First, thanks for letting me join this forum. I don't know that I'll post that much but this is my "hello" post regardless. I apologize in advance but this is long.
I'm early 50's and have been a wet blade shaver for my entire life, save for a few one time experiments with various whiz-bang electric razors decades ago (good, close shave for about 3 hours, then you feel like a vagrant again).
The first razor that touched my face was my father's Gillette DE. I don't recall the model nor at the time would have even cared. This would have been some time in the mid to late 70's. I do remember it being silver and being a top loading adjustable. It always resided on the corner of the bathroom sink along with a can of whatever type of foaming shave cream he used at the time. The sole endeavor was to remove whatever small amount of peach fuzz would have existed on a teen's face at that stage in life.
After joining the service (USMC), I viewed shaving as a necessary evil. I struggled with the new plastic disposable contraptions that were all the rage of the 80's and all but relegated the majority of DE's to the junk drawer of American homes. They tended to produce satisfactory results on the cheeks but a disaster on the neck and jaw line, usually with a minimum of at least one micro slice and/or abrasion on each use.
Eventually I witnessed the rise and predominance of the cartridge. Early cartridge gizmo's gave no significant improvements for me, up until the advent of the Gillette Mach 3. Prior to the Gillette Mach 3, I rarely completed a shave without at least 1 piece of toilet tissue attached to my face before leaving the bathroom. Sometimes 3 or 4 on a bad day.
The Mach 3 finally provided what I didn't know could ever be possible - a one and done, no cut, no abrasion, polished marble smooth shave that would stay that way the majority of the working day. I went on to use this model for years, never giving the chore of shaving more thought than the ritual to teeth brushing. I was firmly moving in line in the mass market, plastic injection molded cattle chute.
Once I toyed with the 5 blade monster, and realized that it provided no better results than the 3 blade iteration, but certainly was improving the stock value of Gillette with each purchase I made. I went back to 3 and stayed multiple more years, still at significant cost for the disposable boxes that get mounted on that plastic handle.
One day I woke up and something had changed in me. I wanted to relive that first experience when as a young man I had picked up my father's old Gillette DE and used it. It was all he used for his entire life and he shaved every working day. What I would soon discover though, is that it was not going to be as easy as I imagined.
Using cartridge razors for years teaches the shaver very bad habits that can't be translated to DE shaving. With the cartridge razor, you slap on the foam, slap the flat surface of the blade box to your face and start dragging. No need to worry about angle or technique, that's all predetermined for you. The skill in wielding the shave implement was eradicated and replaced with "idiot proof" design. My first contemporary effort with DE shaving resulted in the same disaster as I had lived through with early cartridge razors, all thanks to the fact I just didn't "know" how to shave anymore.
I went back to 3 blade disposables again for several more years with the same technique and predictable results. But as I aged a part of me still wanted to reconnect to the past. I would attempt DE once more, but this time go back to the drawing board technique-wise. How could millions of men have successfully used these implements for over 100 years if they were not the right tool for the job?
Research, research, research. I've always been one of those guys that will struggle with comprehending certain concepts, but then one day the proverbial light bulb comes on and it's all so obvious that I wonder why I never recognized it before. I realized I was expecting the same result with the same technique using shavers that were very different from each other in design. A different shaver requires a different technique, and in many respects deserves the same devotion to taking one's time as existed in the era in which it was developed.
So here I am firmly back in the DE world. To some it's economical, to some it's reconnecting with a simpler era of time. For me it's a little bit of both, but less the economical aspect as I've succumbed to the addiction of acquiring numerous vintage oldies, including adjustable slims (the model I suspect I originally used as a young man), some Tech's, a few Super Speed's and at least one example from the first decade of Gillette razor production. Shaving has gone from a necessary evil (in my occupation I have to be clean shaven each working day), to the highlight of the morning and an utter addiction. I believe I have become a razor-holic. I have no intention of ever attending Razor-holic's Anonymous however.
If you read this in its entirety you have my condolences, but thank you again for this forum and thanks for allowing me to post!
I'm early 50's and have been a wet blade shaver for my entire life, save for a few one time experiments with various whiz-bang electric razors decades ago (good, close shave for about 3 hours, then you feel like a vagrant again).
The first razor that touched my face was my father's Gillette DE. I don't recall the model nor at the time would have even cared. This would have been some time in the mid to late 70's. I do remember it being silver and being a top loading adjustable. It always resided on the corner of the bathroom sink along with a can of whatever type of foaming shave cream he used at the time. The sole endeavor was to remove whatever small amount of peach fuzz would have existed on a teen's face at that stage in life.
After joining the service (USMC), I viewed shaving as a necessary evil. I struggled with the new plastic disposable contraptions that were all the rage of the 80's and all but relegated the majority of DE's to the junk drawer of American homes. They tended to produce satisfactory results on the cheeks but a disaster on the neck and jaw line, usually with a minimum of at least one micro slice and/or abrasion on each use.
Eventually I witnessed the rise and predominance of the cartridge. Early cartridge gizmo's gave no significant improvements for me, up until the advent of the Gillette Mach 3. Prior to the Gillette Mach 3, I rarely completed a shave without at least 1 piece of toilet tissue attached to my face before leaving the bathroom. Sometimes 3 or 4 on a bad day.
The Mach 3 finally provided what I didn't know could ever be possible - a one and done, no cut, no abrasion, polished marble smooth shave that would stay that way the majority of the working day. I went on to use this model for years, never giving the chore of shaving more thought than the ritual to teeth brushing. I was firmly moving in line in the mass market, plastic injection molded cattle chute.
Once I toyed with the 5 blade monster, and realized that it provided no better results than the 3 blade iteration, but certainly was improving the stock value of Gillette with each purchase I made. I went back to 3 and stayed multiple more years, still at significant cost for the disposable boxes that get mounted on that plastic handle.
One day I woke up and something had changed in me. I wanted to relive that first experience when as a young man I had picked up my father's old Gillette DE and used it. It was all he used for his entire life and he shaved every working day. What I would soon discover though, is that it was not going to be as easy as I imagined.
Using cartridge razors for years teaches the shaver very bad habits that can't be translated to DE shaving. With the cartridge razor, you slap on the foam, slap the flat surface of the blade box to your face and start dragging. No need to worry about angle or technique, that's all predetermined for you. The skill in wielding the shave implement was eradicated and replaced with "idiot proof" design. My first contemporary effort with DE shaving resulted in the same disaster as I had lived through with early cartridge razors, all thanks to the fact I just didn't "know" how to shave anymore.
I went back to 3 blade disposables again for several more years with the same technique and predictable results. But as I aged a part of me still wanted to reconnect to the past. I would attempt DE once more, but this time go back to the drawing board technique-wise. How could millions of men have successfully used these implements for over 100 years if they were not the right tool for the job?
Research, research, research. I've always been one of those guys that will struggle with comprehending certain concepts, but then one day the proverbial light bulb comes on and it's all so obvious that I wonder why I never recognized it before. I realized I was expecting the same result with the same technique using shavers that were very different from each other in design. A different shaver requires a different technique, and in many respects deserves the same devotion to taking one's time as existed in the era in which it was developed.
So here I am firmly back in the DE world. To some it's economical, to some it's reconnecting with a simpler era of time. For me it's a little bit of both, but less the economical aspect as I've succumbed to the addiction of acquiring numerous vintage oldies, including adjustable slims (the model I suspect I originally used as a young man), some Tech's, a few Super Speed's and at least one example from the first decade of Gillette razor production. Shaving has gone from a necessary evil (in my occupation I have to be clean shaven each working day), to the highlight of the morning and an utter addiction. I believe I have become a razor-holic. I have no intention of ever attending Razor-holic's Anonymous however.
If you read this in its entirety you have my condolences, but thank you again for this forum and thanks for allowing me to post!
