the art of shaving (your face)

[SVMIVRA]

Straight razor's look so awesome to use.. too bad I don't have any facial/body hair except on my head. Damn genes.

[Jason Musgrave]

Thought this was appropriate here:

[RickM]

That pic sequence in the previous post reminds me of me; Chinless WASP without no beard. So/it's November 1st and I'm growing one. Advice? Just let it grow wild for weeks on end? Start trying to trim up a neckline, etc.. right away? What? Any other sage advice? I hope the usual trusted sartorial suspscts, (and the hirsute ones..) can/will offer up free advice. I'm looking at you, Chase.

[Matthew Strongin]

I'm no Chase, but my winter beard sequence is

1) Stop shaving completely for about a week.
2) Go on cycling vacation in the mountains. Refrain from shaving or trimming despite pleas from the significant other. Things are getting wild at this point.
3) Return home and trim the neckline in preparation for a return to work. This takes me from slovenly to simply bearded and appeases the wife.
4) Keep the neckline clean while letting everything else grow for a couple more weeks. From there, trim to preferred length and enjoy less time shaving and some added warmth.

[Jason Musgrave]

^^ this

[davids]

I'm no Chase, but my winter beard sequence is

1) Stop shaving completely for about a week.
2) Go on cycling vacation in the mountains. Refrain from shaving or trimming despite pleas from the significant other. Things are getting wild at this point.
3) Return home and trim the neckline in preparation for a return to work. This takes me from slovenly to simply bearded and appeases the wife.
4) Keep the neckline clean while letting everything else grow for a couple more weeks. From there, trim to preferred length and enjoy less time shaving and some added warmth.

Yep. And invest some twenties in a high-quality trimmer, with a guide. In my hirsutier days I ran the shortest trimmer over my face once a week, trimmed my neck and cheekbones every other day.

[chasea]

I just let it go. I don't do jack until I'm looking rough. Then I let it go some more. Then I trim my neck. Then I might take care of my cheeckbones.

Mustache needs to be trimmed after its soaking in your drinks and you can't say words with P's in them (that just comes with the territory), but before you start eating it along with your sandwich. You're going to need to use a napkin constantly. You're going to need to avoid certain foods altogether.

Get it touched up when you get your haircut if you're highfalutin'.

[WayneJ]

Yep. And invest some twenties in a high-quality trimmer, with a guide. In my hirsutier days I ran the shortest trimmer over my face once a week, trimmed my neck and cheekbones every other day.

David,

Thanks for yet another vocabulary lesson. Interesting images in a Googly search.

[RickM]

Thanks Be To Manly Men. Appreciated. Looking forward to sporting the Lost Weekend look at Monday night's mgmt. meeting....

[davids]

David,

Thanks for yet another vocabulary lesson. Interesting images in a Googly search.

You didn't end up on Andrew Sullivan's site, did you?

[WadePatton]

Update from the WP dept: Use straight razors 95% of the time now and it took a year to get competent at it. Also, my soap is 3x better with some bentonite clay added.

Beard-I just took off a 3 or 4-week beard with a few swipes of freshly honed SR's. I'd been going 3-10 days, keeping lip and neckline clean. GF liked it fuzzy. The beard wasn't as white as i expected. so i got that goin' for me.

I only use DE's (open-combed oldies) for legs now.

[Bobonli]

Basically anything BUT Art of Shaving. Spend some quality time at Badger & Blade - Home They are the wiki of shaving.

A belated "Amen to that!"

I decided to ditch the 17 blade wunder-cartridge that I've been using for several years in favor of a DE safety razor. Read through the B&B blade forums this weekend and settled on the Merkur 33c. I wanted to see the thing in the flesh so I headed over to AofS because it's near my home. They want $55 for a razor that's available online with little or no searching for $35. I told the salesman that it can be had for nearly half price online and he responded "Yup."

Eff them.

What say yee to West Coast Shaving? I'm a one-stop shopping kinda guy and they look like they have reasonable prices.

[Curt Goodrich]

A belated "Amen to that!"

I decided to ditch the 17 blade wunder-cartridge that I've been using for several years in favor of a DE safety razor. Read through the B&B blade forums this weekend and settled on the Merkur 33c. I wanted to see the thing in the flesh so I headed over to AofS because it's near my home. They want $55 for a razor that's available online with little or no searching for $35. I told the salesman that it can be had for nearly half price online and he responded "Yup."

Eff them.

What say yee to West Coast Shaving? I'm a one-stop shopping kinda guy and they look like they have reasonable prices.

I've purchased blades (Feather) and shaving soap (Mitchell's Wool Fat) from West Coast shaving. Both products I highly recommend and I was pleased with my service from West Coast Shaving.

[11.4]

I've had good luck with Lee's:

Safety Razors | Merkur, Edwin Jagger, Feather, Parker

Prices are a bit better and inventory is larger. Lee's has more exotic stuff such as custom handles for razors to rebalance your double-edge, Mergress razors, plus more single edge and the like.

If you are the vintage type anyway, you'll like this site:

Razor Emporium | Vintage Shaving Supplies

Old razors, high quality for the most part.

For reviews on some of the razors out there -- B&B tends to be a bit slanted at times -- check out

Safety Razor Reviews

[Bobonli]

Thanks Lane, you just cost me a couple of hours with the link to Safety Razor Reviews!

[Too Tall]

Bob, Curt is right about Mitchell's WoolFat + a nice brush. I up the ante by adding a few drops of no scent Kiss My Face shaving lotion ontop of the WoolFat. That makes for great lather and KMF is slippery stuff.

Thanks for the Lee's link Lane, new to me. Very good place.

[bbattle]

I have a nice Merkur classic safety razor. Feather blades are my favorite. Edwin Jagger badger brush. Shaving soap works so much better than foam from a can.

I had been using a Trac II razor forever but when I lost the handle and could not find a replacement, I decided to go with the safety razor. The blades are dirt cheap and work so much better than anything else I've tried.

[pdxharth]

I found a blade that has changed the experience for me: PolSilver Super Iridium. Available here from Lee's: Polsilver Super Irridium Double Edge Razor Blades

After trying two handles and many different types of blades, this one is as sharp as Feather (previous favorite) but more gentle. It glides. I've tried the PolSilver and Feather back to back and definitely prefer this blade to any other at this point.

[Wisco]

I'm a loyal Merkur and Feather user for 3 years now, but after many iterations have settled on Proraso pre-shave, shave cream and post-shave balm. Nothing fancy, moderate cost and easy to find on the Interwebs. In a pinch, their shave cream is private labeled for The Body Shop, so you can emergency reload at the Mall if you need to. A single large tube of shave cream can last 6-8 months or more.

The most important improvement I found in my shaving experience was use of a pre-shave oil or now Proraso "beard softener" prior to shave cream/brush. The blade glides easier and without as much drama. The second most important element is applying a second coat of shave cream to then clean up high density whisker areas (chin) and funny angle whisker areas (bottom of throat area). Shave with the grain first and sideways or against with the second coat and you're as smooth as a baby's butt. I will check out the Polsilver blade option. Thanks pdxharth for the tip!

[Too Tall]

My world is shattered, you mean to tell me there is something better than Feather DE blades? Exactly what the he!! am I to do with the stack I currently posess? Thanks alot!!!

I found a blade that has changed the experience for me: PolSilver Super Iridium. Available here from Lee's: Polsilver Super Irridium Double Edge Razor Blades

After trying two handles and many different types of blades, this one is as sharp as Feather (previous favorite) but more gentle. It glides. I've tried the PolSilver and Feather back to back and definitely prefer this blade to any other at this point.