Shaving - E
Well, now that Mike's let the cat out of the bag by blogging about it, I feel the need to blog about my shave as well. I stumbled upon sh@veblog.com about a month or so ago, and was also intrigued by the idea of wetsh@ving, as it's called. I read the entire blog, which I loved, because the guy was so detailed in his analysis of all kinds of shaving creams, brushes, and shaving implements. Before I buy something, I want to know what's best, and/or what gives me the best bang for my buck -- according to some book that Barbara read a while ago, I'd be classified as a maven.
Now, I'm not as hirsute as Mike, but the idea of a good, close shave really appealed to me. I've used an electric razor, and had no problems with it burning or anything like that. But an electric razor can only cut so close. And shaving with a razor seems so much more manly. :) But every time I busted out the razor and shaving cream from a can, I'd end up cutting myself in five different places. After reading the blog, I realized that the main culprit was the shaving cream. The stuff from the can does a very poor job of lubricating. And after doing some more research, I saw that technique was also an issue. It seems that many wetsh@vers utilize a 4-pass technique: once with the grain, once across the grain, once across the grain the other way, and a gentle pass against the grain.
The author of the blog highly recommended Pror@so shaving cream, a brand from Italy that T@rget happens to sell. So I went with H and got myself a tube of shaving cream and a cheap boar's hair shaving brush-- I figured I'd start with this before blowing a bunch of dough on a safety razor and a badger hair brush. After perusing a wetsh@ving newsgroup, I found a few how-to videos on Y0uTube (search for mantic59) that explained how to create lather, the 4-pass technique, etc.
Since I've started shaving with Pror@so and a Gillette Sens0r Excel razor that I got for free in college, I've only cut myself once. And that was because I was pressing too hard. I'm pretty happy with my shave, but it's still not quite as smooth as a baby's bottom -- I may have to get a safety razor for that. One thing that I've enjoyed, as the author of sh@veblog talks about, is the zen of wetsh@ving. Whipping up the lather, focusing on the act of shaving -- it's become an enjoyable ritual. It may take 15-20 minutes, but I love it.
I actually just shaved -- 4 passes, baby! -- and H is laughing at me because I keep stroking my face.
Now, I'm not as hirsute as Mike, but the idea of a good, close shave really appealed to me. I've used an electric razor, and had no problems with it burning or anything like that. But an electric razor can only cut so close. And shaving with a razor seems so much more manly. :) But every time I busted out the razor and shaving cream from a can, I'd end up cutting myself in five different places. After reading the blog, I realized that the main culprit was the shaving cream. The stuff from the can does a very poor job of lubricating. And after doing some more research, I saw that technique was also an issue. It seems that many wetsh@vers utilize a 4-pass technique: once with the grain, once across the grain, once across the grain the other way, and a gentle pass against the grain.
The author of the blog highly recommended Pror@so shaving cream, a brand from Italy that T@rget happens to sell. So I went with H and got myself a tube of shaving cream and a cheap boar's hair shaving brush-- I figured I'd start with this before blowing a bunch of dough on a safety razor and a badger hair brush. After perusing a wetsh@ving newsgroup, I found a few how-to videos on Y0uTube (search for mantic59) that explained how to create lather, the 4-pass technique, etc.
Since I've started shaving with Pror@so and a Gillette Sens0r Excel razor that I got for free in college, I've only cut myself once. And that was because I was pressing too hard. I'm pretty happy with my shave, but it's still not quite as smooth as a baby's bottom -- I may have to get a safety razor for that. One thing that I've enjoyed, as the author of sh@veblog talks about, is the zen of wetsh@ving. Whipping up the lather, focusing on the act of shaving -- it's become an enjoyable ritual. It may take 15-20 minutes, but I love it.
I actually just shaved -- 4 passes, baby! -- and H is laughing at me because I keep stroking my face.
posted by haed at 1:29 PM
1 Comments:
Cool; you have to show me how to do that. I'm awaiting my goods to come still. And I'm trying to talk other guys into doing it too. - Mike
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