Shavers Anonymous (the simple life)

[Edgelord]

I have zero interest in full-on minimalism or austerity.

That said, I have enough.

So, at this point. I just plan on replacing things I run out of or break (I broke my alum block last week) and bottom feeding. I use Thayer’s toner. I find it at Marshall’s or TJMaxx for $7.99.

I have 17 razors… I have no need for more razors. I will continue to look for razors, but they have to be as good in condition and quality as what I already have and cheap. I passed on a $2 flare tip SuperSpeed this morning, because it was not as nice as the two flare tips that I already have. It was in good user condition, but not as nice as the ones I have.

So, basically, I am just looking for really nice razors at garage/estate sale prices. I have zero interest in paying what a razor is worth ever again. Realistically, I will splurge every now and then.

If you want a really nice collection of anything… you better get very picky very quickly… or you are going to have a collection of junk and projects. This is exactly what I do not want.

 

[Mike M]

For those whose particular acquisition disorder is blades and I would definitely count myself as having a blade problem I would like to introduce the tuck at a time thread Tuck at a Time (TaaT) - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/tuck-at-a-time-taat.643299/post-12365619 only started this year the thread is about using one tuck of blades untill it is finished. I would like to join this thread, but as a member of the Excalibur brotherhood I am only on my 3rd blade this year, I really should try to stop getting so many shaves out of my blades. It is however an excellent idea to just work through all your tucks of blades like that. My own obsession with trying blades has led to me acquiring about 60 different types of blade mostly just one tuck of each.
Besides just PIFing your blades, something else I have done there is also The Great Blade Exchange The Great Blade Exchange - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/the-great-blade-exchange.606840/post-11237227 where members can send in blades and receive different blades in exchange, but did you know you can also just donate blades particularly if they are not common there is also a Great Blade Exchange Wiki The Great Blade Exchange v2 - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/The_Great_Blade_Exchange_v2 a good read before you try using the exchange.

 

[OkieStubble]

I consider myself a minimalist. I feel I have too many razors now and need to dial it back. Always seem to reach for the same 3 razors. Usually 1 razor and 2 others for variety.

I find myself trying new fear every few years and then dial it back again. Rinse and repeat.

I did this in the past, wanting to dial down the number of razors I owned, but I still had to admit that I get bored easy and like variety with my shaves. So instead of having multiple razors of the same type, I decided to keep one or two of each type.

Over the years, I have went from many SE’s to just a favorite SE in the GEM Push Button. I have gone from many vintage and modern DE’s to just a favorite in the Chinese Gillette Super Blue.
I also keep and use only one Straight a Dovo Bismarck I got years ago as a Father’s Day gift and I keep three favorite Shavette’s.

Now when I want variety I just switch between different types of razor and style of shave instead of many multiples of the same kind or type of razor.

While I don’t use this same logic with aftershave’s, it’s mostly because I’m too far gone and past a point of ‘no return’ with the amount of aftershave’s I have.

 

[OkieStubble]

I have way too many vintage soaps and aftershaves and there was a time when I tried to use up those I disliked, while retaining my favourites for a 'special occasion'. So, for almost all the time, I used soaps and aftershaves which I disliked, while my favourites sat unused on the shelf; it was literally madness.

It dawned on me that if I was not careful, one day I would pass away and my nearest and dearest would donate my favourite aftershaves to a charity shop without a care, where they would be purchased by some unworthy hipster with a goatee who would use them to deodorise his pet chihuahua. I decided then and there to use my favourites now, for today is the 'special occasion', today, tomorrow, and every day from this day forth. I now use out of favour aftershaves in a reed diffuser as an air freshener, or to deodorise the car, and my least favoured soaps are in the shower. And yet..... I cannot quite stop buying more.

You just described me! Wow, this is creepy accurate!

 

[Chouffleur]

Years ago one of my customers was *somewhat bemused* when his 94 year-old father gleefully called him to brag about the great deal he got on a case of Barbasol Shave Cream. At the time I was in my 20s and thought the purchase a bit ..... optimistic.

 

[Mike M]

Another good way to reduce your software, soap and blades is to join a Gentlemanly Restraint Until Month End (GRUME) or, for those who are less intimidated by not buying a Gentlemanly Restraint Until Year's End RElief (GRUYERE). The idea is to not buy anything for a month or year (there is a leap year or decade restraint, but that's only for people with serious acquisition disorders) it can be good to talk to others with the same problems. Personally I find GRUMES difficult, it is just when I think of not being able to buy anything it makes it really hard to stick with it. Of the four I have taken part in I have only been successful twice. I have never participated in a GRUYERE, but I imagine I would have the same problem, but just because I have that problem it doesn't mean someone else won't find it a really useful way to put the brakes on your acquisitions.
As it is I am at the stage now where it is nearly 14 months since my last purchase so I know I wouldn't have had a problem completing a GRUYERE, at least I wouldn't have needed to acquire any more supplies to complete it.

 

[VerbaVolant]

...there were a couple of discussions that highlighted those members who one day look at their shaving gear and just decide there is too much and they have to do something about it...

 

[Mike M]

I thought I would share how I started out on my own journey of reduction. Strangely enough I actually started with my moisturizers. I am lucky enough in our crowded bathroom to have a whole shelf to myself for soaps, a/s, bath soap, moisturiser and a blade bank, along with a shower caddy for brushes and razors and a small 3 drawer jewellery box for little stuff like blades and grooming. I found that despite starting off with just 1 razor, brush and cream, a couple of aftershaves and one moisturiser for years I just seemed to acquire a ton of stuff until putting soap on my shelf required a similar level of skill to playing professional Jenga.
The first thing I rationalized was moisturiser, I had acquired five different ones and a few duplicates and decided that picking a different one each shave was stupid because most of the time I gravitated towards Nivea for men. So for a while I started 3017ing them before I had even discovered the 3017 thread. It actually took me more than eighteen months to get down to my last tin though Nivea introduced their hyaluronic acid moisturizer which I tried whilst I was reducing my stock and liked it so much that I settled on it as my only moisturizer since then. Currently I only have one Nivea for men Hyaluron Gel though I will look to acquire another as a spare.

Next soap

 

[Edgelord]

So… about my post on April 7th… yeah… I had 17 razors and some time on my hands… you saw some of the razors in the acquisition thread… and that wasn’t all of them… I am at 29 now…

I have added some brushes, too… and some other things…

…so, minimalism is just not my thing this week…

I have also been trying to make my shaving gear better looking. I have been transferring my soaps to vintage Bakelite shaving soap bowls (3 so far, and any future ones have to be less pedestrian), and my pomades to Bakelite ointment jars. I am trying to stick with ‘50s and earlier.

Here are a picture of the razors not in the bathroom and another of the vintage shaving soap bowls:

 

[Mike M]

The last time I took a "family photo" of my shaving soap was at about this time in 2022 and it looked like this

By this stage I had already discovered the 3017 thread and had been working on my soap stockpile for a number of months and used up some other bits the previous year.
Prior to starting this I had been reluctant to use up the last of any soap and had a number of odds and ends. As I have explained before my soaps take up one shelf in an extremely crowded bathroom and in 2020 I started to use up the bits with a view to more purchases the following year. In 2021 I went on a buying spree that only stopped 15 soaps and a pif later. By the time I received the last soap I had 27 and a shelf that was piled so high that it tested my Jenga abilities every time I wanted a shave. I also found it nearly impossible to pick the soap to use let alone all the other items I wanted to use in a shave.

End of part 1...

 

[EclipseRedRing]

So… about my post on April 7th… yeah… I had 17 razors and some time on my hands… you saw some of the razors in the acquisition thread… and that wasn’t all of them… I am at 29 now…

I have added some brushes, too… and some other things…

…so, minimalism is just not my thing this week…

I have also been trying to make my shaving gear better looking. I have been transferring my soaps to vintage Bakelite shaving soap bowls (3 so far, and any future ones have to be less pedestrian), and my pomades to Bakelite ointment jars. I am trying to stick with ‘50s and earlier.

Here are a picture of the razors not in the bathroom and another of the vintage shaving soap bowls:

Nice - a Gillette Office Knife!

 

[Wgg2017]

I like the spirit and intention of this thread. I definitely don’t need any more soap or razors or brushes and I’ve joined GRUMEs in the past. But I’ve found those threads with all the pretty pictures only make it more difficult not to purchase things.

It also helps when I don’t mindlessly browse sites like Maggards, etc. No need to go there and be tempted when I don’t need to buy anything in the first place.

 

[Lane101]

See what I mean? Look what arrived today - 45 sticks of Palmolive shave soap. In this very thread, just yesterday I said, and I quote "I have way too many vintage soaps...."

View attachment 1823480

Curious, what is the going rate for these now? Have prices gone as crazy as they have in the U.S. for Williams Shave Soap at $30-$40 per formerly 99 cent pucks? Hope you got a quantity discount.

 

[Wgg2017]

Does anyone have any strategies that help curtail purchases? I’m jonesing for a bronze Timeless baseplate right now. Usually I tell myself to wait 24 hours and the urge normally passes. It’s not working this time

 

[Mike M]

Does anyone have any strategies that help curtail purchases? I’m jonesing for a bronze Timeless baseplate right now. Usually I tell myself to wait 24 hours and the urge normally passes. It’s not working this time

With hardware I just stopped looking. I stopped visiting all the shaving gear sites I used to, Yaqi, shaving.ie G&C etc. I also stopped looking at the acquisition threads, I admit it was hard at first, but after a while the desire to spend all my time (and money) on shaving sites just receded I decided if I could manage 6 months without it I probably didn't need it. The blades and soap were harder I decided to limit myself to 100 blades and 3 soaps per year (as member of the Excalibur brotherhood 100 blades per year was still excessive). Last year I managed to acquire only 2 soaps in February and since then I haven't acquired any shaving gear.
Really it is about will power and you may find yourself slipping and buying something but if you do just start again. I did find it helpful to have an idea of where I wanted to get to (less than 10 razors, brushes and soaps each which I have not reached yet, blades I still haven't decided on). Ask yourself "Do I need another Timeless baseplate or do I just want one?" Much of the time our purchasing decisions are based on our dream of achieving the perfect shave if we just had that new item. Most of us already achieve excellent shaves and it is more a case of being satisfied with your achievements rather than chasing that mythical shave.

Sorry for being so long winded but I hope this helps

 

[thombrogan]

It’s not working this time

Feeling like an insatiable compulsion may be a clue it’s a trick of the mind.

Do you have any other shaving goodies in your possession you absolutely had to have that are now “just okay.”

 

[Mike M]

Feeling like an insatiable compulsion may be a clue it’s a trick of the mind.

Do you have any other shaving goodies in your possession you absolutely had to have that are now “just okay.”

I think all of us have experienced buying gear only to receive it and realise that it wasn't all you thought it was going to be, and in some cases it was something you actually disliked

 

[Wgg2017]

Ask yourself "Do I need another Timeless baseplate or do I just want one?"

Feeling like an insatiable compulsion may be a clue it’s a trick of the mind.

These quotes solved the desire to make a purchase and brought me back to reality. Sometimes we just need a little support and wisdom. The advice is much appreciated!