for cutting hay, and that in summer which this isn't. Carrying knives or swords around may not be exactly illegal but it will get you talked about. And talked to. So my engagement with those hobbies has diminished because I have to set aside time to fiddle with them. Ditto for "shooting sports" even though I have a stone quarry behind the house that will soak up bullets all day long. Still have to stop doing something to go out and do that.

Gotta shave. Happens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Since I'm in there anyway, might as well have fun with it. So no, I guess I don't "turn it off." Having a hobby that's actually useful is a good thing.

O.H.

 

[santamariasteve]

The original question was about turning off the shaving hobby. There should be a switch on the bathroom wall. Look for it.

 

[Squirrel]

Turn it off, not really. If I am traveling (remember those days) I have an electric I can can take with me if I know i will be pressed for time. For a real quickie I still prefer my daily driver Merkur 34C with Cremo. Shower, wet face a one/two pass shave (you can do that with Cremo) in I would say <3 min. Never really timed it but its fast. Normally my shaves are pretty fast anyway, I would say 5 to 7 minutes start to finish.
Not sure any of this is putting the hobby aside and haven’t tried a cartridge in a really long time. I like to shave every day, just makes me feel good.

 

[santamariasteve]

I too don't feel quite right if I don't shave DAILY. Isn't it interesting that many guys say that?

 

[Old Hippie]

The original question was about turning off the shaving hobby. There should be a switch on the bathroom wall. Look for it.

Oh, THAT switch. Sorry. It also turns off the lights, which doesn't slow me down much now that I've gotten somewhat comfortable shaving blind on the back of my head with a straight razor.

O.H.

 

[RayClem]

Back when I was still working, I shaved every day, sometimes twice a day if I had a meeting in the evening. Once I retired, I started to shave either daily or sometimes ever day and a half. Now with the COVID restrictions, I only leave my house when I have to do so. I now shave every two days. I am not trying to conserve on razor blades, soaps, etc. as I have enough to last for many years, but I guess saving water is a good thing.

 

[Alohawyatt]

I haven't had a shower shave in quite so time now. In the past, I almost always shaved in the shower. It was fast and done. Ok, maybe a little touch-up after whipping off the foggy mirror. Now that it has been so long, I'm considering doing it for fun. Funny how some things can go full circle.

 

[yamaha0343]

It stopped being a hobby for me a few years ago. Back when I first started B&B was a wealth of information and I went through the gotta try it all phase. I still have a few razors, but honestly I use the same razor/brush/blade/shaving cream combo every time and it's not really a hobby thing, just an I need to do it thing.

 

[gmdh1221]

It stopped being a hobby for me a few years ago. Back when I first started B&B was a wealth of information and I went through the gotta try it all phase. I still have a few razors, but honestly I use the same razor/brush/blade/shaving cream combo every time and it's not really a hobby thing, just an I need to do it thing.

Somewhat similar to you. I started in college about 15 years ago and B&B was where I learned everything.

Over the next decade of working and having other things on my mind, I never went back to a cartridge but it just became a chore. I also had all the stuff I had amassed to get through because I'm not really the type to want a huge collection, which led to boredom.

Going into covid, I was sort of like any other person that shaves at random intervals when my stubble started looking terrible, only with a DE.

I rebooted my approach about a year ago but on weekdays remain in the realm of it just being part of getting ready, no different than brushing my teeth. Truth be told, the actual act of razoring has always come second to me after bonding with a favored soap/cream/aftershave. Now that I whittled my supply down I have a little stable of samples so I can mess around without finding myself back with a 10 year supply again.

 

[dieselfuel79]

All my DE shaves are similar. If rushed I’ll whip up some cream into a lather. I use a small assortment of mild razors. I don’t use carts or canned foam/cream anymore.

This.