What's Your Shave?

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wsfarrell

·Oct 27, 2020

Starting a new thread so as not to derail abrod520's discussion.

I'm into vintage shaving stuff. My current setup is a Gillette Fat Boy from 1961, Derby Premium blades, a Rubberset brush I restored, and Proraso. A while back I restored a vintage straight razor and sharpened it. Shaving with it was a disaster not worth going into detail about.

The Fat Boy/Derby combo gives great shaves, for me anyway. The blade makes a difference: Derby strikes a nice balance between too dull (not a close shave) and too sharp (Feather blades were dangerous on my face).

What's your setup?

 

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Spruce

·Oct 27, 2020·Sunburst dial fan

I’ve always preferred Gillette, although my razors are a little more C21.

 

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JwRosenthal

·Oct 27, 2020

Proraso white pre-cream
Muhle R89 & R41 w/ Wilkinson's blades
Simpson badger brushes
Taylor's OBS Sandlwood
Proraso blue after shave balm (which I use as a face lotion- great stuff and very light)

 

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Waltesefalcon

·Oct 27, 2020

Case straight razor.

 

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JwRosenthal

·Oct 27, 2020

Waltesefalcon

Case straight razor.

I would slit my neck open. 😲
My friends joke I need child proof scissors or I'll take a finger off.

 

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SkunkPrince

·Oct 27, 2020

Merkur with a long handle, Personna blades, Speick cream, in the shower.

Though with never going anywhere without a mask, it doesn't much matter to me right now.

 

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JwRosenthal

·Oct 27, 2020

SkunkPrince

Merkur with a long handle, Personna blades, Speick cream, in the shower.

Though with never going anywhere without a mask, it doesn't much matter to me right now.

I used Merkur for years- nice razors. I still have 1 in my travel kit.

 

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Archer

·Oct 27, 2020·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

I have a Braun electric shaver. I use the trimmer on it and skim it over my face once every few days...I never use the actual shaver part anymore, so I always have some stubble.

I hate shaving...

 

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base615

·Oct 27, 2020

Gilette Mach 3. Can only shave every couple of days or my skin tears up. Tried a traditional razor as I was told it was easier on your skin but it was way worse. Tried an electric shaver and that was even worse than that. Yes, I'm soft.

 

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arturo7

·Oct 27, 2020

I was pondering this topic two days ago. I use an Atra. What reasons would there be to try a safety razor?

 

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akshayluc420

·Oct 27, 2020

We got these cheap plastic safety razors in military school (India) with Wilkinson sword double edge razor blades; in University (UK) it was the simple Gillette Vector 2 blade. Now I use the Mach 3 stick with the walmart Equate blades. Old Spice Original shaving lather cream and a regular shaving brush all through my life. I will admit much like cooking, gardening, and ironing dress shirts, shaving is like a ceremony onto itself; I hope to enjoy it once I'm through this phase in life.

I can't abide electric shavers, I need that baby-butt smoothness! Get carded everytime....ah, that explains the cougars...😁

 

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wsfarrell

·Oct 27, 2020

arturo7

I was pondering this topic two days ago. I use an Atra. What reasons would there be to try a safety razor?

Newer razors work fine, but they're mostly plastic. I prefer the heft of a solid brass, nickel-plated Fat Boy. There's also the nostalgia angle: My grandfather (a railroad engineer) used a straight razor; he sharpened it with a rock he picked up near a creek and flattened. It was fun to watch him work up a lather in a shaving bowl, hone the razor on a leather strop, and shave.

 

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SkunkPrince

·Oct 27, 2020

arturo7

I was pondering this topic two days ago. I use an Atra. What reasons would there be to try a safety razor?

One decent blade is 25 cents each, lasts a lot longer, and is a lot sharper. You can get a safety razor for $35 more or less.

Pays for itself well inside of a year.

 

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Foo2rama

·Oct 27, 2020·Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...

At 44 I apparently still haven’t hit puberty so I use a trimmer set to 1 every few days to keep mild stubble at all times.

plus I’ve got wavy hair and soft skin... so close shaves end up not ending well.

Edited: Oct 28, 2020

 

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base615

·Oct 28, 2020

Foo2rama

soft skin... so close shaves end up not ending well.

Same here but only growing hair in around 37.4% of available beard area means I have to go close to keep my face consistent. Sadly it results in a consistent bloody mess.

 

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JimInOz

·Oct 28, 2020·Melbourne Australia

Over 50 years of shaving (mandatory for about 30 years) I've tried everything from straight razor to fancy electrics.

I always come back to these.

Decent shave, decent price, easy to use, easy to clean. And as I shave in the shower after brushing my teeth I just use a light lather of "Goat Soap" and 60 seconds later I'm done.

My shower accoutrements consist of:

Electric toothbrush.
Tube of OralB toothpaste.
Schick ExactaII razor.
Bar of Goat Soap.
Nail brush.

That's it.

 

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lillatroll

·Oct 28, 2020

Been using this for the last 12 years or so. I have tried electric razors, not a great shave for me, took too long going over missed bits. I started off with those three or four bladed razors but the price of the blades was getting stupid. The Merkur 34c was around 70 pounds with badger hair shaving brush, blades, some balm and shaving soap with soap dish. I used everything until they were used up but now I only use the razor. I must have saved the price of the razor many times over considering the price of blades are very little. The biggest plus though, is the quality of the shave. Never get razor burns or have any irritated skin since using this.

 

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Archer

·Oct 28, 2020·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

Foo2rama

plus I’ve got wavy hair and soft skin... so close shaves end up not ending well.

I get ingrown hairs when I fully shave, so I avoid it as much as I can...

Thankfully not having to go to an office or anything, I can choose to shave or not, and it's almost always not. 👍

 

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M'Bob

·Oct 28, 2020

I can’t for the life of me understand who, years ago, looked at their face, and said, “Yeah, this all has to come off,” unless they had the foresight to start a shaver company. And then throngs of people mindlessly follow suit.

I cannot think of a more wasteful, ridiculous, perpetuated custom. Hair grows for a reason. Trust nature.

Beard on!

 

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Deafboy

·Oct 28, 2020·His Holiness Puer Surdus

Shaving was not good for my skin (ingrown hairs?), so I had a laser hair removal done on my beard area. There is still some hair left that I remove with a Braun. The laser procedure isn't fun but I'm very happy with the result.