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How to shave as a man?

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20:50 / 08.05.08

I stumbled across a few shaving threads but none really fit the bill squarely or seem worthy of resurrection.

The short version:

How do you shave? as in what razor, foam, ritual etc and what do you recommend.

The longer version:

I've always avoided electrical shaving devices in favour of the wet shave, very occasionally the dry rasping emergency shave.
I've used a standard issue mach3, quattro and a selection of throwaway cartridge blades over the years and thought that a shiny new mach3 cartridge was the cream of the crop.

I took the plunge a few weeks ago and went old school. I bought a 1950's Gillette double edged safety razor for a few dollars at a shaving forum and decided to try and enjoy shaving with the same excessive gusto I apply to my tea drinking. Only a few weeks in but it seems to have worked. It's been good and cuts have been few.

I make sure my face is suitably warm and wet before starting to lather the shaving cream I picked in Tesco with the cheapo shaving brush I purchased aswell. I'm starting to figure out how the grain of my hairgrowth runs and how to work with my face to get a decent shave.

I'm over the first hurdle and now looking to try out different creams/soaps, get a decent shaving brush, stock up on blades and generally become a little geeky about shaving.

So, any advice on shaving? any reasons I should ditch this and buy an eight bladed, battery powered, vibrating, gel dispensing razor? any product recommendations? any cutthroat shavers around?

I made the mistake of outlawing milk in the tea thread so this time around feel free to talk about 20 for £1 throwaways and electric shavers and I'll quietly cultivate my patience.

My one piece of advice: We had no hot water for around 8 weeks a few months ago. I thought I'd be a smart cheapskate and buy a tesco smartprice electric shaver - do not do this.

Blue Eyes Not Innocent

21:56 / 08.05.08

I wouldn't think cutthroat shavers would last very long.

In seriousness, I just use a pack of cheap disposables from CVS; I'm blessed(or cursed, depending on my mood) with very light, fine facial hair, so it's a breeze to cut it off. I might invest in a safety or straight razor just to try it out at some point in the future, but for now, this is fine. I hate electric razors, though, they've never done as good a job for me as good old-fashioned disposables do.

Korso Jerusalem

23:22 / 08.05.08

Thirding the electric hate. Even the hundred dollar miracle of science that my brother uses leaves me scratching myself.

I'm a Schick Quattro man myself. Warm water on the cheeks first, then some Gillette Fusion cream (overpriced, but it seems to irritate less). Afterwards I use Nivea soothing balm to avoid that leper look.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

23:29 / 08.05.08

I'm electric every time. Shaving is one of those things like shitting, pissing or eating. It's a thing that you have do to sometimes, and it should be dealt with as quickly and conveniently as possible, and with as little fuss as is practical, so as not to use up valuable drinking time.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

02:09 / 09.05.08

I used to use an electric razor, but fuck! It wasn't doing my skin any favours. I use disposable MACH 3 razors and this heavenly aloe-rich organic shaving lotion (not foam or gel) which a little more expensive but the bottles are quite decently sized, you don't need to use a lot a time, and it's very good for my face.

I seem to remember a time I used to shave every other day, but now I'm doing it every fourth or fifth.

· N · E · T ·

06:54 / 09.05.08

One thing you might add to your repertoire, Proinsias, is almond oil.

A very thin coat, just before you put on the shaving cream.

That's always worked out pretty well for me.

But, as my time as slipped away from me, I've had to depend on the quick convenience of a vibrating mass of plastic and steel.

I've found that irritation issues are heavily mitigated by following the electric shave with a cotton ball soaked in witch hazel. Adds a nice sheen to the complexion too.

If I could manage to make time for it, I'd treat myself to a careful razoring every day. However, I'm not sure this is the kind of thing my somewhat large ego needs at this juncture...

Not in the Face

08:03 / 09.05.08

My parents bought my an electric shaver when I was 18 and it never really took, wet shaves are much better, indeed I think its one of the little pleasures of life and one of the few where I spend on luxury goods, probably because I've had bad experience with disposable razors.

I've been a sucker for the 4 bladed electric shaver but have wanted to move to a straight razor for ages. Proinsias could you provide a link to the forum you bought yours on?

I prefer shaving while in the shower as it seems to result in a smoother shave and have moved over to oils after receiving some Izzy Miachi stuff for Xmas. I also use Clarin's For Men skin difference which you put on at night and does make the bristles softer. Certainly I've had no cuts or problems since using it.

09:37 / 09.05.08

Shaving is one of those things like shitting, pissing or eating. It's a thing that you have do to sometimes, and it should be dealt with as quickly and conveniently as possible

Some people might argue that shitting, pissing and eating are all perfectly enjoyable activities. I'm particularly fond of eating.

09:52 / 09.05.08

Cheers for the input.

Not in the face: Badger & Blade was recommended to me as a reliable source of info. The buy/sell/trade section of the forum is where I picked up my razor. They are quite keen on newbies and there are occasionally free razors, p&p only, on the go. I didn't realise this and had to shell out a full twenty dollars inc p&p for a razor for myself and one for my dad.

Shaving is one of those things like shitting, pissing or eating. It's a thing that you have do to sometimes, and it should be dealt with as quickly and conveniently as possible

The enlightenment thread needs you Stoatie.

Korso Jerusalem

16:18 / 09.05.08

To all you old-fashioned shavers, does it really make a difference? I paid for a hot lather shave (with the straight edge blade) at a local barber shop a little while back, and it turned out just awful. I had to go home and clean it up with my store-bought blade.

16:26 / 09.05.08

Where do I shave, as a man?

In the bathroom.

16:55 / 09.05.08

I generally shave my head and face with the same accouterments i.e. an electrical shaver but don't give myself anything below a blade 1.
The last time I went to the barbers for a proper shave/haircut about 1yr ago I fell asleep midway then woke up giving the barber's hand a light kiss.
It was embarrassing for all.
I am glad that he was not homophobic.

17:33 / 09.05.08

I have a 60-year-old self-sharpening thing with a wedge-shaped blade the name of which completely escapes me here at work, but even after lots of whetting and stropping and backing and forthing (the "self" in "self-sharpening" being my arm, running the blade back and forth over the whetstone with a handy spring-loaded blade-holding mechanism) it's not quite as close as my Gillette Sensor. I don't hold with that Mach 3 nonsense.

One thing that makes a difference for me, though, is a shaving brush. Something about frothing up some decent soap and swirling it onto the stubble makes it go much easier and smoother than that canned stuff. Sensual, too.

Of course, now I have a manly beard with gray in it. Again. But when it goes, I know how I'll make it go.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:30 / 09.05.08

At present I do not care how I look or whether I hurt, so am using a Mach 3. At other times I use a Merkur safety razor. Preparation is all on this, though. For preference I use King of Shaves shave oil, then rub in Prince shaving cream from lush - they have this in the Americas now, also. A lather of soap with a badger brush to finish. I am boycotting Trumper due to their mercantile approach to ivory, so use Taylor's when I have time to get it. At present, though, am using generic Boots shaving soap.

Closed for Business Time

09:35 / 10.05.08

Haus, I resent you for implying that Mach 3 is a tool for feckless masochists.

I might be tempted to go the way of the safety razor myself.

Whisky Priestess

11:04 / 10.05.08

At present I do not care how I look or whether I hurt

Big huggle?

Alternatively, can I steal that line for later use in a poem/indie ballad?

11:55 / 10.05.08

I hate to shave, but can't stand a beard after a couple of months. So when I get to the point where I want to tear my face off (usually when I start getting too much food/drink stuck in it), I get out a pair of electric clippers— the kind one would use for haircuts— and hack it down to short stubble, starting it all over again. Crude, but effective. I don't think I've used a razor in five or six years, and that was for some special occasion.
I'll let it go longer in the winter, because goddamn if a beard doesn't work to keep your face warm, and I'll miss it the day after cutting it off, when I'm out all day in some brutally cold weather.
I've had the same clippers for fifteen years, I keep them oiled and clean them fairly well every time, but last month they were just not working well. I ended up taking them totally apart, and found that the entire case was jammed full of whiskers. I've got a red beard, but it's been getting more grey for the last few years. I could see the whiskers transitioning over the years within the case; at the base they were brighter and purer red, transitioning to the current blend nearer the blades.

I just stared at it, seeing the whiskers of my younger days.

Then I cleaned it out, because it was gross. I hate clumps of whiskers.

13:39 / 10.05.08

always distrusted the claims of electric things 'shave as close as a blade...' bollocks.

have mainly shaved with a twin razor, hot/warm water and usually no lather. shave down face, then against grain is my most satisfactory method. also, usually in shower. does anyone else hate the fact that twin blades get clumpy and hard to clear??

but i am in the constant quandry that i hate shaving and hate being too stubbly: d'oh! so end up shaving most days, usually at least every other day - and have inherited an electric from demanding lover, so use it occasionally but also usually end up dry shaving with a quattro (also acquired through good graces of d/l) the results to get a decent close effect.

best results with hot hot water on face before (wet face cloth is good) then a light lather or another flush of hot water, then shave, keeping face moist, slicing off most of hairs with the grain, then tidy up and get smoooooth against it, with more heat. then moisturise, rubbing it in up against the grain on the neck and under the chin.

the best advice is about apre shave - the moisturiser. don't go for fancy schmancy pricey 'men's moisturiser' shit or after shave lotions - all you need is sorbelene cream. can also be good for a pre-shave lather. cheap, effective, saves on everything and no unwanted scents.

i tend to get a light rash if i try to shave with a blade every day - even using tube of lather and hot water, so it isn't that - but luckily have a gig where it isn't essential to be smooth as baby's...

16:48 / 10.05.08

To all you old-fashioned shavers, does it really make a difference? I paid for a hot lather shave (with the straight edge blade) at a local barber shop a little while back, and it turned out just awful. I had to go home and clean it up with my store-bought blade.

It's the improvement side of it that gets me. After a few weeks my face is probably around the same as it was with the mach3 but I can see the shaves getting better each time and I gather that this pattern continues, albeit not quite as steeply as I'm experiencing atm. Shaving has been a chore for me and this is a little change that turns it into more of art than a chore, albeit an art I'm not very good at yet but it's not like I'm going to be short of practice.
A little more practice and I'll be able to look down on all the feckless masochists, yeah.

Haus: I had no idea lush stocked shaving stuff, that'll give me something to do the next time I'm dragged in, as opposed to internal moaning that the best organic ingredients on the high st are being used for body cream & bath bombs instead of food.

A proper badger hair brush is needed and since I've roped my dad into the safety razors I can see a nice brush being a birthday present request. They are a little more expensive than I was anticipating.

I recall reading something about the disposal of razor blades being of paramount importance, I've been sticking used ones in a glass jar - is there a proper procedure to follow or do I just secure the lid and dump the jar?

I quite like the idea of a decent beard but I can't quite manage it at this stage of my life. Talking it over with my dad he claims to have made it to 21 before really needing to shave and then past thirty before something akin to wire wool started taking over his face, at a sprightly 25 I might have a few years before the beard becomes a serious option.

16:49 / 11.05.08

I recall reading something about the disposal of razor blades being of paramount importance, I've been sticking used ones in a glass jar - is there a proper procedure to follow or do I just secure the lid and dump the jar?

If you put your used razors in a pyramid-shaped, miniature shed, they will regenerate. That is a fact.

14:22 / 12.05.08

On a mention by Haus a year or two ago I got a Merkur safety razor, and although I only shave once or twice a week, I very much more enjoy it now. No clogging of the blades, unless my beard is a bit long, in which case you can just loosen and rinse in a 3-second manoeuvre. No need to push and scrape hard - the weight of the handle does a lot of the work.

Palmolive soap (or whatever is in the shop - using Erasmic atm which has a nice smell). I very much like the fact that a tube of soap lasts me for a year or two, whereas I would have thrown out a compressed foam tin every few months in my teens.

And an old brush that I've had for many years, which I suppose is either badger hair or, more likely, boar hair.

On that subject, how ethical is the use of badger hair? I presume there aren't badger farms where badger-shearing goes on... I think boar are farmed.

15:43 / 12.05.08

Ah, this is the thing I have. A Rolls razor. You roll it back and forth to sharpen it.

22:00 / 14.05.08

On that subject, how ethical is the use of badger hair?

I gather it's all right if you catch them in the wild, and then pluck them. It's perhaps worth bearing in mind that they can be quite aggressive, though. Often, in England, they are gassed.

00:58 / 15.05.08

I'm also among the ranks that bought a merkur on haus's recommendation. since going beardy, i only use it about twice a week for cheeks and neck, but it works wonderfully. i previously used fusions and mach3's, both of which gave me razor burn and ingrown hairs on my neck. no burn or in-grows from the merkur.

lather wise, i use aveeno sensitive skin. i tried a brush and soap (a cheap brush, hogs hair i believe) and i couldn't get over the fact that the brush made me smell a bit like a wet wool sweater. do the badger brushes not have that "animal hair" smell?

00:27 / 19.05.08

On that subject, how ethical is the use of badger hair? I presume there aren't badger farms where badger-shearing goes on... I think boar are farmed.

Not very ethical in some cases.

Not for the faint hearted

Are any new badger brushes likely to come with any sort of animal walfare claims?

14:37 / 19.05.08

Not from what I've seen, and, given Haus' comments up-thread about ivory use, I don't think the companies in question really give a shit.

On that issue, are there any hi-q synthetics, and any dermatalogically-tested soaps?

23:06 / 19.05.08

That really is one of the most vile and disheartening things I've ever seen.

23:17 / 19.05.08

I should probably mention that the poor creature at the beginning of the video is not actually a badger but a racoon dog. As the badger is pretty much classed as vermin in parts of China it's not too hard to imagine it happening to one.

23:33 / 20.06.08

I'm fucking hacked off.

I was about to enter the pinnacle of wetshaving, owning a badger hair brush, until I seen the video above. A thread was started on the shaving forum I frequent about contacting vendors and trying to establish the source of their badger hair, some of the vendors were horrified at the stuff in the vid and have stated they will be checking out badger welfare in the coming weeks during trips to China.

The thread seemed to be going swimmingly until this

I've pm'd the moderator and received a reply stating the thread was closed as it was offtopic in the shaving brush forum and it was against the concept of the forum to discuss such things - off to another shaving forum then.

Whilst writing this post I've just had another pm from the moderator in question explaining that it's pretty much the same group of moderators on all the online shaving forums and the 'crackdown' on animal welfare discussions will continue elsewhere.

The moderator suggests I try other forums, so I'm ranting here. Please don't lock the thread.

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:17 / 21.06.08

OK, but that isn't actually a badger, right? It doesn't tell us how badgers are treated, unless we just assume that the Chinese are cruel to animals generally.

Synthetic brushes are available - I have one. They're maybe the quality of pork bristle or similar - they'll move the soap aropundyour face, but they don't contain anything like as much water in the bristles.

16:48 / 21.06.08

Ignorance is vegan, as they say.
If you don't find out, would you boycott until you do? Or assume good practice until you heard otherwise?

17:06 / 21.06.08

Maybe I'm making a bit of a leap but I see an animal rather similar to badger being skinned alive in China and made the jump, as did others, to 'maybe some of the badgers, which are considered pests in China, are dealt with in this fashion'.

If one of the brush manufactures even try to show some sort of evidence that their pelts are not obtained in this fashion then I would have a little more confidence in buying one.

I've been using a synthetic brush and would like to get a badger brush. I'm in no real hurry and wouldn't mind waiting a few months or years. I'm just a little pissed that this, and possibly the other, online shaving communities seem rather opposed to the origin of the badger hair being discussed in any form.

The shitty response to explain the lock didn't really help.

ONLY NICE THINGS

19:39 / 21.06.08

I agree entirely that one should seek to find an ethical relationship with your consumer goods. However, I wouldn't start from this video, because the only connection between it and badger brushes is Chinese people.

19:46 / 21.06.08

Everyone, just say "no" to shaving (I'm pretty much against shaving in most contexts, but lets stick to beards for now). It is such an unpleasant experience and one which I've never really fully understood. I get that different men want to do different things with their facial hair, which is fine and dandy, but the seemingly stong consensus toward preferring being clean shaven is frankly baffling. I obviously missed a meeting.

That said, I know a SM couple where she gets him to shave a lot, which makes a lot more sense to me. In eroticising wierd ritualistic behaviour, at least the internal logic is transparent to me. Take away the eroticisation, though, and I'm lost. Like "vampires" who say that their drinking blood has nothing to do with sexuality. Thats just wierd.

01:08 / 22.06.08

For me it's all about nutrition.

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