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How to shave as a man?

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11:09 / 22.06.08

Haus - I didn't really choose to start with this video, I seen an animal looking like a badger being skinned alive in China and thought I should get some idea of the source of badger hair before purchasing a new brush. I now know it's not a badger but without seeing the video I probably wouldn't have put much thought into this before purchasing.
My mind had pretty much stopped at the manufacturers stating it was not the endangered European Badger but Chinese badgers which are basically pest control material- my mind has started again whether the video was done by peta, weta workshop, the synthetic brush co. or whatever. Information seems sparse and I would like a little before purchasing.

Lurid - I reckon I look like a bit of a twat if I don't shave for any more than 5 days or so and now find I actually enjoy shaving. When I can grow a decent beard then I'll probably move between beard and clean shaven.
I get the feeling the ritual I go through for shaving and tea making isn't too far from what some folks in the temple do and gives me a little time I enjoy each day - a touch of zen in everyday acts and whatnot.

I'm currently going along with the strong consensus for the clean shaven look, on the other hand my hair is a total state as I get it cut very rarely and never brush or comb it. Maybe one day I'll let my facial hair take over and obsessively groom and cut the hair on my head - different consensus for different courses.

I'm not sure I get the example of the SM couple. I shave bits of my body and my SO shaves bits of her body. Do we need to be SM or fetishy for it to have any association to eroticism? I now like shaving and my SO likes me clean shaven, winner! I'm not trying to divorce it from eroticism just saying I now enjoy one of the processes my SO, and me, enjoy the result of.

I think the main point may be that you find shaving an unpleasant experience and I've just realised it can be a pleasurable experience for me.

Next on my list - doing the dishes.

15:02 / 25.06.08

First some background: I'm a wet shaver, using a gillette Mach3 razor and a coat of King of Shaves oil under King of Shaves gel for a low lather. This is important as I have both a goatee and sideburns and a heavy lather makes it difficult to shave around them. While this gives the best results I have yet obtained I'm still prone to razor burn and ingrowing hairs, which I understand may be due to the razor.

I'm therefore thinking of switching to a safety razor but if I do is it necessary to also adopt the soap and brush as well?

15:32 / 25.06.08

I use either a "power" Gillette or Schick.

I used to get bad razor bumps/ingrown hairs, but on the advice of my hairdresser I Bought an alcohol based product that works wonders called "Tend Skin" (Readily available on ebay) upstairs, downstairs, men & women...

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:41 / 25.06.08

Axolotl - it's not necessary, no - a safety razor works better after a brush has raised and moistened the hairs, but so does a cartridge razor. You can use a safety razor with shaving oil and foam/gel - the important thing is to keep the face hydrated, so the razor glides and does not snag. There's a different style to shaving, also, but I'm sure we talked about that earlier.

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:42 / 25.06.08

Also, never use an alcohol-based aftershave. It dries the skin and makes you look...

older.

17:33 / 25.06.08

What if you use alcohol, wait an hour, then moisturize? I do find that since I use "Tend Skin" the rash of ingrown hairs I used to have has gone. Usually when I get to work, I use an Aveeno moisturizer and my skin's not dry... Seems to work for me...

19:51 / 25.06.08

I personally shave because I believe that, if I continue to perform Man Rituals, I will summon a Man Beard.

This hypothesis has thus far gone unproven, but I have also gone without having downy fluff all over, well... very little of my face, frankly.

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:41 / 30.06.08

I confess that, for the days when I just can't be bothered, I am wondering about the King of Shaves Azor, given the relative cheapness of the replacement cartridges and the travel-friendly capacity to lie flat in a bag, but will wait for the first reviews to come in before taking a punt.

17:53 / 30.06.08

I've not tried the razor but generally KoS stuff is pretty good.

Oh, it turns out an old acquaintance has a website flogging manly shaving accoutrements so I thought I'd pimp it for him here

18:13 / 06.09.08

Has anyone tried the KoS razor yet?

I just got one in the post today, turns out my other half clicked a link on the money saving expert forums a few months ago for a free one and we forgot all about it.

I think I'm too far gone to return to cartridge razors but as I've got a free cartridge with it I'll give it shot over the next week or two. I may keep it in reserve for festival/camping based activities. For travel I'm going with a 1912 single edge blade GEM razor and a little bottle of non-lathering lush shaving cream.

Cheers for the link Axolotl, I've been looking for a site which sells samples packs of good creams or soaps and it appears your old acquaintance my have just what I'm looking for.

Axolotl - my dad seems to have a never ending array of ridiculous sideburns/goatee/tash using a very old safety razor with brush and soap combination, he reckons the single blade gives him far more control over edges than the standard multiblade thing. No idea how he copes with the lather but he does switch between gels and lather and it never effects the precision geometry of his facial hair.

On the ingrown hair thing:

It might be that the ingrown hair problem is from stretching the skin. Mach3's stretch the skin for you and many people do their own skin stretching if using an old style safely razor, someone just informed me that stretching the skin will give you a close shave with ingrown hairs but a little skill and single blade will give you a close shave without stretching.

Here's the hard science.

11:51 / 21.09.08

I'm with Lurid Archive. I was also away they had the meeting which explained why men should shave - I just don't get it. To me it's like ironing clothes because someone in history decided clothes should be flat. WHY?

It wasn't until I was 21 that shaving actually became an option and I simply chose not to take it up. Mind you, even us beardy folk get itchy necks so I just use a cheap disposable to shave a nice line under the jaw to define my "Beard Ends Here" zone, and a bit off the cheeks to define my "Beard Starts Here" zone. I don't bother with shaving cream, I just do it in the shower with shampoo foam while I'm washing my hair. I use an electric thingy to mow the beard to a nice even length every few weeks, and small scissors to trim the moustache, because the trimmer doesn't really get there properly, so it doesn't tickle my lips or nostrils.

Janean Patience

18:57 / 21.09.08

I bought some King of Shaves Magnaglide shaving gel this weekend. That's right, fellow shavers, it's magnetic. I only hope I don't get my chin to close to any iron filings on the way to work, or I'll turn up to the office with a full silver beard.

20:07 / 01.12.08

One of you did this, didn't you.

How to shave like your grandpa.

00:05 / 04.12.08

not guilty.

I'm with Lurid Archive. I was also away they had the meeting which explained why men should shave - I just don't get it. To me it's like ironing clothes because someone in history decided clothes should be flat. WHY?

Probably a bit late but:

I missed that meeting to, from what I gather the meeting was held somewhere in the US military system around ww2. The only meeting I attended concerning ironing was with my mum, the outcome of that meeting was that every September 1st I iron my clothes for my mum's birthday. There's no need to shave as there is no need to cut any other hair or iron any clothes. I started the thread because I now like shaving much in the same way I like to meditate, make tea, practice chi kung or do kung fu. I'm not saying anyone needs to shave just aware that there are many who do shave and find it a pain in the arse.

I've now got myself a straight razor, it's great fun.

17:19 / 04.12.08

Take much stropping?

02:27 / 05.12.08

The awesomeness I've gotten from my merkur makes me want to attempt a move up to a straight razor, but stropping sounds irritating. Has anyone tried the feather straight razors with the disposable blades?

23:59 / 05.12.08

Not quite got the stropping bit yet. It arrived honemeister sharp but wasn't as dangerous after my first foray into stropping. I've got a paddle strop with abrasive paste on it so I can put off learning to hone until I've got the shaving and stropping bit down.

I picked up a cheap shavette thing from ebay for a few quid which takes halved DE blades, lets me know what I should be aiming for with the real straight. It's not too bad but I'm more likely to nick myself with it as it's very fucking sharp and doesn't give much feedback.

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