Shaving

[derekl_1963]

Ever since I started shaving regularly for Movember, I've not really been happy with the process... which is part of why I grew a beard in the first place. So, yesterday, off the web to do some research on shaving. I discovered two things mainly... The first is that there is a lot of information on the web on just about any topic you care to name. The second is that there are a lot of people who obsess over any topic you care to name. (Neither should have been a surprise really though.) I found half a dozen discussion boards dedicated to shaving, most of whom eschew the modern multi-blade commercial razor (more on that below), some even going so far as to use an old fashioned straight razor. (Not for me! With my eye-hand coordination, that would be akin to Russian Roulette.) Many of the boards featured a "Shave of the Day" thread, where guys listed the razor, soap, aftershave, etc... they had used that day and often how the felt about the shave (subjectively and philosophically as well as objective results.) I found that *just* a little bit... creepy.

Anyhow, the results;

• Soap The soap I'm currently using is a no-name brand from Rite-Aid... and it sucketh rocks. There's a lot of soaps out there, so some more research is indicated. The brand I used to use was a recommended starter, but I haven't seen it about in ages and ages. There's a couple of local places I haven't checked yet though...
• Mug Other than slavish devotion to the Moss Scuttle among some... the general consensus was to use "whatever works". Coffee mug, sugar bowl, tupperware, the palm of your hand, whatever "it's all cool". My mug is a beat-up plastic travel mug bought from the Ship's Store thirty odd years ago...
• Brush My current brush sucks, it's a cheap piece o' krep bought on the fly decades ago to replace another cheap piece o' krep whose handle broke. There's more than a few brush options, and they will let you spend about as much money as you want to. While I don't need a $300 brush, there's a variety of decent $20-$30 options out there that I'm considering.
• Razor The more blades they've added, the crappier a job they've done on my face. There's a variety of single-blade option out there to look at (and cheaply available), so I'll be trying a few. As I said above, straight razors are however *right out*.

Comments

[doc-lemming.livejournal.com]

Alas, when I grew a beard, I discovered that it needed to be "shaped" to look good--which meant shaving under a more exacting name. (Just growing a beard looks patchy on me.)

So I started shaving everything on my face regularly. (Okay, I spent a decade or two with a moustache, but even that's gone now.)

After the brain tumour operation, I was not even steady enough to use a safety razor, so I had to get an electric one. I discovered the following things:

• Even electric razors get dull; my Phillips needs the heads changed annually, and the heads cleaned out at least every couple of days, usually daily. (My dad never showed me anything about shaving; I'm entirely self taught.)


• Electric razors miss stuff, so I have to shave with a blade (or be shaved with a blade) every once in a while. Every three or four weeks, because I don't have a strong beard.


• The free razors generally work okay for a while. I quite like the thousand-blade razor (okay, I think it's five) but I have trouble getting a close shave on places like my upper lip because the head is so big.


• The big problem with safety razors, for me, is that the blades really hack me up if I use them too long. With disposables, the punishment for forgetting to change them in time is an uncomfortable hair-pulling shave, not divots in my face.

I can only imagine what would happen if I shaved my head, like James Nicoll does.

Please keep me informed on your journey.

[derekl1963.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I hated my beard for the same reason. I won "ugliest beard on the boat" three patrols running... (Woulda been four had I not shaved for other reasons my last run.)

I've used an electric razor, but only under duress as I hate the noise.