"There's Only One Way to Shave"

[ackvil]

A friend of my wife visited us and my wife showed her the roll out drawers I put in our respective vanities in our bathroom. When she saw my razors, brushes, creams, soaps, etc. she was shocked. According to her, her ex-husband (who thinks he is an expert on everything) said that there was only one way to shave: with the latest Gillette creation and Edge shaving cream. As my wife rolled her eyes, I began to explain to her that there were many ways to shave.

I showed her the difference in SE and DE razors and among those categories there were differences in brands. I showed her various soaps, soap sticks, creams, brushes, etc. She then asked some interesting questions:

• Do all wet shavers go from product to product or do they stick to one thing?
• Do we use the same brand of blade or do we alternate?
• Do we always bowl lather or face lather or do we go from one to the other?

I told her that I use one razor until it is time to change the blade and then go on to another razor. For my DE razors I use various blades but stick to PTFE blades for SE razors. I use one brush for a few days and go on to another. Most of the time I bowl lather and make Uberlather. However, on some days I face lather with a soap, cream, or shave stick.

How about you guys out there? Do you exclusively bowl or face lather or do you change? Do you use the same brand of blade or do you change? How do you decide what soap, cream, or shave stick to use or do you use the same one? Do you use one razor or do you change?

 

[alex2363]

My pattern is similar to yours, lately I been face lathering, I am getting better at it and it eliminates a extra step.

 

[rxonmymind]

I bet she was schocked! She walked into ghe matrix. Lol. Anyhow I bowl lather in that I don't load & transfer. As for choosing the razor, I have six that I restrict myself to and not let it get out of hand. The collecting bug hasn't infected me too bad. In my current rotation : President, Aristocrat, Futur, 58 special and finally an Ej89. One museum piece is my O.C Aristocrat. Er... maybe I'm in denial. Lol.
My soaps are minimal also five in rotation. And two brushes. This has been a great hobby.

 

[fcdiscus]

Ever hear the expression- "Variety is the spice of life!"

 

[Maxime D.]

You mean, she walked OUT of the matrix and saw the real world.
There is a lot of potential here, like the Joker would say.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

I exclusively face lather at this point. I find that I can nail down the perfect lather more consistently and adjust it on the fly. I tend to stick to a Merkur 180 w/ Gillette yellow blades if I use a DE razor. Sometimes a '40's Superspeed is in order and I load that w/ Astra SP. I tend to use the same straight. No sentimental attachment or magical ability to the blade. Obiwan hooked me up with a great razor that provides a comfortable shave, minus my heavy hand at times. Typically I use one of two brushes, either a best badger or my Omega boar. Depends on the mood I guess. I reach for one of three soaps 90% of the time. It'll be MWF, Razorock classic, or Proraso green. I'm pretty boring overall, but I tend to use a different AS splash and balm everyday. It just depends on the weather and my mood. The only constant there is the Alum.

 

[kingfisher]

I bowl lather exclusively, but I change razors, blades, brushes, and soaps almost every day. The brushes are on a sort of rotation, but the others are changed on a whim.

 

[mongo1958]

Wow! Look at that niced fish!!! Let's fire up the grill. Uh Oh yeah there is a post about shaving...
Sorry, I grew up in Miami and I mis deap sea fishing.
I really can't add anything the the thread because I'm a newb.
However you friend showed something that stood out in my mind.
She was reseptive to learning new ways with an open mind.
Kinda like any one of us that is willing to step back and say "hold on a sec" whats this all about?
I want to learn more.

I did. Now I have 3 brushes and 4 razors (DE). I seem to like the OC razors and agressive ones at that.
It took a while to get the swing of wipping up lather in a cup or a bowl.
I guess I'm still trying new ways of doing things. My latest Brush is a nice muhle that works very well with cream or soap pucks.
I may try to face lather soon as my skills progress.

Mongo

A friend of my wife visited us and my wife showed her the roll out drawers I put in our respective vanities in our bathroom. When she saw my razors, brushes, creams, soaps, etc. she was shocked. According to her, her ex-husband (who thinks he is an expert on everything) said that there was only one way to shave: with the latest Gillette creation and Edge shaving cream. As my wife rolled her eyes, I began to explain to her that there were many ways to shave.

I showed her the difference in SE and DE razors and among those categories there were differences in brands. I showed her various soaps, soap sticks, creams, brushes, etc. She then asked some interesting questions:

• Do all wet shavers go from product to product or do they stick to one thing?
• Do we use the same brand of blade or do we alternate?
• Do we always bowl lather or face lather or do we go from one to the other?

I told her that I use one razor until it is time to change the blade and then go on to another razor. For my DE razors I use various blades but stick to PTFE blades for SE razors. I use one brush for a few days and go on to another. Most of the time I bowl lather and make Uberlather. However, on some days I face lather with a soap, cream, or shave stick.

How about you guys out there? Do you exclusively bowl or face lather or do you change? Do you use the same brand of blade or do you change? How do you decide what soap, cream, or shave stick to use or do you use the same one? Do you use one razor or do you change?

 

[Valerius]

It really depend on my mood which combo I choose when enjoying a nice shave after the wake-me-up morning shower. I would say that I face lather/ bowl lather 50/50, no particular preference for either method.

 

[PFP_Dad]

I only face lather at this point, but the brush, products, razor (and blade if DE), are all chosen based upon whatever I feel like doing that day.

 

[SuperChris]

I bowl lather, but I use a lot of different soaps/creams and aftershaves but I always use a Gillette Slim. I have a Krona that I plan on trying soon. As of now, I am using Derbys and Dorco St301s but I plan on trying some sharks.

 

[gearchow]

Pretty much the same for me Jim! The only trouble I have is sometimes I'll think it's time to change brush, soap or razor out and faced with the choices, can't make a decision, so I let it ride for a few more days.

Nice issue to have.

-jim

 

[celestino]

Face lather exclusively; rotate 10 brushes; rotate my 10 open-combs and my Cobra; only use 3 soaps which i can use one for up to 3 weeks before rotating

 

[jsj_297]

Face latherer here. Not much exciting change ups for me.

 

[brucered]

Do you exclusively bowl or face lather or do you change?
i've started bowl lathering all creams and face lathering soaps. i was a strictly cream and bowl latherer the 1st year, now i'm branching out but easing into it.

Do you use the same brand of blade or do you change?
change. but i only swap between about 3 different ones

How do you decide what soap, cream, or shave stick to use or do you use the same one?
i lay out 6-8 for the next week(s) and use each in for 2-3 days, then put it away and move the others up in rotation.

Do you use one razor or do you change?
i use a Feather AS-D1 as my go to razor and use it until i get bored. then i switch to my BRW Progress and every once in a while i use my BRW OC New

as for brushes, i try to use my Boars for soaps and my badger for creams, but it's not something i stick with all times and will use boars for creams and badgers for soaps.

 

[Grumpy_Bottom]

I face lather exclusively, I use the R41 exclusively, both because I've tried others and found less satisfying results. I am still trying to decide on a blade, so I'm rotating between labs, permasharps, and astras to decide where I feel the best bang for the buck lies. I rotate between a couple semogues (because they take time to dry out anyway) and a badger (for when I use Arko and stick lather - the boars tend to unload their water on my head when I start lathering which can lead to soap in the eyes), and I rotate soaps because I like different smells, though I find the performance to be mostly on par between Razorock, Cella, and Arko.

 

[echotron]

NOTHING is exclusive with me. I love the varieties of razors, blades, creams & soaps, brushes ...

Lately, I've been face lathering with my Boars and bowl lathering with my Badger ... of course, my Boars do a good job of bowl lathering too! (Yeah, I'm partial to Boars!)

Then there is my AS selection ... gee, look at all the bottles - I must be saving a lot of money.

Latest acquisition was Clubman Talc and Jeris (Oil-free) Hair Tonic ... What's Next?

 

[noahpictures]

Variety is the spice of life. I change everything daily unless I am testing products. That is one of the things I love about this hobby, every day something different and nice.

 

[TheGRman]

I rotate through many different DE razors and use the one that will give me the shave I want for that particular day.

I use blades from three different brands: Feather, Astra SP, Gillette 7OClock Yellows

I rotate through many different brushes, both badger or boar, and use them according to if I'm face lathering, or bowl lathering (some brushes perform better for me than others when face lathering.)

Mostly I bowl lather with a tubbed or tubed cream, but will use a shave soap once in a while.

I pretty much always shave in the evenings.

 

[oc_in_fw]

You mean, she walked OUT of the matrix and saw the real world.
There is a lot of potential here, like the Joker would say.

Yep- copper tops use Fusion