I would like to start a challenge

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. We all love and enjoy this great hobby, heck that is why we are all here....to learn or to share. I am here to offer up a friendly and fun challenge. Here goes.....rather than feeding AD and spending more and more money to buy this razor....that blade...this soap....and another brush, rather than buying new gear to get a better shave....why not work on proper technique?
Here is what I am on about, i honestly believe that if you pick one razor, one blade, one brush, and one soap/cream and work on your prep, lathering, and shaving technique.....I think you will get a better shave over time rather than buying a new brush or a new soap to get a better shave.
My challenge to you is this....put aside the AD and stick with one complete setup for 1 month to hone a proper technique and see if your shaves do not improve in a wonderful way. i will even add to this by saying I challenge you to do it on a budget and put away the $20 creams and $100 brushes. here is what i will be using:

Lord merkur Tech razor
Tweezerman badger brush
VDH or williams soap (not sure yet but they are both under $2 each)
redbox ip blades
witch hazel
aftershave of your choice (feel free to change this daily)

you can see from this list that all my chosen items are value and budget based. I honestly believe that you can get a wonderful shave using these items and you do not need the $100 brush and $30 shave cream to get it. Feel free to use a soap or cream, I simply prefer a soap and face lathering. Who wants to join me in this? To me shaving should be about the quality of the shave, the enjoyment, the "me time" and pampering yourself. I think this can be done without spending much money.

 

[jsrdrnr]

Sounds great. I am up for it. One month without my DR Harris is gonna be hard but I can do it. What soap do I want to use this is my delima. I will come up with something though.

One months of:

Lady gillette
red pack Ips
Prarie Creations Rose Soap
Aveeno daily moisturizing lotion

 

[andrew98]

See below for another challenge. Also better than an AD, and I guarantee it has contributed to improved shaves.

 

[Stubblefield]

There is this challenge, here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=130300

Which I will be partaking in. I'm going to do it with the following

GFT Coconut
EJ synthetic brush
Gillette Rocket (I may end up swapping for a Krona)
Personna 74 (ONE blade for 30 days)
Baxter of CA ASB

Definitely doable.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Hmm. Would you go on a gun enthusiast site and try and tell people to stop buying more guns?

The way I see it (and maybe I'm wrong)there are three types of people who frequent this site: a-guys who have one of everything and they would never buy more or want real high end stuff, b-guys who buy more and more because they have never truly refined their technique and think spending more on better stuff will give them improvement, and c- guys who look on this as a hobbie and enjoy spending their disposable income on finer products and they derive pleasure out of it.

So your challenge is kind of misguided on group a and c. I think group b is the smallest group here.

Now don't take this the wrong way but I think your challenge is really misguided for most folks and is based on a misunderstanding of why most folks buy shaving gear. Like I said it's like going to a gun enthusiast site and telling them don't buy anymore guns.

However I wish you all the luck on your crusade and in educating group b what their shaving priorities should be.

 

[michiganlover]

Now don't take this the wrong way but I think your challenge is really misguided for most folks and is based on a misunderstanding of why most folks buy shaving gear. Like I said it's like going to a gun enthusiast site and telling them don't buy anymore guns.

I would have to agree with you.

If I really wanted to, I could get wonderful, close, comfortable, irritation free shaves using the following every day:

Gillette Ball End Tech
Omega Boar Brush
VDH Deluxe Soap
Red IP's
Aqua Velva/ Old Spice AS

However, it is my love of variety (and not a lack of technique) that has driven me to buy 9 other razors, and about 15 other Shaving Soaps/ Shaving Creams, along with some 15 bottles of Aftershave.

Any one of my razors can (and has) provided me with a close, comfortable, irritation free shave. It is the spirit of adventure, and love of variety that gives me pleasure from using each razor; they all shave a little differently.

The one item, I have not collected, and have no intention of collecting is Shaving Brushes. I have an Omega boar, and a Penworks Badger, and both give me wonderful results; I don't see this as an area that I can improve upon, or desire to improve upon.

While I could use the same setup everyday (and get superior shaves over multi-bladed cartridge razors, and canned goo), I find there is no need to confine myself to the boredom that this would cause.

 

[s1mp13m4n]

Doh, I do not mean to start any problems. I guess this is coming from my "if it ain't broke don't fix it" thinking. I like the handgun comparrision and for me I can say certainly buy as many guns as your want....but for me I am happy with a Springfield 1911...so I do not need much more than that. I certainly do not want to acuse anyone of having AD or anything. I guess what I am trying to do is this.....once I take my current setup and use it until I can get no better results....then and only then will I try something else. In my case.....if you can get a car to go over 300000 miles using brand X oil....why change it and try brands Y and Z? I enjoy learning new things all the time, I just do not want to make the mistake if you can call it that of switching soaps when I may not have done all I can do to get the best from my current soap....thus blaming a bad shave on the soap rather than blaming myself for not learning enough about my technique and the soap. I really do not mean to cause a flame war.
What got me thinking about doing this was simply watching a barber do what he does. In the limited knowledge that I have, it seems that it is the underlying layer of slickness and not the pretty lather that give you a smooth surface for the blade. I noticed that my DE wipes away the lather on its leading edge but the blade glides on a layer of slick. I noticed that a barber wipes away the lather with his thumb thus shaving his customer with the slick layer that remains. From the little that i know it takes a bunch of time and practice to get a nice shave with a straight razor, thus it becomes about technique and not about what soap you use or what brush you use.
Please continue to buy and use anything you want, I guess just for me....if I am happy with what I am using and it works well for me....then I do not need to try too many new things....but rather replace what works for me as I use the items up.

 

[michiganlover]

I just do not want to make the mistake if you can call it that of switching soaps when I may not have done all I can do to get the best from my current soap....thus blaming a bad shave on the soap rather than blaming myself for not learning enough about my technique and the soap.

I commend you for having the perseverance to learn each product really well. If you are happy with your current setup, and it is giving you great results, then by all means continue, and have enjoyable shaves.

I really do not mean to cause a flame war.

No flame war, just a mild difference of opinion.

Realize, that people who use nearly the same setup most of the time, are seemingly rare on these boards (it's also possible that they exist in great numbers, but don't post very often; they are less vocal members of the forum).

From the little that i know it takes a bunch of time and practice to get a nice shave with a straight razor, thus it becomes about technique and not about what soap you use or what brush you use.

DE shaving is always first, and foremost about technique, and far less about the soaps, creams, brushes, and razors. The most expensive Double Edge Razor in the world can't improve your shave enough to make up for **** poor technique.

I am probably in the minority, but I don't think the higher end brushes have very much impact on the actual quality of the shave. I don't believe my shave will be 50X better if I purchase a brush that is twice as expensive as the one I currently own. I also think that Badger, and Boar brushes perform equally well.

As for soap/ shaving cream, I believe the following to be true:

I The difference in quality between a budget minded shaving cream/soap, and a high end expensive shaving cream/soap is not that great.

When examining ingredients of soaps/ shaving creams that work well for shaving, they are going to be remarkably similar.

An increase in price, doesn't seem to result in a proportional increase in quality; paying 50 times more for a soap, doesn't mean it will perform 50 times better.

There is a point in pricing, where you are no longer paying for an increase in performance, but are instead paying for the prestige of the brand name, and for a unique scent.

Please continue to buy and use anything you want, I guess just for me....if I am happy with what I am using and it works well for me....then I do not need to try too many new things....but rather replace what works for me as I use the items up.

Count yourself lucky, that you have not yet been consumed by the wallet emptying disease that is A.D.

 

[pelicano]

and c- guys who look on this as a hobbie and enjoy spending their disposable income on finer products and they derive pleasure out of it.

He's right, I'm having too much fun right now to do this challenge.
I want to enjoy my AD for a little while longer.

 

[Buck47]

I'm going with:

Rolls Razor Imperial Model -- Using the same blade for 30 days
Ever-Ready 304L brush
Van Der Hagen soap
Witch hazel
Pinaud Bay Rum

 

[Psicko]

Well, considering I only have one DE razor, I'm game. How about dollar store DE blades for technique improvement? I'll go with prorazo cream, and pinaud clubman aftershave.

 

[memoryleak]

Have fun. IF I played along at home, my face would end up red as beet because of the inadequacy of two items you cited in your challenge, the Tweezerman brush and Williams soap, both of which I found lacking. But don't let me stop you from your quest.

 

[s1mp13m4n]

I'm going with:

Rolls Razor Imperial Model -- Using the same blade for 30 days
Ever-Ready 304L brush
Van Der Hagen soap
Witch hazel
Pinaud Bay Rum

Nice setup. 30 days on one blade? You must be able to use a strop on that Rolls?

 

[michiganlover]

Nice setup. 30 days on one blade? You must be able to use a strop on that Rolls?

The Rolls Razor uses a Wedge Blade, as such, it can be re-stropped as needed, and even re-honed. The metal storage box, actually includes a built in strop, and special handle for holding the blade, so one could strop anywhere they wanted.

The Rolls Razor has a reputation for being a "Straight Razor on a Stick", due to the design of it's safety bar.

 

[Slivovitz]

Hello everyone. . . .My challenge to you is this....put aside the AD and stick with one complete setup for 1 month to hone a proper technique and see if your shaves do not improve in a wonderful way. . .
Lord merkur Tech razor
Tweezerman badger brush
VDH or williams soap (not sure yet but they are both under $2 each)
redbox ip blades
witch hazel
aftershave of your choice (feel free to change this daily)
. . . .To me shaving should be about the quality of the shave, the enjoyment, the "me time" and pampering yourself. I think this can be done without spending much money.

I believe I could do this, substituting my G1 injector as the razor (or maybe a Gillette New with Feather blades), and leaving out the witch hazel and aftershave, which I never use anyway.

But it's not something I would want to do at this point. For me the enjoyment is not about pampering myself with expensive soaps, or preshaves, or aftershaves. And I'm not particularly tempted by expensive brushes; my most expensive is a Vulfix that cost $18.75.

What is enjoyable is playing around with different tools, the razors themselves. The point is not that you're wrong, you're not wrong. It's that not everybody gets the same thing out of shaving.

Except, of course, for beard removal.

 

[s1mp13m4n]

I do want to clarify something...just to be clear. Feel free to pick which ever razor, blade, soap/cream, and AS that you like. I just chose those items for me. The goal here is to try and use "value", "bang for the buck" items and still get a good shave. I hope everyone has an enjoyable time with this and lets see what happens. I start today.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Ahha, you see your in the group that subscribes to looking for value in shaving and shaving on the cheap and all that. So for those in that group your challenge is already being practiced because most in that group only buy inexpensive products and don't stockpile alot of stuff to begin with.

Nothing wrong with your viewpoint at all just realize most on this forum don't subscribe to your view and would not want to use say Williams soap to shave with and a $10 brush and the cheapest blades and clubman aftershave. We already know it takes precious little to shave with to get the job done. For most of us it's not about getting the job done it's the pleasure and pampering involving this stuff.