B
bluefoxicy
Who has used what? For me...
I started out with an electric my parents bought me when I was, what, 12? 13? Some vibrator thing where the thing inside moves left and right and you stick hairs through a foil screen to get clipped. Braun made it.
They wanted me to shave every single frickin' day.
I smashed it with a weight. Not my weight, I don't lift; when I lift something it's 'cause it belongs somewhere else. But it was there and I decided it belonged inside the (much smaller) razor.
It was at this point dad made the mistake of coming home with Barbasol and a pack of Bic disposable 2 blade razors. YEOUCH those are harsh! Worked though.
When I taught myself to drive a stick shift in February, I guess it was like those Bics. I got a car that broke a few months later, old aging falling apart garbage Cavalier. But man, driving stick is like... everyone's afraid to learn, it's too hard, something mystical people can do. Like shaving with blades, are you friggin' nuts taking that sharp sh!* to your throat?!
And then one day there was another electric, which I ignored. This one was rotary. Eventually I tried it out and it ripped a hole in my throat; I've never had an injury beyond a tiny knick with the blades, aside from one time I went dry without lube and peeled off my cheek in a thick slab (whoops). Let's not use that much pressure ever again.
No more of that. I've used 2 more electrics and I keep finding that my face burns for 3 hours afterwards, during which time I often cry. It hurts, no really it hurts. I've had high-concentration lye on my skin and idiot telling me to wash it off with water, it burned for an hour. Electrics burn like that, but for longer. Hell with that.
I found out Gillette is really awesome when I turned 18. No joke, they sent me a Mach 3 in the mail. Later they sent me a Fusion, just because. I mean I wasn't turning 18 again but hell, here's a free razor.
I found the Mach3 amazing; but nothing compared to the Fusion. The Mach3 always got closer, but way more irritation; the Fusion got very close, less irritation. The Bics, however, got the closest, with the most abrasion. Switching to Gillette brand gel helped, it works better than foamy white Colgate/Barbasol shaving cream. Imagine that.
I've tried both in vibrating power mode too, and the vibrations make the blades glide nicely. Gillette sent me a Mach3 power or a Fusion power, I can't recall... I bought the other one too though.
Then someone mentioned they don't use Gillette's crap.
And then I found my way here.
And at 23, I got a double edge, some Derby blades, a Tweezerman brush, and some Col Conk's soap.
Now I've used a Fatboy, a Merkur open comb, Merkur slant, various blades, a straight razor(!), and I have a Shavette and a solid brass Feather RG coming. I've also used various soaps, favoriting on SCS, but VDH is very good. Eventually I'll get an injector razor, figure out how to hone my straight razor myself, then who knows.
By the way, the straight razor was predictable, but same thing as driving stick or shaving with a blade. I looked at it, and I knew it was one of those things... it brought thoughts of the amazing difficulty and impossibility of the task, but when it went to my face it was... not amazing. My car stalled when I put it in gear the first time, so did my razor. But it did move. There's nothing mystic here; it takes practice. Interestingly I broke my straight razor (dulled the blade) and need to fix it (by learning to hone).
Meanwhile, a 40 year old coworker is minding me he's been shaving his whole body for 20 years, so he has more experience and knows better than me. I have a long road ahead of me but his is longer.
So who got here, how, and why? Which of you are 40 year old men that used the same razor and canned goo every single day until 2 years ago; and which of you have touched everything, and even revisited Bics and the Mach3 with your favorite shave soap and prep? Who picked up this stuff as a hobby, and who ripped your face off with an electric and had to find something that wouldn't make you bleed?
God, what a waste of life. Somebody should have just given me a straight razor when I was 15 and been done with it.
I started out with an electric my parents bought me when I was, what, 12? 13? Some vibrator thing where the thing inside moves left and right and you stick hairs through a foil screen to get clipped. Braun made it.
They wanted me to shave every single frickin' day.
I smashed it with a weight. Not my weight, I don't lift; when I lift something it's 'cause it belongs somewhere else. But it was there and I decided it belonged inside the (much smaller) razor.
It was at this point dad made the mistake of coming home with Barbasol and a pack of Bic disposable 2 blade razors. YEOUCH those are harsh! Worked though.
When I taught myself to drive a stick shift in February, I guess it was like those Bics. I got a car that broke a few months later, old aging falling apart garbage Cavalier. But man, driving stick is like... everyone's afraid to learn, it's too hard, something mystical people can do. Like shaving with blades, are you friggin' nuts taking that sharp sh!* to your throat?!
And then one day there was another electric, which I ignored. This one was rotary. Eventually I tried it out and it ripped a hole in my throat; I've never had an injury beyond a tiny knick with the blades, aside from one time I went dry without lube and peeled off my cheek in a thick slab (whoops). Let's not use that much pressure ever again.
No more of that. I've used 2 more electrics and I keep finding that my face burns for 3 hours afterwards, during which time I often cry. It hurts, no really it hurts. I've had high-concentration lye on my skin and idiot telling me to wash it off with water, it burned for an hour. Electrics burn like that, but for longer. Hell with that.
I found out Gillette is really awesome when I turned 18. No joke, they sent me a Mach 3 in the mail. Later they sent me a Fusion, just because. I mean I wasn't turning 18 again but hell, here's a free razor.
I found the Mach3 amazing; but nothing compared to the Fusion. The Mach3 always got closer, but way more irritation; the Fusion got very close, less irritation. The Bics, however, got the closest, with the most abrasion. Switching to Gillette brand gel helped, it works better than foamy white Colgate/Barbasol shaving cream. Imagine that.
I've tried both in vibrating power mode too, and the vibrations make the blades glide nicely. Gillette sent me a Mach3 power or a Fusion power, I can't recall... I bought the other one too though.
Then someone mentioned they don't use Gillette's crap.
And then I found my way here.
And at 23, I got a double edge, some Derby blades, a Tweezerman brush, and some Col Conk's soap.
Now I've used a Fatboy, a Merkur open comb, Merkur slant, various blades, a straight razor(!), and I have a Shavette and a solid brass Feather RG coming. I've also used various soaps, favoriting on SCS, but VDH is very good. Eventually I'll get an injector razor, figure out how to hone my straight razor myself, then who knows.
By the way, the straight razor was predictable, but same thing as driving stick or shaving with a blade. I looked at it, and I knew it was one of those things... it brought thoughts of the amazing difficulty and impossibility of the task, but when it went to my face it was... not amazing. My car stalled when I put it in gear the first time, so did my razor. But it did move. There's nothing mystic here; it takes practice. Interestingly I broke my straight razor (dulled the blade) and need to fix it (by learning to hone).
Meanwhile, a 40 year old coworker is minding me he's been shaving his whole body for 20 years, so he has more experience and knows better than me. I have a long road ahead of me but his is longer.
So who got here, how, and why? Which of you are 40 year old men that used the same razor and canned goo every single day until 2 years ago; and which of you have touched everything, and even revisited Bics and the Mach3 with your favorite shave soap and prep? Who picked up this stuff as a hobby, and who ripped your face off with an electric and had to find something that wouldn't make you bleed?
God, what a waste of life. Somebody should have just given me a straight razor when I was 15 and been done with it.
