Today I Understood Gillette's Early Advertising Campaign

[RF1963]

I have seen some of Gillette's early posters promoting the new safety razor. They emphasise the ease of use, the good end result and the fact that no man need ever visit a barber to be shaved again.

What has this to do with me?

Well, I have shaved with straight razors since 1st August. Today, for various reasons I used my DE to shave.

I was astonished. The shave was damn fine, as good as any I've had with a straight. The areas which are normally quite tender after using a straight were properly shaved without the tenderness. My skin seemed to be in better condition, presumably because it hadn't had quite such a close encounter with a razor sharp edge as it gets with a straight. The usual weepers just weren't there.

I have lived the Gillette advert! The shave was easier, the end result was as good.

Now I like shaving with a straight but I think the DE might win out mainly because it doesn't leave my skin as 'raw' as a straight does. (I have to add here that I need to shave daily; I'm at home having taken very early medical retirement and am awaiting surgery in January. If I don't shave and take some pride in my appearance I feel it's a short path to spending all day in my PJs stinking up the house!)

Has anyone else experienced something like this (the shaving, not the stinking up the house)? I appreciate our experiences are very individual but I suspect that had I lived in the era of barber shaves I may have been shaved every other day. It may be that my skin is just not up to coping with the trauma of a straight passing over it three times every day.

Any thoughts, observations or personal experiences?

 

[Rushfan]

A fellow scotch connoisseur I see from your quote....Isn't it the greatest feeling to have an
epiphany on shaving...My experience is a simple one, when I switch to DE shaving from cartridge/Fusion..ext..the moment after I finished my first shave with a safety razor and felt how close and smooth my skin was...a tool/method used over a century ago is being used in the year 2010 by many different age groups. Wouldn't it be great if Gillette realized there current blade cartridge was loosing popularity and customers to DE razors and decided to manufacture and market a new line up of safety razors...

 

[Greglam]

While my routine has never included a straight I must nevertheless agree with the OP - and the vintage Gillette ad. I went from carts, to a disposable single-blade bic to a Merkur HD. Once I got the hang of the DE it seemed so easy that it made me wonder as to why there were any further "developments" of the razor. THEN, I bought a couple of NDC Super Speeds. WOW! Here were these razors that are some 60 years old that were giving me even better shaves than my HD and they were fairly well automatic. I mean to say that they are foolproof, idiot proof, darn near George Jetson-like automatic. Obviously I would never go back to carts or disposables but now I can't ever see myself going back to my HD. If Plato had a razor in his "Cave", the NDC Super Speed would certainly have been it!

Cheers!
-Greg

 

[gearchow]

I have seen some of Gillette's early posters promoting the new safety razor. They emphasise the ease of use, the good end result and the fact that no man need ever visit a barber to be shaved again.

What has this to do with me?

Well, I have shaved with straight razors since 1st August. Today, for various reasons I used my DE to shave.

I was astonished. The shave was damn fine, as good as any I've had with a straight. The areas which are normally quite tender after using a straight were properly shaved without the tenderness. My skin seemed to be in better condition, presumably because it hadn't had quite such a close encounter with a razor sharp edge as it gets with a straight. The usual weepers just weren't there.

I have lived the Gillette advert! The shave was easier, the end result was as good.

Now I like shaving with a straight but I think the DE might win out mainly because it doesn't leave my skin as 'raw' as a straight does. (I have to add here that I need to shave daily; I'm at home having taken very early medical retirement and am awaiting surgery in January. If I don't shave and take some pride in my appearance I feel it's a short path to spending all day in my PJs stinking up the house!)

Has anyone else experienced something like this (the shaving, not the stinking up the house)? I appreciate our experiences are very individual but I suspect that had I lived in the era of barber shaves I may have been shaved every other day. It may be that my skin is just not up to coping with the trauma of a straight passing over it three times every day.

Any thoughts, observations or personal experiences?

It's the same progression as in electronics. Tape -> CD -> Memory drives. Funny though, no one laments the passing of tape drives.

What you could try is from a straight to a Single Ring. That would have been the proper order of events.

And living in the time of the barber's shave, you would have most likely only shaved at most twice a week. Some ads that I recall seeing referred to the tyranny of the barber. And barber shops weren't all that back then, there are a lot of rules and regs today that did not exist at the turn of the last century. Things like cleanliness?

It's like I learned in Art History classes, if you take the item out of it's historical context, you won't understand it's significance.

Enlightenment is great!

-jim

 

[trewornan]

I had a similar reaction after shaving with straight for nearly six months then going back to a DE for a quick shave one day when I was in a rush. I'd forgotten how good a shave I can get from a DE. A DE shave can be as good as a straight shave just depending on how your technique is on the day. However if you're finding a DE shave a significant improvement over a straight all the time then I think you probably need more practice with the straight - how long have you been using one?

Of course at the end of the day it's all about what works for you so if you like a DE better then go for it.

 

[Ceri]

It's the same progression as in electronics. Tape -> CD -> Memory drives. Funny though, no one laments the passing of tape drives.

Hey! As someone who was very actively 'killing music' in the eighties I've still a lot of fondness for tapes Don't actually have a deck at present - getting a good quality vintage one isn't easy, but will someday - clicking a mouse to put a playlist together (which I'm sad enough to do quite a lot... currently working on one of sixties songs which feature London places and landmarks) isn't half as fun as creating a mix tape from your vinyl collection, and making a sleeve for it.

Then again I've a friend who keeps a seventies BMW in his garage - doesn't get driven much, but he uses the in car hifi to play his 8-tracks

 

[Peto]

Yeah, I thought the same after 5 months of straight shaving. Then tried my DEs and later Gillette Fusion. One shave was better than other and certainly better then shaves with straights. But I tried straights occasionally and once... click, I honed better then before, used what everyone say - light touch, short strokes and it was there. Not the BBS but good, effortless shave. Sting with alum? No. Just keep trying, it will work if you want.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Gee I just bought a Ferrari and have been driving it as an upgrade from my chevy for a month or two and I don't understand why I can't drive this thing like a seasoned race car driver.

Not funny, but it takes months to become seasoned with a straight, many months almost a year in fact. Anyone who uses a straight and has been for years will tell you the result of a straight shave is always better than a DE and you should never have any irritation or discomfort.

In your case like me with my Ferrari we both need more practice.

 

[RF1963]

Thank you all for your replies.