Any dedicated wet shavers here?

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In my everlasting quest for the perfect shave, I've tried every newfangled multiblade system and crazy detergent shave gel on the market. I've tried electrics, cartridge shavers, and disposables galore figuring that the next new technology was the way to go.

Recently though, I've been informed that all my rooting around in the technological wastes has been for naught and that nothing beats the quality of shave one can get from an old fashioned wet shave with either a straight or safety razor. I've looked up a lot of the information online and it appears that the secret is to use old technology, solid technique, and take one's time.

Anyone done this?

We had a thread on this not so long ago but i can't find it using google or the site search. Lots of good advice in it though

I'm one for a wet shave, but my girly sensitive skin behooves that I shave every few days rather than every day.

I haven't done much shopping around for a while, but I'm currently using King Of Shaves Alphagel with Gillette Fusion disposable razors, though I've heard that ordinary soap and water is just as good.

I can't say I've ever tried using safety or straight razors, I guess I consider myself incompetent enough to have a 50:50 chance of accidentally brutally cutting my head off whilst shaving.

DudleySmith wrote:

I can't say I've ever tried using safety or straight razors, I guess I consider myself incompetent enough to have a 50:50 chance of accidentally brutally cutting my head off whilst shaving.

You won't cut your head off. At most you'll get partly through the carotid before you pass out.

I just don't shave. I keep a neatly trimmed goatee and I just keep stubble everywhere else. Trim couple times a week. Been thinking of going back to short beard and a trimmed neck, though.

I use a Gillette Fusion, shall we say lower once a week or so(cuts down on stank).

But from my shorn days, nothing beat a good straight razor shave from the barber. I wish I could find a way to buy a proper straight razor, though.

I've tried this, and it's true. A high-quality soap, a straightedge razor, and a lot of extremely gentle passes is how you get a really close shave. But it takes a long time to do it right.

Also, the blade you use is very important. The best I've found are the Israeli Personnas. (I think they have two Ns, not sure.) The American Feather Stainless are almost as good.

Using a good conditioning aftershave about midpoint in the process, as well as after, will improve the final result quite a bit.

A 'safety razor' is just about as good as a straightedge when you're shaving yourself, btw. It's still one blade, and it's still applied in more or less the same way, but it's a lot safer when working at odd angles in the mirror. You can cut yourself, but you can't kill yourself.

I shave in the shower with a fusion blade and sensitive skin gel after my skin has soaked for a few minutes . This is the only thing that keeps the razor burn down, and I should also use an aftershave lotion, but I don't always (when I do I rarely have any issues). As for the closeness, it's pretty good, but it's razor dependent. Some are good, others are junk. There's no way to really know until after you've used a razor once or twice. Some last me almost a month because they're so good - others only twice.

By the way, if you can even tell you grow a beard after shaving, it wasn't close enough. I usually don't bother going that far with it myself, but after a truly good wet shave, there isn't anything left but skin.

I always wet shave. I have tried shavers, but they just don't, for me at least, give the closeness that I like.

Here are the tricks (from 6 years in the military, shaving nearly every day) that I have that results in me hardly ever bleeding.

1 - You need to prepare your skin. The best way that I have found is in the shower, just before you rinse off and get out. The steam gets everything ready and it is easy to shave.
2 - State of your razor blade. There is a trick to this. You don't want to use a new blade the day you have to give a big presentation. The super sharpness, combined with Murphy's Law, almost guarantees that you will cut yourself. At the same time, you don't want an old blade. That results in less cutting of the stubble and more pulling of the skin, resulting in more nicks/razor burn as you shave the skin and not the stubble.
3 - Rinse often. The less gunk you have in your blades, the better.
4 - Thin layer of shaving cream or whatever you use. I use lather from whatever bar of soap my wife uses.
5 - Good quality razors - Here, you get what you pay for.

And don't mock the new, 5-bladed razors. I just switched to one a week ago, because my old Gillette 2-bladed one died on me. The difference was remarkable. The blade glides over my skin much, much smoother and the cut is much, much closer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbT3J...

edit - Wish I knew how to get the video to embed.

mudbunny wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbT3J...

edit - Wish I knew how to get the video to embed.

Make a youtube tag with the content containing the "v" parameter from your link, like so:

[youtube]GbT3JARkluk[/youtube]

Edit: Oso found the thread first!

For me, I don't have the time (read: too sleepy in the morning) to take a shower before shaving, so I usually use a small run of warm water in conjuction with gilette shaving gel and a fusion razor.

Fire.

Nice and close.

Paleocon wrote:

In my everlasting quest for the perfect shave, I've tried every newfangled multiblade system and crazy detergent shave gel on the market. I've tried electrics, cartridge shavers, and disposables galore figuring that the next new technology was the way to go.

Recently though, I've been informed that all my rooting around in the technological wastes has been for naught and that nothing beats the quality of shave one can get from an old fashioned wet shave with either a straight or safety razor. I've looked up a lot of the information online and it appears that the secret is to use old technology, solid technique, and take one's time.

Anyone done this?

Straight razor is the way to go for the ultimate shave. That being said, it is incredibly time consuming to do, and requires a hefty monetary investment as well as the time put in to learn to do it properly.

If you're looking to get into it, you will need (at a minimum):

A quality razor
Leather strop
Shaving brush (preferably badger hair), soap, mug

I'd recommend a site like classicshaving.com, which sells starter kits that include a professionally sharpened razor along with the other necessary implements for around $250-300. If you keep going with it long enough, you will eventually need to get a stone to sharpen the razor (should only need to be done every 6-12 months if cared for properly). Classic Shaving will also sharpen razors for you, which is very nice if you happen to drop the razor and get a nick in the blade, which is very difficult for a novice to repair.

My girlfriend bought me all the necessary equipment about a year ago, and I do enjoy traditional wet shaving, but I find that I usually just don't have the time to devote to it. It is typically a weekend sort of thing for me.

I'm reading that the Feathers blades are by far the sharpest out on the market, but that they aren't for a rank beginner as the potential for damage is there. The Israel Personna Red Pack razors look like they are 10 cents per blade making them 1/4 the price of the Feathers. If they are really that good, why would anyone use anything else?

A lot of shaving is purely personal. I was always told "Never shave against the grain", but if I want to get a shave that works for me, and is as close as I like it, i need to shave against the grain. Plus, the feel of the blade over the skin, the grip of the razor, those are all very personal. What works for one person may not work for another.

Another thing that really has an effect is the condition of your skin. Once, my wife bought me some fancy soap for my skin that had skin conditioners or something in it. After a week of using it, a blade that would normally work wonderfully started to make my face look like an extra who just finished shooting a scene in a SAW movie.

I'm considering electrolosis. I hate shaving.

Yeah, the old fashioned shave is by far the closest, best feeling shave but it is time consuming and it is also expensive if you're doing it right. Trust me, you do NOT want to skimp on a straight razor or a lather brush.

In a perfect world I would shave this way every day but I don't have the time or patience to spend 15 minutes shaving every morning.

I too am a wet shaver out of preference. It is more time consuming, but its mostly much better on my skin. Without a wet shave my skin tends to dry up and itch, but with a wet shave my skin feels more manageable.

Yes the more money you spend on shaving stuff the more money you are just throwing away. How you shave is what it's all about.

This may be an absurdly simple question but have you ever tried just shaving in the shower? It works great. Just get yourself one of those stick on mirrors, lather up and have at it. I LOVE the new Fusions.

Bear wrote:

This may be an absurdly simple question but have you ever tried just shaving in the shower? It works great. Just get yourself one of those stick on mirrors, lather up and have at it. I LOVE the new Fusions.

Mirrors? I just do it by feel. Even with these mutton chops my wife has somehow talked me into growing, it works pretty well.

Wait, you don't use a Bowie knife?

And you're talking about shaving your face, right? Because it's a whole different set of rules if you are shaving someplace else.

I shower, then hit the shaving portion. My skin gets easily burned.

I also thought this thread titled was "any dedicated slavers?".

My neck skin always incited a revolution when I tried shaving. The only thing I found that worked for me was in-the-shower shave. I use Mach razors and crank the water heat to the hottest that I can comfortably tolerate. Rub the stubble for a few seconds under the hot water, then shave. First down the grain, then against it. This shave will last me two days.

For an aftershave I actually use Nivea cream. It works wonders for my skin. But most importantly it soothes any potential razor burn I may have.

The explanation I have read for why multiblade shavers work so poorly is that they rely on one blade to pull the hair upward so that the next blade in sequence can cut the hair. This results in irritation of the root and/or damage to the skin. This makes tremendous sense to me and seems to square with my experience. I've generally found that the more blades, the worse a shave I get. The fusion, for instance, is perhaps the worst razor I've ever owned. The only multiblade I've ever had any success with whatsoever has been the Gillette Sensor (two blades, swivel head) and even that one relies on my applying pressure to the blade.

I'm interested in getting started with this whole retroshaving idea, but it looks like the startup costs are nontrivial. A good shaver looks like it runs about $30. A pack of blades is cheap at about $4.50. It looks like I'll have to ditch my detergent based shave gel and go with a $10 boutique cream. I will probably need to purchase a real bar of soap instead of using chemical shower gel. And I might have to start using real aftershave lotion instead of crap from CVS. Good news is that I actually own a badger hair shave brush I got for Christmas a decade ago and never used.

On that note, would shaving this way help your skin? I know that after a good 20 years of shaving almost every day that my skin must hate me by now. Anything I could do to make my skin less dry and porous would be nice.

I've also been told that if you go retro, your skin needs time to get used to it. That there is an adjustment period, so to speak.

DSGamer wrote:

On that note, would shaving this way help your skin? I know that after a good 20 years of shaving almost every day that my skin must hate me by now. Anything I could do to make my skin less dry and porous would be nice.

Moisturizing does wonders. My wife forced me into it and now I know why.

Yeah there is definately adjustment time. Starting out you may use too much or too little pressure and you'll likely take off a bit of skin but it is only the weak, half-dead, outer layers.

For people who are irritated by your average razor I'd say that old-schooling it can definately help. The key is in using a GOOD cream and moisturizer. Using cheap shaving cream or that crappy alcohol based aftershave will make your skin feel like the sahara.

These dual blades do tear up your skin too but they give a closer shave than the alternatives.

If you're having sensitivity issues I'd replace your cream and aftershave first before making drastic changes to the razor you use.

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