This is totally random, but how many of you men use a shaving brush and shaving soap instead of canned shaving cream? I made the switch about 15 years ago, and now shaving is an elaborate and luxurious process, and I like the brush and soap so much better than throwing gillette crap gel on my face.
Just curious. Especially since it feels so much better, you get a closer shave, and it is so much cheaper than buying that canned gel shit.
MoeLarryAndJesus
So what you’re saying is that you’re a retrosexual.
AA+ Bonds
No, I have a job
Todd
Neutrogena makes a shaving cream in a tube that I’ve used for years. It doesn’t dry out your face, and the blade guides right through.
The Dangerman
Old school here; not only mug, brush, and soap, but also safety razors. Green x 2 (cheap and none of those extra plastics) and nice, close shave.
AA+ Bonds
I just can’t see trading 15 minutes of sleep for the 1920s ragtime comedy revue every morning
Geoduck
I got sick of shaving many years ago and grew a beard which I trim with scissors.
piratedan
what… the rest of you guys don’t use Neet on your face?
Laertes
I use the canned gel shit. How long does this brush ritual take?
Suffern ACE
Well now I know who to give that mustache cup to this year for Christmas. Not that I regift or anything.
Corner Stone
Who has the time for this? Is this supposed to be something I treat myself to?
AA+ Bonds
I use hotel mini-lotion and realize that after 15 hours the women on the project will also look like stock Russian criminals from 90s action movies
gbear
Before I grew a beard, I loved using a mug and brush with nice hot water. Now I just use a dry rasor when I hop out of the shower to scrape away the stubble below the beardline.
How many choices of mug soap do you have? Old Spice was the classic but there were some other nice smelling soaps available.
gaz
I wax. I don’t shave. When I was younger I used to pluck.
Well, on my bod I use a venus and shampoo. that’s easy.
Being trans involves a level of pain that mere mortals cannot begin to understand.
Also doing laser and electrolysis but it’s expensive, and takes quite awhile.
Thank god I don’t have much hair.
El Cid
Treat your face like a surface you’re about to paint, except for the sanding: thoroughly wash all the oils off with surfactants first.
If you thoroughly wash the area to be shaved with lots of soap and warm to hot water (this aids oil removal), shaving goes much more easily, cleanly, and quickly.
xyzxyzxyz
I use a brush, soap, and a straight razor. The razor was my grandfather’s that he picked up in 1932. If you’re in a hurry in the morning and are always in a rush, the straight razor is not for you. I like it because it makes me focus on the day ahead, and I get a moment to think about “grandpa”. Sentimental and practical.
AA+ Bonds
@Corner Stone:
It’s sort of like the cutting rituals recently eroticized in ‘Secretary’
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
Requesting information about your process/product for waxing
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: Secretary is not exactly a recent flick. Props for the ref though – I loved Maggie in that. James was pretty good too
PIGL
Use a brush and soap…now that my trumpers gift set is all used up, I use a a bar of handmade patchouli soap. Love it. I admit, I don’t use a safety razors no more, I use track IIIs, which are comfy but darned expensive. I guess I could go back to razors…I still have my grandfathers razor-blade sharpener: that’s how people got through the depression!
Stuck in the Funhouse
Us real men shave with a K bar and axle grease.
Corner Stone
@Geoduck: That thing you’ve done there? It has been seen.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
I watched it in like 2009 because while cinema can’t get enough of femme female subs, I sure can and already have
It was . . . the cast did the best they could
gaz
I used veet for awhile, but I like bliss better. Sometimes I still use veet because I have to drive a bit further to get bliss retail.
Unless you are asking about technique:
I pluck strays, and I don’t ever let it grow in full unless I have a laser session. If I do that, then I’ll do a rough shave first so the wax will only take part of it at a time. I hate that though, it takes like 3 days to get “clean” after going from full grown.
Corner Stone
I am so confused right now.
danielx
No can do – I put a mirror in the shower stall so I can shave while showering, and soap and cup are too slippery to handle when the water is running. Although if you want a good shave every day, doing it while showering is the way to go – no problem with the razor drying out, face stays moist, etc etc. Shaving nirvana.
TaosJohn
Neither of those! Alba Botanica. It’s this stuff in a tube. Best shave ever. Like a water-soluble lubricant. No suds whatsoever, and you can pack it in your suitcase. Use just a tiny, tiny bit of it, lasts fo’ evah.
This whole thing about soap for shaving is some kind of traditional brainwash scam. Soap is for washing. What does soap have to do with cutting whiskers?
Yutsano
I can’t grow a beard to save my life, but I DETEST shaving. My dad used to use a brush and soap and I tried it once. It was really really nice. I can’t do straight razors though.
(sits back and sees who picks up the low-hanging curveball)
Soonergrunt
I shave in my shower, using Neutrogena soap on my face. So much better than doing it over the sink.
The best shave I ever had was in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and it cost two dollars in addition to the two dollar hair cut. I had been in the field for about six weeks, using a canteen cup to bathe, and not shaving much.
We pulled into J-bad, went and got showers, and the camp barber did a straight-razor shave with my hair cut. Hot towel and everything. Sharpened the razor on the strap, the whole nine yards, and it was amazing.
@Yutsano: too easy. I’d hate myself in the morning.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
Gotcha – but you said Venus and shampoo on the body? What kind of shampoo
Tom Levenson
Electric all the way, folks. Panasonic’s highest speed number — I’m on number three.
Mrs. Levenson didn’t raise her boy to be stupid enough to put naked steel next to his throat, pre-coffee.
The Dangerman
@xyzxyzxyz:
Indeed; shaving is not to be done prior to some significant caffeine consumption.
One also has to get good blades; I generally get Merkur, but I’ve heard Feathers are great (and fucking sharp).
AA+ Bonds
I have literally shaved while reading BJ, I had a beard at the time though so it was just edge work
gene108
Canned shit here and a 3-blade disposable cartridge, which is now sort of “old school”, since the new stuff has 5 blades or something.
I’ve used shave cream from a tube, with a brush and I really don’t see the big difference versus the canned shit, so I don’t see what the difference would be with soap and a brush.
jharp
Don’t shave much. Maybe a couple of times a week.
And use an electric hair trimmer like the barbers use for crewcuts when needed.
But when I do need a clean shave I am still using Edge and to be honest, I don’t know the blades I use. Something I bought cheap years ago and haven’t used up yet.
burnspbesq
No brush, but I use the good stuff from The Art of Shaving. It’s pricey, but definitely worth it (particularly if you shave your head, as I do). And Gilette Fusion cartridges.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
If I am doing the body I actually use electric hair clippers sans guard before anything else like I am boot-camping my entire surface area . . . from this you can gather why these problems need innovative solutions
J
@Laertes: I use soap, brush and a safety razor, and though I highly recommend this approach, they don’t all have to be used together. Depending on the soap, building a lather can take a little while–perhaps a couple of minutes–but creams lather more quickly (if you look into the matter you’ll see what the cream/soap distinction amounts to) and shave sticks, which you rub on your beard before quickly brushing up a lather on your face, are very quick.
If you try them, i think you’ll find that the better soaps, creams and sticks are a vast improvement over the canned stuff.
Vast amounts of information here
http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/
(whose blog covers traditional shaving and liberal politics!)
and here
http://badgerandblade.com/
Andrew
I used to use Proraso shaving soap and a bowl with a brush. I recently switched to a Tabac shaving stick. Best thing I’ve ever done. It’s almost as quick as shaving cream with very little cleanup. Just rub the stick on my face, and then lather up with the wet brush. No bowl to clean ever.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: Whatever I’m using at the moment. Right now it’s Vive (colorsafe) because that’s what I’m using for my hair.
I switch shampoos periodically to prevent too much build up. I use Maine and Tail every once in a great while to strip it all, but maybe once every 6 months or so – Don’t shave with that.
I’ll never use Suave, or pantene, or Tres Semme.
I like Vive mostly, sometimes I’ll go with herbal essences.
Don’t use the thin stuff (like Main & Tail) for shaving.
I love got2b but it’s expensive
Riilism
I have a very tough beard (oooohh, so manly!) so I use shave lotion and shave in the shower…
@El Cid: I can’t wash my face first cause I need the extra oils to keep from scraping the skin off wit da beard…
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
Thank you, this is absolutely the sort of stuff I need to know
MobiusKlein
No gel, no cream. Just a disposable razor in the shower.
Shampoo and shave after it’s gotten moist and warm.
Works just fine.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: yeah I guess I would if I had enough hair to justify it. I hardly had noticeable leg hair until I was in my twenties. I still don’t have much. The shampoo basically just marks where I’ve been so I don’t miss anything. =)
ETA: I think I have like 20 chest hairs. Those I pluck.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
I have this Irish curly dark bullshit and while it isn’t, like, up my back and neck and everything, passing has always been a goddamned chore and honestly I prefer nothing to something anyway
Ingrowns are MURDER for me
SO jealous of you
Joey Maloney
I switched to a brush years ago, just because I was too cheap to buy canned cream all the time. But I wouldn’t describe it as an especially luxurious procedure. Brush or can, it’s just a necessary task. The only part I really enjoy is, I use the same aftershave as my Dad did so every morning I get a great sense memory of my childhood.
Mike in NC
Been using Panasonic wet/dry shavers for 20+ years and can’t imagine changing.
Corner Stone
I’ve gotta say that this:
“I just had my Oakeshott in the Widener library for succor.”
Further combined with this:
“and now shaving is an elaborate and luxurious process, and I like the brush and soap so much better”
Has left me wondering what kind of boarding schools people are putting their kids into these days.
mclaren
There’s a good solid reason for using home-made soap-based shaving cream instead of the canned shit. The canned shit contains alcohol. It’s a skin irritant.
Turns out if you make your own shaving cream from shaving soap your skin doesn’t get nearly as irritated, and if you strop your own straight razor and use that, you get an enormously closer shave. And because you can strop the thing yourself, a straight razor never gets dull.
In this case, people had it right around the turn of the century. There’s been a huge regression since then. Disposable-razor shavers and canned crap produce much worse shaves.
Mike S.
i use a straight razor,
to cut off someone else’ face and then I just wear that for a day or two.
James Gary
I was into the brush-and-lather thing back in the ’90s, but now I’m an Aveeno aloe-gel (or the CVS generic equivalent) man.
(FYI: Burnspbesq, I hear you. Once my male-pattern baldness reached the point where shaving the entire dome became the only real viable hairstyle choice, something formulated to soften up the coarse and thick hairs that remained on the back and sides of my head was pretty much a necessity. If it was only my face that needed shaving, I’d probably still be going the brush-and-mug route)
taylormattd
John. You know you are just asking for it with this post. (Although I am jealous, and feel like I should be using the brush, etc. myself).
Sadly, I’m really fucking lazy, and there is some Gillette shit at the Walgreens just across the street.
gaz
@Mike S.: FTW
AA+ Bonds
@mclaren:
It is pretty terrible how, like, everything is 14% alcohol
Speaking of: does anyone know of a low-alcohol or alcohol-free cetylpyridinium chloride rinse
taylormattd
@Joey Maloney: Aqua Velva?
robertdsc-PowerBook
Warm water and a cheapie razor suffice for me.
Don K
@Geoduck:
+1000
This. I stopped shaving in early ’03, and a razor hasn’t touched my face since.
trollhattan
Soap, in the shower, with succor, no brush. No canned crap for me.
Oakeshott can damn well stay in the linen closet.
JoyceH
This is sort of off-topic, a seque off the ‘old way is cheaper and better’ theme, but a while back I went back to popping popcorn in a pan, and now it strikes me as downright ridiculous that popcorn became almost exclusively a microwave product for years and years. Popping in a pan is so dang easy that the microwave doesn’t even add much convenience, and the difference in price for microwave is several times higher per volume of popped corn. Why did we all rush in a herd to embrace microwave popcorn? Are we that suggestible?
AA+ Bonds
“Two soaps? Too complicated!” –Albert Einstein, who could look like shit and do whatever the fuck he wanted
Wag
@Tom Levenson:
I used to shave in the shower, but recently went with an electric (Braun). i got sick of changing the blades, which seemed to turn over in less and less time, while at the same time, cost more and more. I kept a few razors for special occasions, but overall have been pleased with the shave. Its really easy to touch up with the electric if I’m going out in the evening
joes527
I use a brush and soap because I am a cheap son of a birch. (Duck autocorrect). It really doesn’t take any longer than the electric razor (which has a $40 foil/blade that needs to be replaced periodically so I don’t use it much)
I save money and get a much closer shave. There is no downside.
justdale
Soap, brush, safety razor at home. Soap, brush, random disposable twinblade while on travel.
In a pinch, I’ve used Dr Bronner’s, but it doesn’t hold a lather like a good Classic brand glycerin soap. Haven’t used canned stuff in years.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: I am pretty lucky in that all things considered. I found out a couple of years ago that my XY is fucked up somehow – although I’ve never been strictly declared intersexed – which is why I say trans – but maybe that has something to do with it. My brother is a moose, and my father looked like a gorilla. I look like my sisters and my mother. Except for that troublesome piece of meat between my legs and some other slightly masculine traits. Eventually I may hit Thailand to take care of that – they have some very good surgeons. My junk is tough to tuck though – somebody who was greatful for it should have gotten it instead of me. I don’t even like sex, FFS. God has a sick sense of humor =(
ETA: My voice sucks. That’s the thing that bothers me most. I need to get training, but I haven’t yet. I’m extremely embarrassed by it – and I can’t stand listening to it – it makes me sick.
The Dangerman
@JoyceH:
Best popcorn ever:
http://www.amazon.com/Wabash-Valley-Farms-25008-Whirley-Pop/dp/B00004SU35/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1337744909&sr=1-2-catcorr
The Bobs
I have a full beard, but still shave my neck. I switched to a brush and soap a few years ago, I’ll never go back.
Villago Delenda Est
Norelco triple header. Sometimes with preshave (Williams LectricShave) sometimes with out.
Tried doing it manually once, too much of a PITA.
Yutsano
@JoyceH:
The big sales pitch is that microwaveable popcorn is faster and much less messy than cooking popcorn on the stove. It’s a crock of shit. Plus you pop your own you control the butter and salt content. Not to mention putting in nifty things like Parmesan cheese and rosemary. Yum.
trollhattan
@JoyceH:
Completely agree. And may I add, Whirley-Pop takes stovetop popcorn the last mile–great gizmo!
Holden Pattern
Boar bristle brush and cream, not soap — face lather, not lather in a cup. Safety razor.
@The Dangerman:
Feathers are really fucking sharp, but they lose that edge very fast — 2 or 3 shaves max. Merkur blades are a rough shave for me, though I like the razor itself. I’ve had good luck with Persona and Derby. Persona is sharp, but not quite as sharp as Feathers. Derby is still pretty sharp — not quite as sharp as Persona — but almost as durable as Merkur and a smooth shave.
Riilism
@Riilism: I’ve had pretty good luck with “Kiss My Face” brand shave lotion (no additives or perfumes). I use either disposable or cartridge blades but I prefer the ones with fewer blades. I’d use a straight razor, but I don’t feel like losing any appendages in the shower (ouchies)….
amk
Is that an existential question ?
George Tierney of Greenville, South Carolina
Good question, what do the BJ women use to keep things trim?
Odie Hugh Manatee
I’ve been a mug shaver ever since high school. I have a travel size can of Edge for the quick trip, but my daily preference is a hot shave and a mug & brush is the best way to get one.
JoyceH
I went back to stove-popped in a skillet because the microwave bags had transfats. Once I went back to the old way, I couldn’t believe I’d ever fallen for the microwave. Microwave popcorn for the office, maybe, but at home? Pfft.
Does anyone else remember before microwave popcorn, when the grocery store would have at least a dozen different brands of bagged popcorn? Now you’re lucky if they have two.
lacp
Threw in the towel and grew a full beard about 6 months ago. Keep it in sort of half-assed shape between haircuts with barber shears; then my barber gives it a decent cut (and doesn’t even charge me extra – life is good).
Martin
Well, when I used to go backpacking and camping and stuff a lot, I would just shave with a bit of water. Wasn’t so horrible and I started to get used to it. Pretty much stopped using any shaving cream at that point – this was before I got married. At the time I had this insane commute I did with my dad and so every task I could move to the car, I did, so one day I tried shaving in the car (dad drove out, I drove back – he morning person, me evening), pulled my razor out of my pocket and dry shaved there on the 91 freeway. Kinda got used to that as well after a bit. I just learned to stop using shitty razors.
20 years on I still don’t use shaving cream, but I’m considering it again. Mostly I’m just too lazy/busy to deal with it.
Elie
@Corner Stone:
Well sheesh, you already have to make time to shave your palms, so why not go all the way?
J
@Andrew: We’re on the same wavelength! Beginners should note that Tabac has a very distinctive scent. I love it, but not everyone does. Less aggressively scented sticks include La Toja and Valobra, both excellent. Beginners should also know that all these products last a terrifically long time, and are therefore per shave very economical in addition to being kinder to your face and contributing to a better shave.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: OT but related to our conversation.
The book “Making Faces” changed my life.
After reading that and practicing, I got really good at makeup. I used to do makeup for my g/f’s that worked at the clubs in downtown seattle. I was a regular at one (though not a customer). I was the only non-employee allowed in the dressing room. I did it for free, because it was an awesome way to practice on a lot of different faces.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
I take after my mom in the face but other than that the voice is, like, the only thing I can shift without the use of industrial tools, that and my BMI and frame allow for a lot of customization
It has never been a full lifestyle mode for me so the stress is minimal but I wonder how things might have turned out if shaving/waxing/etc wasn’t so time consuming, certainly performing “Man” is a big pain in my ass as it is, I probably sound like a tourist but in my defense I think I am just acclimated to being frustrated a lot of the time and have maybe accepted more than I should about how things are
BGinCHI
Shaving the face is easy. Use high quality shave cream (Brave Soldier, Aveda, etc.) and sharp blades. I don’t much like to shave so I wouldn’t welcome making it into a ritual. It’s like cutting my fingernails. I just want it to be done properly.
Now, as a cyclist who shaves his legs, that’s where the effort lies. Not going to go into it, but it’s serious business around the knees. And once you shave them, you’ll never go back.
J
@Holden Pattern: You might like Gillette sharp edge (yellow pack) which have supplanted Personas as my favorite.
Paula68154
We need a thread on bikini or Brazilian, not for the faint of heart.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
I am merely okay at it, I can do eyes but blush escapes me and I can get lazy because I have enough natural shadow under the cheekbones, at least during the spring/summer
I was also spoiled and had a lot of gfs who did it for a living, or worked on stage and etc, and were like OH LET ME, YOU CAN COME OVER EARLY when I was going out
My first partner absolutely SWORE by that book – there is a really good explanation of how to shade cleavage if I am remembering correctly – this person had a lot of problems but was a natural with cosmetics and gave me a really ritzy makeup mirror for my 17th birthday that I now never use
If you have any tips for pale skin/dark hair five-o-clock please feel free to share because my current tactic is ‘shave to like a micron above the surface and let someone else work on the rest’
kindness
I use a bar of glycerin soap that I use on my body. I leave it on my face while I soap and rinse the body & the whiskers come off easy w/ a razor.
Corner Stone
So. The person singing vocals backup for Korn MTV Unplugged a few years ago is a stone badass. It’s the guy in the stiff rabbit mask.
And for this thread, that description doesn’t seem unusual in any respect.
The Dangerman
@Paula68154:
I declare a moratorium on either Brazilians or junk removal in this thread discussing really sharp razors.
AA+ Bonds
We are already well into the body discussion folks
Djur
@gaz: I could use a spare.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
If you have any tips for pale skin/dark hair five-o-clock shadow please feel free to share because my current tactic is ‘shave to like a micron above the surface and let someone else work on the rest’, I say ‘my current tactic’ but this actually means ‘my approach from years and years ago’
Lasers are . . . definitely something that would happen sometime in the foggy future rather than an immediate possibility
joel hanes
Fairly heavy beard here, ever since I was seventeen.
I did the traditional mug/Tabac/badger-hair-brush thing for a couple years in college, but used a Trac II. Have never owned a good straight razor, damnit (I love quality edge tools).
Switched to gel/2-blade Excel about 1981, and am stuck there. I shave parts of my face and neck once or twice a week, trim beard on the other parts with a nice set of short scissors. Have gradually been reluctantly forced onto 3-blade cartridges for the Excel, because the 2-blade ones are getting hard to find. The added expense of 3-blade cartridges is not offset by any increase in shave quality, as nearly as I can tell. And five blade cartridges are just silly and unwieldy; I guess they’d be good for legs, if I shaved my legs.
Electric “razors” and “shavers” always irritated, did a poor job, could not get into corners, and eventually failed to work at all. Do Not Like. Also, they smell bad, and aren’t really cleanable.
Agree that the best shave I ever got was the full hot-towel/mug/brush/straight-razor setup in a traditional barbershop; he slapped me with Bay Rum afterward, and I felt positively Victorian.
Chris T.
Like Tom Levenson, I am a heathen and use an electric razor. Specifically this one, which several relatives liked enough (when they borrowed mine) to also order (well, one brother ordered it himself; my dad got his as a requested Christmas present).
Corner Stone
@BGinCHI: You have hair on your knees?
Ronnie P
Badger, blade and bowl for me. Love it. Feather blades and Taylor of Old Bond Street. Yeah, it takes more time, but its enjoyable and slows me down in the morning.
Cheaper than cartridges even if you buy the fancy stuff.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: You don’t sound like a tourist. Either way, being gender queer is huge pain in the ass (no matter what particular category one falls into)
Hormones help, of course the earlier, the easier.
My adoptive mom was never supportive, so I missed out on my childhood, and started transitioning in my early twenties, but stopped due to financial pressure (hard to be client facing while sprouting breasts), lack of a support network (other than my friends – some of whom were brutally murdered by a random nutjob from montana), and an adoptive mother who is congenitally incapable of accepting me – she adopted me specifically because she wanted a “boy” which she told me at every opportunity since I was 3 years old. I recently cut her out of my life, and am going through the process all over again after a nearly decade long hiatus, so in a sense I think I know where you are coming from, with you not living full time.
As far as I’m concerned, the biggest thing is finding a way to manage without wanting to leap out of your own skin every day, or cutting the shit out of yourself, sleeping on railroad tracks, eating sleeping pills, or whatever (dunno if you’ve been there – I have). The important thing is finding a way to gain a little peace and dignity in all this, and I’ve discovered that many people in our shoes find all kinds of different ways of coping.
I feel for you, and hope you find that peace. I’m still working on that myself, but I’ve gotten to the point where I can live with myself. I tend to do the androgyny thing myself, as it’s a hell of a lot less stressful than worrying that I “pass” all the time. That’s the main reason I went with the name Danah =) – when it’s spoken it can go either way, but leans feminine
spudvol
As the clock winds its way toward midnight it can only mean that we are one day closer to Cole finally coming out of the closet.
Holden Pattern
@J:
Thx for the recco. I’ve got a few months stocked up right now, but will look at those when I reorder.
Djur
My “beard” is so sparse and slow-growing that it seems like a waste to spend any more money than I have to on it, so it’s shampoo and a cheap razor in the shower each morning. Honestly, I resent having to do it at all. An electric trimmer does for the (very infrequent) requirements of anywhere else on the body. Somehow I avoided inheriting whatever gene makes every other man in my family hairy as fuck.
Nom de Plume
What is this “shaving” you speak of? And why?
lacp
@The Dangerman: But what about junk enhancement….for animals!
http://www.neuticles.com/
Corner Stone
@Nom de Plume: If you’re some form of adult human…you’d better be shaving something at some point.
eemom
So Cole, was this post a subtle trick you connived to smoke out who amongst the gender-neutral nyms here are boys?
Cuz otherwise, you might want to give some thought to maybe someday getting a life. Jussayinzall.
Joey Maloney
@taylormattd: Old Spice original.
Dave Trowbridge
Yup. And you needn’t buy fancy shaving soap, either. The cheap stuff works just as well.
I had to give up on relearning the art of the straight razor, though. I used one years ago, but lost the knack of sharpening it, and now I have a barely used Thiers Issard staring at me accusingly from the top of the medicine cabinet as I use my cheap disposable razors.
I wish it were still possible to get parts for the old Rolls self-stropping razors. They worked great.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
I had liberal parents who let me do what I wanted starting at about sixteen, a bunch of hard left/anarchist friends in high school, and then a left/liberal weirdo campus and surrounding town when I started undergrad
So I spent a lot of the time wearing alt-fashion women’s sizes/styles that just barely passed as male when I needed it and tended to save the full business for when I went out in nights/weekends because it took a LONG time and I usually needed help
The hurdles from Nature sort of wore me down, sadly, as well as the simple fact that the people I dated when I was younger were mostly XX, femme but less femme than their friends, and a little insecure about it, and I think lived in a world of cosmo-liberal advice columns where straight wives in denial wrote in about gay or transition-hungry spouses and they were terrified of becoming such women in the future (I am not gay, of course, and I don’t keep secrets from partners, but that didn’t seem to matter) – anyway, the fear often became tangible and more than once was voiced outright in an accusatory way
The temptations of male privilege and bio-conforming privilege had something to do with it too, won’t lie about that, it’s just easier, except when it’s not
I don’t really know where I’ll go from here – I am looking to work with a really trans-friendly firm but I’d probably want to relocate (the city is the problem, not the office)
Thank you for the good wishes, I know act the pill on here and probably do not do a lot to make this a safe space
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: There are some tricks you can do with concealer – like rubbing in a lighter concealer, and then using a powder foundation that matches your face – this helps sort of, but in my experience it’s tough because it fades after awhile, and I’m already anxious enough – so I tend to find myself checking mirrors all the time. It does work, but depending on 5-o-clock shadow factors and fading it can be more trouble than it is worth. This is why I wax. MAC cosmetics are great and have some good durable foundations – but they are pricey and you can’t get them everywhere. Order online, I guess.
Check every couple of hours I suppose and reapply as necessary.
Color matching is a pain. You need a slightly lighter concealer for that – or if you are olive complected already you might be able to use one of those pale yellow concealers that you normally use to hide bags under the eyes. You really have to rub it in, and I think you won’t be able to avoid plucking or waxing around the more noticeable parts. If you have a cisgendered spouse or a close girlfriend or two, have them help you match colors. If you go solo, you’ll have to spend a small fortune through trial and error to find your shades. It’s an experiment. In general though your concealer for the hairy parts should be a shade lighter or so than the concealer you’d normally use, assuming your hair is dark. I’m not an expert on this part though, because I don’t have a TON of facial hair, I can sort of grow a goatie with effort. With a full beard, YMMV – as I said, you can’t go wrong enlisting the help of a talented woman.
Oh, doing this tends to make you break out – it’s terrible for your pores.
Djur
@Corner Stone: Never seen the point for the ladies.
joel hanes
@Nom de Plume:
You’ve seen Gimli in The Lord of the Rings ?
That’s me if I don’t shave.
Over the course of a year or two, certain fetching members of the appropriate sex indicated to me that it wasn’t quite the look they were looking for.
Socially clueless myself, I was grateful for advice.
Now it’s just a habit, like saccharine
And I’m habitually feeling kind of blue
tBoy
I use my dogs’ electric clippers. It is close enough and takes less than a minute.
DaddyJ
Got facial hair like the bastard child of a Brillo pad and a roll of barbed wire, so mostly I go bearded. Periodically I try clean-shaven for a while. Brush and mug and hot lather; Merkur safety. Feels great. Then after a week or so the ingrowth drives me insane and I go back to bearded. I’ve always wondered how black men, who it seems generally have facial hair more like mine, deal with shaving, but I’ve never been bold enough to ask.
eemom
@Elie:
bwaaaahaaaahaaaaahaaaaa. That went right over his head.
Corner Stone
@Djur: You’re an au natural type guy? Kicking it ’70’s style?
gaz
@AA+ Bonds:
Truer words have rarely been spoken. =)
The Dangerman
@lacp:
“I’m telling ya, Charlie, they may look the same, but when I lick them, it’s just NOT the same.”
The prophet Nostradumbass
Amazing, it actually took 95 comments for someone to make a stupid gay joke.
wetcasements
Bar of soap. Gillette razor.
Done and done.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds:
Oh, I’m a total C*NT on this board (h/t George Tierny Jr @geotie2323 of Greenville, SC), so we can both be part of the angry club, and I won’t hold it against you. I have a rule, that says other than trolls, I try to erase and reboot from thread to thread. =)
As far as safe space? Nah, I’m a loud bitch now – I make it safe by screaming trans here, and whenever I get the opportunity in real life so that my peeps don’t have to. =) I can take it, and I know how to cut a motherfucker – hehehehe =)
lacp
@The Dangerman: Actually, my first thought was that it was some kind of Gingrich scam. Hell, maybe it is.
AA+ Bonds
This is really a fantastically useful thread, thanks all for the bookmark
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
Good stuff, saved
Probably I just need to go at waxing again and start risking trial and error
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: My wife is reading this now, trying to get makeup tips. She’s more clueless about it than nearly anybody. I do her makeup the few times she’ll allow it (eyelash curlers terrify the hell out of her) I have to match her clothes and take her shopping for work stuff, also too =)
Hill Dweller
The Democratic party is full of cowards. They’re taking the Bain issue, which is a killer for Willard, and, in their desperate attempts to cover their own asses and keep that Wall Street money flowing, trying their best to nullify it.
Feinstein told the President to move on to another issue. Warner, Booker, Feinstein, Coons, Ford, Rendell, and likely more to come, have took up for poor little Bain.
Before hitting Obama for not being liberal enough, remember he has to deal with these fucking cowards, who will sell him out in a heartbeat if they think it will help them.
tkogrumpy
The 2000 hours I would have spent shaving over the course of my life have been spent doing other things. Lots of more pleasant, productive,useful things.
Warren Terra
Bar soap rubbed onto my face with my hand, and a safety razor. Works just fine, although if the water in the sink isn’t really hot the soap tends to clog up the razor and require extra effort to dislodge.
Corner Stone
Oh, and for those here who felt “comfortable” with Orszag being in the Obama admin:
The whole thing is fucking gold.
AA+ Bonds
I think it is a good time to point out that this conversation between Djur and Corner Stone should be a wake-up call for certain men who think certain things are just for women
AA+ Bonds
@gaz:
Awwww that is adorable, y’all sound like a rare match
tkogrumpy
@Corner Stone: Why?
Marshall
I use a brush and double edge.
joel hanes
@Hill Dweller:
Senator Feinstein is not a coward.
She is a conservative. And a damned effective one.
gaz's wife
@wetcasements: Thank you! A voice of reason! I like my disposable razors (canned food outlet!) and bar of soap (also canned food outlet!). Then gaz is all whining cuz I didn’t buy the right blades or we need shampoo that costs $10 a bottle or we’re out of moisturizer. Yep. Moisturizer. How gay is that? I mean, really. I mean, I don’t have anything against some lotion here or there, especially for my hands cuz I always have callouses. Gaz has never had a callous. Gaz has cuticles. And special cream for them.
gaz
@BGinCHI:
I’ll go into some detail:
Electric aside (never used one) easiest way, IMO, is a Venus razor. They’re widely available, and easy to use. It might threaten your masculinity slightly (your wife probably uses one – hehehe) but the pads on those blades are nice if you have bony shins, and also good for the backs of the knees.
Mens razors absolutely suck for this, as basically they’ve remained unchanged except for the fact that they’ve added twenty blades to the same brick-like head, which just means you are infinitely more likely to bleed yourself to death in the bathtub with it.
wmd
Why would I shave?
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: I’ve known her since we were teenagers. She was 15 when I met her, and we were friends for like forever. We were never inclined to get to together until YEARS later when we both examined the wake of destruction that was our previous relationships, and decided that since we * weren’t * romantically inclined, it’d probably work out – considering that people we WERE interested in were each respective disasters. We’ve been married for about 3 years now so apparently it wasn’t such a bad idea =)
Corner Stone
@AA+ Bonds: Like what? What certain things do certain men think are just for women?
Corner Stone
@tkogrumpy: Why what?
Elm
@Gaz
As someone with very durable facial hair, I also find the Venus razor to be excellent simply for normal shaving… much better than both the Gillette Mach 3 and my local chain store brand generic 3-5 bladed razors. Electric razors don’t enter into it – I have yet to find one that can actually cut my facial hair with any reliability.
As for shaving soap/cream/oil, I gave up on that stuff a long time ago. Nowadays, I typically use the softening effects of a hot steamy shower (or a dampened hot towel, in a pinch) along with (sometimes) giving my face a quick pre-shave rub and rinse with shampoo or conditioner, which seems to help soften the hair up a little bit extra.
gaz's wife
@AA+ Bonds: I only married him cuz he’s cute. Well, and cuz he asked me. That was a lot of it. The whole thing wasn’t my idea. So far, though, it’s worked out okay. I have someone to check my outfits for me each morning before I leave the house. :)
Kevin S.
Jojoba oil rubbed over skin during my shower…a Merkur Model 178 Classic Safety Razor…I do about four passes: (1) down; (2) diagonal up-to-the-right; (3) diagonal up-to-the-left; and (4) up (if needed).
I used to use shaving soap and mug; it works too. Just seems simpler using just the jojoba oil. It’s something that has evolved over the last 10-15 years. Can’t imagine how much I have saved in $$ on not buying razor carts.
gaz
@AA+ Bonds: @gaz’s wife: This is why I’m not a pronoun nazi >.>
She’s straight, and I’m andro so I let her pretend.
namekarB
Short answer. Grow a beard and trim it every few days with a quality “electric” trimmer (Battery operated? No thanks, Too weak). Honestly, men have facial hair. Why do we insist on keeping up with fashion?
Now for the answer to the next obvious question. Yes, I also grew my hair long. Started in 1972 when I got out of the Army. 3 months ago I cut it all off (Too bald to sustain a pony tail) and now use my electric trimmers every few days to do a whole head and face trim.
BGinCHI
@Corner Stone: It’s light hair but yeah. Everyone does.
FlipYrWhig
Shaving with a straight razor and a mug? Balderdash. I say go all the way and have your barber-surgeon apply leeches.
gaz
@Elm: This. Sounds like you stumbled upon the same method I use. I do this on my face when I must (I noted somewhere above)… but I always do this on my body.
BGinCHI
@gaz: Oh honey please. I love the Venus. It’s all I would ever use on my legs. It’s perfect for longer but still curvy surfaces.
I wish the blades stayed sharper longer though. Pricey too.
low-tech cyclist
When I still shaved my entire face, I simply shaved right after washing my face and neck, while they were still warm and wet from the washing. No soap, no shaving cream, just the razor.
For about the past 20 years, I’ve had a full beard. I still shave my neck and shave my upper cheeks for outliers; takes about 45 seconds in the morning. But the method’s unchanged.
gaz
@Djur:
I’m trying to wrap my head around what you would do with such a thing, but I’m not sure I want to know.
NotMax
Shave? Pfeh.
When and if I must, Edge fragrance-free gel and Wilkinson single-edge blades.
Tried disposable razors at one time, but they go dull after 2 shaves (or less). What a waste of plastic.
Attacking myself with a very, very sharp object first thing in the morning is way, way down on any list of things I’d rather do.
If brush and shaving soap is your thing, give a look at Caswell & Massey. Good stuff. They might even have an outlet near you.
Ruckus
Grog grow hair, need no stinking shave. Trim once week, when feel like.
What more you want know?
Beulahmo
“…how many of you men use a shaving brush and shaving soap instead of canned shaving cream?”
I’ve only seen it in movies — never in person. But I thought it was damn funny!
http://youtu.be/p_piLm38E_U?t=5m24s
gaz
I’ve finally began to gain a little weight, and it seems to help with shaving. Eating when hungry! what a concept! and I get hungry more that way too!. Also too, quitting the marijuana actually made this easier, but it’s probably just me being a statistical outlier once again – as usual. heh.
Shaving my pits is terrifying – i nearly need an extender wand just to get up in there. If i can get 10 more pounds or so I’m hoping that gets even easier.
ETA: speaking of that, I need to go spelunking through the fridge. =)
vikram
John,
No question the brush and shaving soap is better. I highly recommend Proraso pre-shave cream and shaving soap. The Art of Shaving cream is pretty incredible too. Always use badger bristle brush for shaving and if you want a really fancy shave, splurge on Geo Trumper’s shaving cream. It’s just incredible.
Only use gels when you are on a desert island, or if somebody puts a gun to your head. They are complete crap.
Also, real men use old fashioned double-edged razor blades, not this Mach 3/4 shit…
Villago Delenda Est
@Nom de Plume:
Someone has never had to live under military discipline.
When I was stationed in Germany, some fellow lieutenants went on leave for two weeks, toured the Mediterranean, and came back with full beards. The battalion CSM saw this and jumped all over them for showing up in the battalion area (while still on leave) with beards.
Before they signed in off leave, they were clean shaven.
AA+ Bonds
@gaz’s wife: @gaz’s wife:
:D what a story!
Jewish Steel
I’ve never been able to work a Moog properly. At least not without fooling around with it for a couple of hours.
https://www.google.co.jp/
Thor Heyerdahl
Shaved from a can until 16 years ago when I was in a drugstore in Ljubljana. I needed shaving cream, the shop keeper didn’t speak english – he gave me a tube of shaving cream…I’ve rarely shaved with anything else since (and almost always in the shower).
Bob Munck
I last shaved the morning of the day JFK was shot, so I’m probably not the best source here.
MacKenna
@BGinCHI:
I’d like to know why women’s razors cost so much more than men’s.
I’ve contemplated buying a men’s razor for leg shaving but…always get sucked in to those female razors.
JoyceH
@BGinCHI:
Cyclists shave their legs? Um – why? Not that it matters, I guess, I shave my legs anyway. But I got a bike last fall, first time I’ve been biking in almost 40 years, so I don’t know all the cycling lore.
Joel
Barbasol. The gels are too thick. Too much PEG>
Joel
Barbasol. The gels are too thick. Too much PEG.
Ben
Niall Ferguson gets reamed by the AV Club. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy IMO.
Gary D
I only use Barbasol. Consumer Reports said of all the ones they tested every man liked it best of all the cans.
gaz
@MacKenna: A theory: Because mens razors are essentially a brick with 30 small sheets of rusty steel on it attached to a stick.
Women’s razors often have much more ergonomic heads, better (but fewer) blades, and 2 or 3 moisturizing pads on them. If you actually examine the things, you’ll see that they tend to be much more intricate.
As to why? My guess is that it’s apparently “manly” to bleed out while attempting to shave yourself – and when done it looks like you tried to break up a cockfight.
Women don’t care much for getting scars.
gaz
@Gary D: Shampoo > Barbosal.
Barbosal cans are useful for creating a small explosive device to destroy your neighbor’s annoying pets, and not much else.
JoyceH
@gaz:
I love Balloon Juice threads.
James E Powell
I used the brush and soap for years. For soap I would just throw the remainder from whatever facial soap I was using at the time. Now I use a cream from an orange-colored tube that I get at Trader Joe’s.
gaz
@JoyceH:
Some actually claim aerodynamics. I call bullshit.
A better reason?
Have you ever seen the effect of wearing spandex shorts, with leg hair? it tends to stick out all nasty and fluffy like under the shorts line creating a highly unpleasant visual. Passing motorists would probably vomit all over themselves and smash into the cyclist, so I’m thinking it’s a safety issue.
2liberal
i grew a beard long ago and use clippers to trim it. I very rarely shave around the edges of the beard.
joel hanes
You’re not supposed to use much of the gels,
and your face should be _wet_ when you first apply them.
A ball the size of a pea should expand into more gel-based lather than you can use. Copying my straightedge-using barber, let it stand on the beard for thirty seconds, then a finger to wipe away almost all the lather before shaving.
I used Barbasol in the Army, but now prefer the gels; but you must let them stand for a bit.
andy
Yup. Scrape my face with suds from a shaving soap and brush- must be 15 years now. I would even consider a straight razor if I wasn’t afraid I would kill myself.
andy
@gaz: The real reason to shave your legs when you are a cyclist (beyond your legs looking awesome) is that it makes first aid a lot easier when you pick up the inevitable road rash. You heal quicker and cleaner if you don’t have ground in dirt and hair in your wounds. Plus (and this is really important) imagine yanking off the bandaid large enough to cover such an abrasion if your legs were covered with hair.
pjk
I sport the beard, but am unable to tolerate the growth on the neck or up-to-my-eyeballs cheek thang.
There’s a fine line between too cheap and too expensive for disposable razors.
I started using shampoo in lieu of buying another product some years ago. As long as you keep the razor rinsed free of hair before tossing it in the drawer, mine last a couple weeks.
Unless they’re Target’s cheapest Chinese import. Not even any self-repecting convict would rely on those blades to get the job done.
gorram
@AA+ Bonds:
This is my life. Add on to it that I’m ridiculously pale and my hair is basically jet black – so any stubble is extremely visible.
I find facial cleanser (like for getting rid of acne) is the perfect shaving product at least for facial shaving (I don’t shave elsewhere at this point, as part of a tactical retreat pretty much). Unless you’re shaving more than two times a day, it’s impossible to irritate your skin with it. I’m blessed with an overabundance of facial oils, so frequently cleaning out my face isn’t as damaging as leaving it be. The lather from facial cleanser is honestly the best for shaving too – I can use razors my boyfriend would throw out, because I use something to lubricate shaving (he just goes straight in with water – I don’t know how he doesn’t get razor burn).
Recently I was using just dime store CVS-generic facial cleanser. As of yesterday, I switched back to another brand, I can’t remember which, but I don’t think it changed anything.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Ben: What a shit. This bit is instructive:
Darkrose
@gaz: A Venus? Huh. I’ve never tried them; back when I shaved everything below the neck, I found that “women’s razors” were crap, so I started using the ones marketed to guys. Then I stopped shaving my legs, which has nothing to do with being a lesbian and everything to do with being lazy.
Elias
I wonder how George Tierney, Jr., of Greenville, South Carolina gets his clean shave in between bouts of calling the President a ******.
Bago
@Yutsano: As ZZ Top would never say, there’s just something about a sharp shaved man.
Bago
@Nom de Plume: In which the nom de plume has never more appropriate.
R Johnston
If you can’t grow a decent beard then you don’t need shaving cream, a brush, or fuck all except a cheap disposable razor to keep your face non-hirsute. Just shave every day or two after, or while, you shower. You do shower, don’t you?
If you can grow a decent beard, trim every once in a while at the length of your choice.
A brush? Cream? Soap? What’s wrong with you people?
shep
HOT. DISPENSER (Conair is the main device).
Doesn’t matter if it’s gel or cream. It’s necessary.
The brush/soap backup is for the wilderness (with camp stove hot water). Who taught you to shave?
Jebediah
@gaz:
It’s also better when you hit the deck. Less friction against the asphalt, so less nasty road rash, and what you get is easier to clean out.
Also, any avid cyclist who denies that part of it is just cycling tradition and part vanity too is maybe not being wholly honest.
My biggest year, I rode over 7100 miles. My legs looked pretty good back then.
ETA: As always, someone else got to it first.
Noah Brand
I use an electric for one- or two-day trims, but anything after three days and I go fully old school. Brush, soap, shaving mug, and a 19th-century straight razor I got at an antique store. You ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen two weeks of beard come off in one single baby-smooth stroke.
Nick
Safety razor with brush & shaving soap.
Raven
I use a headblade on my skull.
Unsympathetic
I’ve got a 5:00 shadown at 10:00 in the morning, so I’ve been shaving every day since the 6th grade. Yes, 6th. I can’t use crap shaving cream because it irritates the hell out of my skin, so I use cutting up by barc. Also for bumps on the back of my neck, I use bump-away by the same company. I would never have found this stuff, but the woman who straight-razors my hair three times a month recommended it, and it works. I’d shave with a straight razor but I don’t trust myself pre-coffee – I use a fusion 5.
Scott
I’ve been using a brush and shaving soap since the late 60s when my Dad suggested that using a brush would help with the acne. It did and I’ve been using this method ever since.
Raven
@Unsympathetic: $22!
Dissatisfied Customer
John, not only do I use a brush and Proraso in the tube, I have a terrific shaving scuttle I bought from Georgetown Pottery. It’s a bowl-within-a-bowl. The outer bowl’s for hot water to keep the shaving cream warm for that second and third pass. If my house caught fire, that’d the first thing I’d try to save.
Ailuridae
@BGinCHI:
Sup, sup.
Back to the thread. I have a full beard at the moment (I look a bit like a jacked up white Rick Ross) but I still need to shave my head (I started losing my hair about fifteen years ago.) This stuff rocks
http://www.amazon.com/Coochy-Shave-Cream-Original-Oz/dp/B000JUZI5S
Yes it was originally intended for cleaning up hair around genitalia. But it works wonders on even week old hair stump on the scalp. And it an excellent conditioner for a beard.
I shave my head with a HeadBlade. I have an earlier one and have heard the quality has gone down but my replacement blades work like a charm.
HeartlandLiberal
I have the classic Old Spice mug, soap cake, and brush as backup. But I have for years used gel. However, for several months recently, I switched to Barbasol can shave cream, which is NOT a gel, but dispenses rich soapy lather all whipped and ready to use. I have pretty much decided it is preferable to the gel, and I think after I use up the current gel can, I will just switch permanently. Besides, it is cheaper, and I am a real cheap guy.
This thread reminds my of my grandfather, my mother’s father. Born in the late 1890’s, he shaved his entire life with soap, brush, and a classic unfolded straight razor. Which he sharpened on a long leather strap hanging by the bathroom mirror. Which leather strap was easily detachable for applying discipline to grandchildren when they got out of line.
Such was the Old South I grew up in in Alabama.
Dave
Brush, safety razor with Feather blades. Recently enjoying Prorastro cream in a tube but Taylor’s of Bond Street and Woolfat are nice.
Maybe this should be a survey?
cactusjackwallace
John I use a badger hair brush and lately Jack Black brand cream for the shave. (Also, Art of Shaving and Jack Black sell pre-shave which makes a TON of difference in how close it cuts and doesn’t dry the face out.) Jack Black uses Macadamia Nut oil instead of alcohol, and it’s not that expensive, considering I’ve been shaving more than 3 times a week for 2 months and still have almost 1/2 the container left. So, get a good cream and you’ll be fine. (If you get to an Art of Shaving store they also do in-house consultations on how best to shave. Definitely worth it.)
Virginia Highlander
I’ve used a brush and mug for at least 25 years, now, and wouldn’t use anything else.
UncommonSense
I’ve been shaving with soap and a brush for about 20 years. It’s the only way to shave.
double nickel
Brush, soap and disposable razor (now with blades!!)
madmommy
Quite late to the discussion, but I’ve found using conditioner to shave with works much better for me than soap/shaving creams. The tubes that come with my hair color are quite thick so a little goes a long way, but in a pinch I’ll use the same stuff I put in my hair. I’ve gotten my husband to switch from the canned stuff to conditioner as well, and have found that he goes through blades less quickly as a result. Since they blades he uses are hella expensive, we’re saving on both blades and the canned stuff. The Venus razor is the bomb, but there’s no way I’d ever get him to switch to something so very girly looking.
Paula68154
@MacKenna:
I use men’s razor. They get closer.
Btw, prices for razors are ridiculous! Anyone remember the infomercial for a devices that would sharpen razors? I wished I would have tried it.
Raven
@Paula68154: Clark Howard says that if you dry a razor with a towel that will last and last and last.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-ym-spending-1104nov04,0,936147.story
Kirk Spencer
shower. Bar of soap across the stubble, lather well, wait, lather again, disposable razor.
Yes, the straight razor and safety razor are better. But for me “better” means I get an extra half an hour before the shadow shows at the cost of, well, the consequences of naked steel before caffeine. If I’m going out that evening I have to shave again regardless of tool, so the extras are just not worth it.
Drew
8-ish years ago when I still shaved close, I used a brush and soap with a little Old Spice mug from the 50’s… I could never go the whole way and start using a straight razor, they kinda freaked me out a little…
But now I am fully bearded and like that waaaay better than shaving!
Drew
Concerned Citizen
I haven’t made the switch yet. Been thinking about it since I came across this one.
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/01/04/how-to-shave-like-your-grandpa/
I just worry about the time commitment.
iLarynx
I have a job, a family, and a life. Therefore, electric razor.
If you want to “luxuriate” in the tedious, you can also try cutting your grass with pinking shears.
iLarynx
NCSteve
Shaving brush plus regular old soap in the shower with a non-fogging mirror. Faster, cheaper, better.
After I tried this–gave up even on the “special” shaving soap and just went with the ol’ Coast bar soap I use for everything else–I realized that shaving cream is a massive product scam. Big Advertising convinced men they needed a product that is worse than they one they were using two generations ago and now no one even remembers.
Maybe there was some advantage to shaving cream in the days of straight razors and “safety” razors, but in the day of multi-bladed vibrating razors, just use the damn soap.
brettvk
@Ailuridae: I went to your Amazon link and saw that it was prohibited in Alabama and Utah. I live in a stupid country, and the LOLs are small recompense.
Barry
I’ve switched to the Gillette Fusion (After seeing their ‘five weeks, five continents, one razor’ commercial). They were right; each refill last about a month. The shave is smoother, and razor cuts are now the exception, rather than the rule.
schrodinger's cat
204 comments and counting, I have always wondered why men find shaving to be such a fascinating subject. It is somewhat painful and inconvenient. Imagine if they had periods or babies, how much they would talk about it.
Jay C
Even though I’ve had a beard since the end of the Nixon Administration, I’ve had to shave around the edges: for me: Gillette Mach 3 blades (in paired razors to spin out the wear-time) and Fresh Brand shaving cream (one of their few mens’ products). It’s pricey ($22 for a 5-oz tube), but should last me about a year, so the per-shave cost is fairly low. I think it’s worth it, though: I’ve never gotten the idea of canned shaving cream: its working surface should be at or just below skin level: using chemical to create an impressive foamy pile of lather two inches off you face has never made much sense to me.
Jamey
I’m a real man. I denude my face with an open flame.
That Other Mike
@schrodinger’s cat: Because it’s a finicky, tedious task that most of us dislike or are ambivalent about, and getting advice on making the whole process less painful and less of a chore is good.
Fwiffo
Morning people are fucking weird. I would sacrifice almost anything for five minutes more sleep in the morning. I fucking love breakfast, but no way I’m waking up an extra 30-45 minutes early to make and eat it. Are you fucking kidding? Adding an extra 5 minutes to my morning routine so the hairs on my face are imperceptibly shorter? No thank you. Electric for me.
DCinME
Dr. Broehners soap in the shower. Clean shave every time and the soap lasts a long time!
chopper
if you don’t make your own soap at home from hand-pressed sunflowers you grow in your backyard and your own homemade wood lye, you’re part of the problem with this overpopulated planet.
Steeplejack
@James E Powell:
Way late to this thread, but I have to second this. I had to get some shaving stuff on my February trip to Atlanta, and Trader Joe’s was where I happened to be, so I picked up this–“Moisturing Cream Shave (Honey Mango)”–and was surprised to find I really like it. A little goes a long way; I’m still using the tube I bought in February.
Also picked up a bar of Trader Joe’s Bisous de Provençe Thé Vert soap that has a nice, invigorating smell. Quite an upgrade from basic Dial.
As for shaving, I have used a Gillette Mach 3 for a long time but have been experimenting lately with various disposables to see if there’s anything better out there. In my current freelance/semi-unemployed situation I don’t have to shave every day, so that’s nice. I used to have a full beard for about 30 years but always shaved the neck beard. Not a fan of neck beards outside of Sergio Leone movies.
This thread has been very informative. I’ve seen some things I might like to try.
PopeRatzo
The newest electric razors are fantastic. I don’t even need a mirror, because I cannot cut myself (hard as I might try).
I can sit out on the back porch and shave away. No need for sink or water. I can take this norelco in the shower and shave in there if I want. I can use shaving cream if I need to be extra smelly. I have a 22 year old daughter, so I am not allowed enough time in the bathroom to do a brush and lather shave anyway.
My wife says there’s no difference in the closeness of the shave. I’m one a those Italian guys who looks like Brutus from Popeye, so I have a rough beard. I also shave my head, so if I had to do this whole mess with a blade I’d look like Freddy Krueger.
Seriously, Norelco (one of the expensive wet/dry ones) FTW!
ThresherK
@TaosJohn: Hear, hear! It’s a bit non-intuitive at first, because it’s not foamy or gelly when applied, but it’s very nice.
Trader Joes sells something that looks much like it, but it didn’t work anywhere as well for me. (Sample size of two tubes.)
If anyone is still reading: Storing (cleaned) cartridges in rubbing alcohol or mineral oil will make them last longer than just letting them dry in air. I think I read that from Lifehacker, and have been doing it for a few years.
(Yeah, way late also.)
Terry
Took my beard and mustache off last month for the first time in 30+ years. I am shaving every day with a dry razor. The modern ones are so sharp that I don’t need shaving cream or even water.
twiffer
brush, soap & a straight razor. i have a full beard, so i pretty much only shave my neck and parts of the cheeks; the straight razor is great at keeping the beard lines where i want them.
gaz
@Darkrose: Some women’s razors are crap – I like the ones with the large heads – particularly the venus.
Steeplejack
@Barry:
Good to know. I had been thinking about trying that.
Steeplejack
@Barry:
Good to know. I had been thinking about trying that.
Peter VE
@xyzxyzxyz: I also shave with a straight razor. I love the rhythm of letting the water run until steaming while I strop the razor, then lathering up with a brush that was once my fathers and laying the steel to my face. I bought my own razor many years ago, but only went to using it full time about 4 years ago. I was tired of throwing away the plastic cartridges, and not getting a really good shave.
eemom
@schrodinger’s cat:
well you’re several steps ahead of me, because I never before KNEW that they did. Here I thought Cole was just dicking around, and OMG.
So, about labor. Mine were both short — barely made it to the hospital — but man were they intense. No epidural either time — not even an episiotomy the second.
Miss Barbie
@Geoduck:
So. does that now make you a bearded clam, good sir?
Djur
@Corner Stone: 4 lyfe.
Ruckus
@schrodinger’s cat:
Because if you do it every morning it gets old after a few years(OK days). Some of us grow beards just like many women don’t shave their legs for that reason alone.
If we had periods or got pregnant I imagine we’d talk about it as much as some women do. Not experiencing them means less to discuss.
Amit Joshi
Neither–I just shave *in* the shower, using regular shower soap like everybody else uses shaving cream. Closer shave, blades last longer, etc.
ted
I switched some time ago and love shaving now. I use a brush and Prorasso soap (smells like eucalyptus) and a heavy safety razor. Have to buy the soap once a year–what a deal!
LanceThruster
I was always a Norelco triple header man passed down from my dad (for me, using a blade was like trying to scale a fish with a chainsaw) . I could not handle blade shaving at all until the advent of the Gillette Fusion razor (3 blades). Now I use nothing else.
I’ll have to give the brush a try as well. Thx for the grooming tip.
Is there nothing you can’t make better?
LT
Visceral
Electric razor. I couldn’t grow a beard to save my life, but a close blade-and-gel shave is somehow not attractive on me either.
Ken Pidcock
I’m pretty sure that shaving cream was developed as a sanitary alternative to soap for barbers. Then it was sold to consumers with the pitch that, hell, who knows more about shaving than barbers? It never was, and never will be, as convenient and comfortable as soap lathered up with a brush. What are you trying to do, anyway? You’re trying to get water into hair. Do you think there’s a chemical alternative that’s better than soap and water? Good luck.
Death Panel Truck
@Stuck in the Funhouse: Us real real men use a dull pocket knife and fresh spit.
I grew a beard 20 years ago because I’m too goddamned lazy to shave. I shave below the beardline once a week. I have a Conair electric hair-clipper that I use to trim the beard. Takes about 30 seconds.