It’s true, but when I first started considering DE shaving I went to two main resources, Badger and Blade and Reddit’s /r/wickededge.
The later site in particular is mostly for people who love photographing and oohing-and-ahhing over their spreads of all their equipment – multiple vintage bowls, brushes with the hairs cut to specific angles, and multiple razors all for specific purposes – “travel razors”, etc. Oh, and many, many pictures of them getting the “perfect foam” from their brushes, and then people telling them that their foam isn’t good enough.
My impression from the web is still that most people who enjoy DE or single-blade razors have a bit of equipment fetish. That said, there are many people who use this stuff that aren’t like that – many of them not posting on the web.
I like the Proraso stuff in a tube. It goes on fine with my fingers. I’ve never noticed whether a more “perfect” foam would ever be better. But it’s true that my fingers get slippery. That could be reason to have a brush. But then my wife would think I was being even more of a hipster.
Check this out - link 10 bucks at walgreens - you can’t be accused of being hipster if you go cheap - the hipster thing is to look cheap but ironically be stupid expensive.
I do agree with you though - there is a bit of an equipment fetish - I’d try a straight razor if I could get a decent one for cheap - but that’s just not happening in todays marketplace. I still use a Mach 3 honestly - it works for me - so meh, but the brush is here to stay. I see your stuff is in a similar price range (for the cream) - worst case scenario if you try the brush and it doesn’t work out - is you can use it like the guys in the army do - as a general purpose cleaning brush when working on machines.
Haven’t used this thing, but have considered getting it from Lehman’s for DH:
Can’t convince DH to use any other kind of razor, excepting [inferior shaving] electric kind. Feel free to recommend a machine that actually works well. I’ve been around and around re Braun, Norelco and more…
I use a safety razor. Blades for that are way easier to keep sharp. I sharpen them with a rectangular purpose-made Bakelite “stone” that’s sort of dished out along the long axis. “Concave hone” is the term. It’s maybe 50 years old?
Nearest match is this, on eBay: “Antique EASIWAY Safety Razor Blade Stropper Sharpener” and yeah it does pretty well. I am tempted to find a block of carborundum just to see if I can get blades any sharper.
A $50 electric razor gets you like a 1000 shaves with zero maintenance.
Did I miss a decimal point somewhere?
Full disclosure: I would love an option to go pre-12 facial hair. Or, failing that, for full axe-murderer beards to be socially acceptable. IMO, all else is a cost-benefit tradeoff.
When I shaved, the electric razor I had required pushing fairly hard against the surface to work. That sucked when I’d try to shave my throat. A safety razor worked a lot better for me.
I used to use a straight razor until I dinged the blade pretty badly and havent found someone willing to grind the edge back to usable condition. There is a learning curve for sure when taking a very, very sharp razor to your face. Be willing to bleed profusely at first (lots of capillaries around the skull) but eventually I was shaving dry without a mirror, nick free. Still the best shave ever, and does not contribute at all to the planet’s growing plastic waste problem. Higher initial upfront cost, but still cheaper in the long run than the evils of ‘disposable’ alternatives.
Re: the gear, most luxury shaving stuff aimed at people using DE safety or straight razors is overpriced and has a diminishing return. I use a simple, Tweezerman brush and Taylor of Old Bond Street cream. Dap it on, brush it up, and shave. Nothing fancy, and still super cheap. Going for the silver tip with brass fittings is a fool’s errand. But then, as I always say, people have got to waste their money on something.
Do you sharpen the blades on your disposables to extend their life? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy - I actually just do it by running the razor backwards up my forearm. I do this in the shower once my arm’s already wet so I go for 20-30 times, but if you’re doing it dry or have pretty coarse arm hair you can probably do less.
How well this works may vary by razor as well - on some of the disposable 3-blade ones (Mach 3? From Costco) it works great and they last far far beyond their lubricating strip; on some newer 4-blade ones it doesn’t seem to work nearly as well. My tendency to leave the razor in the shower may not help matters either.
That’s exactly the use-case I thought this iphone-rubber-thingy was for.
I’ll try honing them on my arm (hope I do it in the right direction!).
…
Yeah, I also leave them in the shower. I’d love to try safety or straight razors… but I don’t even have time to lather-up (I’ve had mug-soap-n-brush for years) anymore w/ the kids. Someday…
Or, you can cut off the leg of an old pair of blue jeans, rub your razor across it a dozen times and get the exact same effect. I’ve been doing this for over a year and it works.
A hone is abrasive and actually removes metal and makes a new edge. This rubber pad does two things: strops the blade to re-align the microscopic cutting edge, and it helps remove water and shave gel/lather that promote edge corrosion.
Both can be done on a scrap of old denim or cotton canvas for much less.
For me, an electric razor is like taking a rotary sander to my face. I used both foil and rotary models for a number of years before giving up. They tend to rip/tear my hairs rather than cut them. My neck beard also grows pretty flat to the skin, so getting a close shave there means using a lot of extra pressure just to get the shaver to work. As a result, a lot of ingrowns and irritation. Switching to a single sharp blade was my savior.
