Well, I actually had never seen this section of B&B until just a few days ago. Very interesting. Document the travels and travails of ones journey from discovery to continued usage and the practise of wet shaving.
I've tried all manner of shaving from electric to carts, DEs, SEs etc...except for straights...never felt comfortable even holding one.
My first DE was a Black Beauty adjustable that I got from my dad. I used Gillette blades, Wilkinson etc without much thought as to what I was shaving with. I had an Old Spice shave mug and a cheap badger brush. I regularly nicked and cut myself and thought this is what happens. It was always common to see dad with bits of TP on his face after shaving.
It was when I had left home and was living on my own that things changed. I'd had a bit to smoke and decided I should shave. Well, by the time I was finished I looked like a horror show victim. I was nicked and cut in multiple places. To top it off my landlady came to collect the rent and when I opened the door she just turned and ran back to her apartment. I patched myself up and paid the rent by sliding an envelope under her door.
So I decided that Gillette with their TracII was the way to shave...looked safe enough. I also put the mug and brush away for the ease of canned goop. Through the years, I experimented with and bought various razors from various companies...but all were the multi blade cart types. Never had a bad shave, the act was done in a few minutes and off I went.
This went on for a long time and I finally settled on the Mach III as my cart of choice. Definitely better than the TracII. Then one day, I came home from shopping with a new can of Gillette Foamy. Nothing unusual there. But when I went to open it I somehow managed to break off the valve that releases the goop with the cap. ??? I now had a totally useless can of Foamy. Well, back to the store and another can of Foamy.
I did exactly the same thing again...that's $10 wasted and I'm so pissed I dig out my old shaving mug plus brush and shave that way.
It wasn't bad at all. I'm still using the cart but this lathering thing is kinda fun again. Plus there's nothing to break unless I drop something.
So this continues for a while and all is well. Then I started to get more interested in shaving and stumbled on B&B. I didn't join for a while and just got used to what others were talking about. I followed advice and dug out my old DE and started to shave with proper care, prep and attention...Hmm. Not bad.
It was at this time in late 2009 I met my wife in Calgary. We started to date and after 6 months she tells me she has a job in Regina, SK.
Now, to me...Regina is in the absolute middle of nowhere. Nothing but prairie in all directions. Also not a big city either.
My first thought is "Damn, moving to Regina" but because there's no way I'm letting this woman get away I suck it up and we move together.
So we buy a house and arrive in Regina. The last trip for me was to ride the Harley to our new place from Calgary. The last 300 km was damn near under water. Wow did it rain. I had my rain suit etc but still arrived wet, cold and slightly miserable. Spent a couple of hours soaking in a hot tub with my pal Jack Daniels over ice.
In Dec of 2010 I joined B&B. This is where things really started to take off as I dove into the rabbit hole. Man, I was on eBay and the BST here, buying razors etc. On amazon buying blades, soaps and anything else I could think of. Then I went to the various razor manufacturers and began buying their products. I really enjoyed getting stuff in the mail...loved it actually.
Was getting new, vintage and truly antique razors coming in. The wife was and is very tolerant. Then I started to re-furbish and re-plate razors as well. Most times things went well but I also got ripped off a few times. Live and learn. Afterbuying a few brushes...I got the idea to make my own with knots supplied by various companies. This was fun and I spun up a bunch as well as razor handles as well.
At this point I'm also doing the general contracting for our house as it required a lot of work...good bones but kinda neglected. I was doing a large amount of the carpentry work in addition to everything else. I used to joke with the Missus that we could've just lifted the roof and slid a new house underneath.
I also put together my shave den and had my own place to fiddle with, re-build and assemble razors, brushes, cases and anything else shave related.
So until we moved, this is what occupied my time. A few pics showing some of my stuff etc and then more to come next time
Cheers
I've tried all manner of shaving from electric to carts, DEs, SEs etc...except for straights...never felt comfortable even holding one.
My first DE was a Black Beauty adjustable that I got from my dad. I used Gillette blades, Wilkinson etc without much thought as to what I was shaving with. I had an Old Spice shave mug and a cheap badger brush. I regularly nicked and cut myself and thought this is what happens. It was always common to see dad with bits of TP on his face after shaving.
It was when I had left home and was living on my own that things changed. I'd had a bit to smoke and decided I should shave. Well, by the time I was finished I looked like a horror show victim. I was nicked and cut in multiple places. To top it off my landlady came to collect the rent and when I opened the door she just turned and ran back to her apartment. I patched myself up and paid the rent by sliding an envelope under her door.
So I decided that Gillette with their TracII was the way to shave...looked safe enough. I also put the mug and brush away for the ease of canned goop. Through the years, I experimented with and bought various razors from various companies...but all were the multi blade cart types. Never had a bad shave, the act was done in a few minutes and off I went.
This went on for a long time and I finally settled on the Mach III as my cart of choice. Definitely better than the TracII. Then one day, I came home from shopping with a new can of Gillette Foamy. Nothing unusual there. But when I went to open it I somehow managed to break off the valve that releases the goop with the cap. ??? I now had a totally useless can of Foamy. Well, back to the store and another can of Foamy.
I did exactly the same thing again...that's $10 wasted and I'm so pissed I dig out my old shaving mug plus brush and shave that way.
It wasn't bad at all. I'm still using the cart but this lathering thing is kinda fun again. Plus there's nothing to break unless I drop something.
So this continues for a while and all is well. Then I started to get more interested in shaving and stumbled on B&B. I didn't join for a while and just got used to what others were talking about. I followed advice and dug out my old DE and started to shave with proper care, prep and attention...Hmm. Not bad.
It was at this time in late 2009 I met my wife in Calgary. We started to date and after 6 months she tells me she has a job in Regina, SK.
Now, to me...Regina is in the absolute middle of nowhere. Nothing but prairie in all directions. Also not a big city either.
My first thought is "Damn, moving to Regina" but because there's no way I'm letting this woman get away I suck it up and we move together.
So we buy a house and arrive in Regina. The last trip for me was to ride the Harley to our new place from Calgary. The last 300 km was damn near under water. Wow did it rain. I had my rain suit etc but still arrived wet, cold and slightly miserable. Spent a couple of hours soaking in a hot tub with my pal Jack Daniels over ice.
In Dec of 2010 I joined B&B. This is where things really started to take off as I dove into the rabbit hole. Man, I was on eBay and the BST here, buying razors etc. On amazon buying blades, soaps and anything else I could think of. Then I went to the various razor manufacturers and began buying their products. I really enjoyed getting stuff in the mail...loved it actually.
Was getting new, vintage and truly antique razors coming in. The wife was and is very tolerant. Then I started to re-furbish and re-plate razors as well. Most times things went well but I also got ripped off a few times. Live and learn. Afterbuying a few brushes...I got the idea to make my own with knots supplied by various companies. This was fun and I spun up a bunch as well as razor handles as well.
At this point I'm also doing the general contracting for our house as it required a lot of work...good bones but kinda neglected. I was doing a large amount of the carpentry work in addition to everything else. I used to joke with the Missus that we could've just lifted the roof and slid a new house underneath.
I also put together my shave den and had my own place to fiddle with, re-build and assemble razors, brushes, cases and anything else shave related.
So until we moved, this is what occupied my time. A few pics showing some of my stuff etc and then more to come next time
Cheers