Other members into traditionnal shaving ?

Hi, I just wanted to ask if there were other members here, that were into traditionnal wet shaving ?

I did not know anything about that until one year ago, and per today I am a total fan of Double edge razors, shaving brushes, shaving creams and soaps !

As a teenager, I started shaving with an electric shaver and have been happy with that for a long time. But with the time, my beard begun to grow faster and thicker and the electric shaver could no longer provide a satisfying shave. Accidentaly, I learned about the double edge razors (DE), the very kind of razor that made Gillette famous. Like for PE, my first thought was that such a thing could not work, since everyone « knows » that only modern, Federer-advertised 3+ blades devices are safe and up to the task… at least this is what the majors try to put in our heads. Why advertise a 20c blade if people are ready to pay up to 4$50 ?

So I bought my 2 first DE razors in an antique store and tried them out. Wow ! Not only shaving with an old, single-bladed razor was feasible, but I could touch my cheeks and have a smooth feeling, which had not happened for ages… Since then, I have been watching videos on Youtube, reading posts on forums, taking the learning curve and have discovered a whole new world of enjoyable feelings.

As I have a feeble for vintage items, it is a pure joy to shave with magnificient metallic razors made in the first half of the previous century. And anyone who has ever enjoyed the pleasure of a warm, rich and perfumed lather created with a shaving brush will hardly go back to canned goo.

There are lots of forums where guys for whom shaving had previously been a chore, now report having discovered a gourmet way of shaving they now rank as their favourite « me time ».

I enjoy getting a good shave from a barber, but when I do it, it’s a miserable 30 second affair. My hair grows so fast I really need to shave to go out at night, unless I’m trying to look like an intentionally disheveled hipster.

What, no straight razor?

I bought the kit, new, just haven’t used it yet. Used a brush and shaving soap in the past so I have that part down.

Straights are too complicated for my taste…

Saves loads of cash using a DE razor, brush and soap. You get a shave that’s better than the latest Gillette power fusion crap for about 5% of the cost.

True that.

Been a safety razor fan forever- hate the $20 5 bladed monstrosities.

I’ve also gone straight edge, but that requires time I don’t usually care to spend.

I haven’t used foam in decades, shave in the shower- no mirror, I do it by feel at this point.
Box o’ blades for what, a nickel online?

We need to eschew change for change’s sake and remember that our forebears werent fools.

A good straight razor, hot lather shave from a good barber is an experience every man should have at least once, if not frequently.

I love taking the time to use a good badger brush, mug and quality soap. My grandfather’s old double edged razor with a new 25cent blade ensures my face is just as smooth as a $25 battery driven marketing ploy.

I’ve been a DE guy for 20 years, although if I’m traveling I’m perfectly happy with cheap disposables. My brother uses both straights and ‘modern’ Merkur DE’s and ludicrously expensive soaps and such like. For him it is a meditation. I have lots of other meditations in my life, and just want to get the hair off my face cheaply and effectively. :)

Cosign

Good luck finding them though- blades yes, but the razors themselves are only available online down here— I found the one I’m using now at a flea market and the handle is a bit short— I prefer to hook my pinky under my razor when I shave, to apply counter tension and keep it firmly in hand so that I don’t need to press it into my face to maintain control of the blade.

Ironically you can find them in NYC both at the high end places like “Art Of Shaving” as well as — wait for it— Chinatown, on the cheap.

My father was a fan and I was certain that I’d kept his when I cleaned out his apartment but I can’t seem to locate them.
Which is unlike me as that is precisely the sort of thing that I tend to collect as keepsakes— old eyeglasses, samll handmirrors— night table water carafes— those things that are a part of the daily life of the user.

Anyone know of a relatively cheap online source?
I’m looking on eBay for new and used— I’ve seen a couple of sweet old school military shaving kits, twist-offs like my current one.

I’m thinking of collecting these on a onesy twosy basis, for use and a little old school man style thing.

When I was a young man I used a straight razor. I quickly found out for me a quality double bladed disposable worked better. I got one hell of a shave from the straight razor but skin issues came into play. Knicks, cuts, ingrown hairs and such.

Try an old school DE- all the upside of the straight edge without the risky shit.

I’ve been using a vintage (my grandfather’s actually) Gillette DE safety razor for a few months. I did buy a cheap straight razor that was good for about three shaves and now it won’t cut even though I’ve tried various blade “revival” techniques. I will never ever again use a multi-blade razor or anything but shave soap. Once I get some money, I will be getting a 5/8” Dovo.

I also find that a DE razor gives me a very predictable and shaveable AM stubble- if the shave gets too close as with those quint blade razors, not only am I more likely to get irritated, ill also have insufficient stubble for a.decent shave in the am.

Hi,

I am interested in it too but I am a newbie.

Can someone share the forums he is reading, the websites he is buying from ?

(Especially you, Franziskaner, not because I do not want other people’s advises but because I live nearer to you than from the others)

Thanks in advance.