It has been a bit over five years since I switched from multi-blade to DE starting with a Merkur Progress. I was very active here for the first year of so, then did a couple annual check-ins. My last update was a couple years ago here.
Shaving has become a bit less of a hobby, and a bit more routine, but I still enjoy my shaves (some more than others). I've found my preferred kit and I am not exploring as much or changing things up as much. I bleed a bit more since having an angioplasty and getting a stent. It isn't the really heavy duty blood thinners, but more a cocktail of heart meds that is supposed to reduce inflammation and plaque build up. The good news is they found the blockage before I had anything more serious than mild angina. Also, I am traveling more in the last two years since the grandchild business is booming. Because of this my travel shaving kit has evolved and it has influenced home shaving as well.
With the exception of a small shake up due to the travel kit, everything has gotten either simpler or more streamlined. In the olden days it was Merkur: Progress and 37C slant, Ikon Slant. Now it is a RazoRock Protege head (DE 89 clone) or a RazoRock German 37 Slant head on a Bulldog handle. The Merkur Progress had some of the attributes of each of these heads in addition to being adjustable. The setting I used on the Progress was not very different than the Protege's aggressiveness, and the way that the Progress bends and tensions the blade is similar to the tension created by a Slant. Just for fun I shaved with the Progress this morning since I was thinking about this post. I used a more aggressive setting for the first pass and dialed it down for second pass and touchup. I much prefer three piece razor mechanics to Merkur's two piece setup with the long stem on both Progress and 37C. I find the three piece razor is easier to keep clean.
I buy Personna Lab Blue in bulk and they are all I use unless I bump into something else in the drawer and I am feeling adventurous. I still have nine brushes. One is in the toy box for the grandkids because they like to shave with me, one is in the spare bathroom used once a year maybe, and the rest are on display but I really only rotate between the same three synthetic brushes (Plisson, Muhle, Whipped Dog). Every six months or so I have a nostalgia lather with my Simpson Berkeley. I rotate between the same three soaps as last report: Valobra, Razorock XXX, and Mudder Focker. Valobra is still my favorite. Cella and Proraso have become rarities like the Berkeley brush. I always face lather.
My shaves have continued to improve or at least I am more pleased with them. Technique is learned by practicing good habits, which of course only happens through experience and paying attention. One of my favorite quotes is, “Experience is how we avoid mistakes, but making mistakes is how we gain experience.” With time I have found that I still make mistakes now and then, but they are small nicks and almost never irritation. It's hard to comment in detail about how my technique has changed, but my sense is that a combination of shorter strokes, adjusting blade angle, and adjusting direction of strokes has allowed me to find patterns where I am mostly shaving one small flat surface at a time. So it is almost like reducing my face to a series of facets where I know the size of the facet, the angle, and the grain, and also where the facets break, particularly where they break more sharply. This is not something I could have plotted out originally, but it has been burned into muscle memory over time.
I have a better ability to adjust my “shaving ego” these days. I look at how much time I have, what I intend to do, what kind of mood I'm in, and decide how much time I want to spend and how I want to shave. In years gone by, I would feel frustrated if I didn't have time to get a great shave. I was more judgmental or at least always had expectations about how the shave should be, so I was more easily disappointed. Which brings me to my travel kit and what may seem somewhat heretical.
In the past, I would bring a synthetic brush, a Valobra shave stick, my DE razor and blades, an alum stick, and a small plastic bottle of aftershave. The DE blades meant checking or if carrying on was a must, I'd bring a Bic single blade disposable in place of DE razor and blades. I invariably found that conditions on the road were frustrating for shaving, and I was often rushed. I've been traveling more by air, so I have been adjusting my travel kit.Now I bring a small bottle of shaving oil and a Gillette Guard travel razor in place of brush, shave stick, DE razor, and blades. On the road with oil and disposable, I do a one pass with touch up. This gives me a socially acceptable shave in very little time using my usual first pass technique. There is the same prep time wetting my face, but application of the oil and working it in is quicker than applying shave stick and lathering, and clean up is reduced to almost zero. I've had enough success with this on the road that if I wake up late for a meeting or I am otherwise very rushed in the morning I will use my travel kit at home. I don't recommend this for a newbie starting out, but would say as technique improves, you gain flexibility and can do a pretty good job under less than perfect circumstances.
Once more I want to salute this site for the continuing support it gives to aspiring wet shavers including newbies old and new. I am glad to see it is still a beacon of civility in a landscape that seems more hardened and rancorous everyday.
Alan
Shaving has become a bit less of a hobby, and a bit more routine, but I still enjoy my shaves (some more than others). I've found my preferred kit and I am not exploring as much or changing things up as much. I bleed a bit more since having an angioplasty and getting a stent. It isn't the really heavy duty blood thinners, but more a cocktail of heart meds that is supposed to reduce inflammation and plaque build up. The good news is they found the blockage before I had anything more serious than mild angina. Also, I am traveling more in the last two years since the grandchild business is booming. Because of this my travel shaving kit has evolved and it has influenced home shaving as well.
With the exception of a small shake up due to the travel kit, everything has gotten either simpler or more streamlined. In the olden days it was Merkur: Progress and 37C slant, Ikon Slant. Now it is a RazoRock Protege head (DE 89 clone) or a RazoRock German 37 Slant head on a Bulldog handle. The Merkur Progress had some of the attributes of each of these heads in addition to being adjustable. The setting I used on the Progress was not very different than the Protege's aggressiveness, and the way that the Progress bends and tensions the blade is similar to the tension created by a Slant. Just for fun I shaved with the Progress this morning since I was thinking about this post. I used a more aggressive setting for the first pass and dialed it down for second pass and touchup. I much prefer three piece razor mechanics to Merkur's two piece setup with the long stem on both Progress and 37C. I find the three piece razor is easier to keep clean.
I buy Personna Lab Blue in bulk and they are all I use unless I bump into something else in the drawer and I am feeling adventurous. I still have nine brushes. One is in the toy box for the grandkids because they like to shave with me, one is in the spare bathroom used once a year maybe, and the rest are on display but I really only rotate between the same three synthetic brushes (Plisson, Muhle, Whipped Dog). Every six months or so I have a nostalgia lather with my Simpson Berkeley. I rotate between the same three soaps as last report: Valobra, Razorock XXX, and Mudder Focker. Valobra is still my favorite. Cella and Proraso have become rarities like the Berkeley brush. I always face lather.
My shaves have continued to improve or at least I am more pleased with them. Technique is learned by practicing good habits, which of course only happens through experience and paying attention. One of my favorite quotes is, “Experience is how we avoid mistakes, but making mistakes is how we gain experience.” With time I have found that I still make mistakes now and then, but they are small nicks and almost never irritation. It's hard to comment in detail about how my technique has changed, but my sense is that a combination of shorter strokes, adjusting blade angle, and adjusting direction of strokes has allowed me to find patterns where I am mostly shaving one small flat surface at a time. So it is almost like reducing my face to a series of facets where I know the size of the facet, the angle, and the grain, and also where the facets break, particularly where they break more sharply. This is not something I could have plotted out originally, but it has been burned into muscle memory over time.
I have a better ability to adjust my “shaving ego” these days. I look at how much time I have, what I intend to do, what kind of mood I'm in, and decide how much time I want to spend and how I want to shave. In years gone by, I would feel frustrated if I didn't have time to get a great shave. I was more judgmental or at least always had expectations about how the shave should be, so I was more easily disappointed. Which brings me to my travel kit and what may seem somewhat heretical.
In the past, I would bring a synthetic brush, a Valobra shave stick, my DE razor and blades, an alum stick, and a small plastic bottle of aftershave. The DE blades meant checking or if carrying on was a must, I'd bring a Bic single blade disposable in place of DE razor and blades. I invariably found that conditions on the road were frustrating for shaving, and I was often rushed. I've been traveling more by air, so I have been adjusting my travel kit.Now I bring a small bottle of shaving oil and a Gillette Guard travel razor in place of brush, shave stick, DE razor, and blades. On the road with oil and disposable, I do a one pass with touch up. This gives me a socially acceptable shave in very little time using my usual first pass technique. There is the same prep time wetting my face, but application of the oil and working it in is quicker than applying shave stick and lathering, and clean up is reduced to almost zero. I've had enough success with this on the road that if I wake up late for a meeting or I am otherwise very rushed in the morning I will use my travel kit at home. I don't recommend this for a newbie starting out, but would say as technique improves, you gain flexibility and can do a pretty good job under less than perfect circumstances.
Once more I want to salute this site for the continuing support it gives to aspiring wet shavers including newbies old and new. I am glad to see it is still a beacon of civility in a landscape that seems more hardened and rancorous everyday.
Alan
