Full disclosure. I’m a girl. Looking for a way to save some money and stop throwing away so much plastic. I’ve been a wet-shaver since my second shave more than four decades ago (yes, I’m old). My first was done by my mother with her electric razor. Gosh, I hated that thing!
Over the years I have had various versions of cartridge razors, mostly geared towards women, but occasionally men’s, especially when I first started out. My routine has been mostly daily shaving in summer, and once or twice in winter if I’m being diligent. Cartridges did the job as I’m a shower shaver. And I could make a cart last an extremely long time by blotting dry, like I’m talking a year or more. But I recently began shaving every day, and since I am, why not make it an enjoyable experience?
I remember both my grandfathers, my father, and even my mother using DE razors, and one grandfather even had a SR and strop (sadly, it has gone they way of most things that were in my parents’ house). When I was a tiny girl I would “shave” with this grandfather who had a red plastic toy DE razor. He would brush his lather he whipped in his mug on my face and we went through the motions together. I surely miss my Papa. He told the best stories!
Nostalgia grabbed me by the heart! So off to eBay I went and perused all the equipment available. I found a NOS Lady Gillette and bid and won. Unfortunately, the seller thought his wife shipped it and then he was away from email for more than a week, so I waited far longer than I intended to for the little prize. In the meantime, I ordered a sample pack of blades from the ‘zon, and read everything and watched all the YouTube videos and visited a few forums. B&B seems a nice place to stop, so here I am.
I have a lot of real estate to shave on my legs, and a little under the arms. I don’t pretend to need to impress anyone anymore by shaving anywhere else.
I took my new LG for her first spin yesterday. The blade I chose from my sampler (in the order of ones I’ve never heard of before to ones I have. I know; not much logic there) was a Trig. I did all my regular shower ablutions pre-shave. Finally, the moment arrived.
The soap I normally use for bathing is Whispering Willow, rather new-to-me since my favorite soap seller went out of business last year due to health reasons. I can get WW locally, but they ship online, too. It’s a very satisfactory soap with good lather. I have always soap shaved except for a short stint of shampoo or conditioner shaving when I was just experimenting. I always came back to soap. In the early days, it was whatever commercial “soap” was available cheap. These days I appreciate a good, well-crafted soap from a cottage industry.
I lathered in my hands and smoothed it on my legs. Weapon in hand, it had a nice feel. Not too hefty; not too light. Handle length was good. I started slow, on the top of my foot and toes (am I the only person who shaves these?). Short strokes, looking for the right angle. I moved up to the ankle area, being careful of the areas I often nick, flattening muscles and bones as I went. Then the major real estate areas, again short strokes, trying to remember where I had already been and what I had not yet shaved. Short strokes; short memory. Everything was going well. Then the knees, short...well, you’ve read that before...carefully, carefully, flattening, angling. And I was done!
It took only a minute or so longer than a cart shave which I could mindlessly zip through in no time flat. No joy in the experience with a cart, just a job to do and get it over with.
I had a tiny nick on an ankle bone where I often nicked with a cart. My legs were much smoother, and areas that were difficult to get a BBS shave...ever...like right next to my shin bones, were completely hairless! I had no burning or irritation. Even my underarms, which I shaved first being very careful around a skin tag, were completely fine. The nick was stopped by the time I finished drying off and I didn’t even bleed on my pristine white towel.
I removed my blade from the LG and blotted it dry, gave the LG a good dry-off, replaced the blade for round two, and put the LG away outside the shower. My cheapie carts alway lived in the shower. LG is proper equipment, so I want to care for it properly.
The real test for my underarms came with a bourbon-based deodorant. It sometimes stung after shaving with a cart. No sting!
Hubby came in later and asked how things had gone and gave his “Feel of Approval.”
I think the Trig blade is probably not going to be my favorite since there seemed to be a little drag or pulling, but maybe it’s also because I’m still figuring out the correct angle.
All in all a successful and very enjoyable experience for mere pennies in the long run. I may fall down the rabbit-hole of hardware and software acquisition later, but for now I am more than thrilled at my first experience with DE shaving.
Thanks for reading.
Over the years I have had various versions of cartridge razors, mostly geared towards women, but occasionally men’s, especially when I first started out. My routine has been mostly daily shaving in summer, and once or twice in winter if I’m being diligent. Cartridges did the job as I’m a shower shaver. And I could make a cart last an extremely long time by blotting dry, like I’m talking a year or more. But I recently began shaving every day, and since I am, why not make it an enjoyable experience?
I remember both my grandfathers, my father, and even my mother using DE razors, and one grandfather even had a SR and strop (sadly, it has gone they way of most things that were in my parents’ house). When I was a tiny girl I would “shave” with this grandfather who had a red plastic toy DE razor. He would brush his lather he whipped in his mug on my face and we went through the motions together. I surely miss my Papa. He told the best stories!
Nostalgia grabbed me by the heart! So off to eBay I went and perused all the equipment available. I found a NOS Lady Gillette and bid and won. Unfortunately, the seller thought his wife shipped it and then he was away from email for more than a week, so I waited far longer than I intended to for the little prize. In the meantime, I ordered a sample pack of blades from the ‘zon, and read everything and watched all the YouTube videos and visited a few forums. B&B seems a nice place to stop, so here I am.
I have a lot of real estate to shave on my legs, and a little under the arms. I don’t pretend to need to impress anyone anymore by shaving anywhere else.
I took my new LG for her first spin yesterday. The blade I chose from my sampler (in the order of ones I’ve never heard of before to ones I have. I know; not much logic there) was a Trig. I did all my regular shower ablutions pre-shave. Finally, the moment arrived.
The soap I normally use for bathing is Whispering Willow, rather new-to-me since my favorite soap seller went out of business last year due to health reasons. I can get WW locally, but they ship online, too. It’s a very satisfactory soap with good lather. I have always soap shaved except for a short stint of shampoo or conditioner shaving when I was just experimenting. I always came back to soap. In the early days, it was whatever commercial “soap” was available cheap. These days I appreciate a good, well-crafted soap from a cottage industry.
I lathered in my hands and smoothed it on my legs. Weapon in hand, it had a nice feel. Not too hefty; not too light. Handle length was good. I started slow, on the top of my foot and toes (am I the only person who shaves these?). Short strokes, looking for the right angle. I moved up to the ankle area, being careful of the areas I often nick, flattening muscles and bones as I went. Then the major real estate areas, again short strokes, trying to remember where I had already been and what I had not yet shaved. Short strokes; short memory. Everything was going well. Then the knees, short...well, you’ve read that before...carefully, carefully, flattening, angling. And I was done!
It took only a minute or so longer than a cart shave which I could mindlessly zip through in no time flat. No joy in the experience with a cart, just a job to do and get it over with.
I had a tiny nick on an ankle bone where I often nicked with a cart. My legs were much smoother, and areas that were difficult to get a BBS shave...ever...like right next to my shin bones, were completely hairless! I had no burning or irritation. Even my underarms, which I shaved first being very careful around a skin tag, were completely fine. The nick was stopped by the time I finished drying off and I didn’t even bleed on my pristine white towel.
I removed my blade from the LG and blotted it dry, gave the LG a good dry-off, replaced the blade for round two, and put the LG away outside the shower. My cheapie carts alway lived in the shower. LG is proper equipment, so I want to care for it properly.
The real test for my underarms came with a bourbon-based deodorant. It sometimes stung after shaving with a cart. No sting!
Hubby came in later and asked how things had gone and gave his “Feel of Approval.”
I think the Trig blade is probably not going to be my favorite since there seemed to be a little drag or pulling, but maybe it’s also because I’m still figuring out the correct angle.
All in all a successful and very enjoyable experience for mere pennies in the long run. I may fall down the rabbit-hole of hardware and software acquisition later, but for now I am more than thrilled at my first experience with DE shaving.
Thanks for reading.
