I'm actually quite picky. I prefer interesting details on the handles. I like engravings or unique materials. Hopefully my pickyness will keep me from becoming a hoarder, haha. I'm not much into clutter and such, and lean toward minimalism, so I'm not too concerned.
I nearly said that earlier. I haven't seen the word hoarder thrown around much here! I prefer "custodian". They're all going to see use and they'll eventually get passed on...
That should give you a real nice shave. Looks very similar to the Edwin Jagger Kelvin my daughter in-law also uses. Derby Premiums and Nacets are great to start out with (or use all the time). You'll probably find the Silver Blue, Voskhod, Astra and the Shark to be very nice. You'll find that synthetic brush to be very nice. Just fully dip in warm water, squeeze out most of the water and start lathering. If it feels to pastey; dip the tips in the water and whip up you lather. Practice. This is multi quoting; I find it easier when I am responding many people or answer various questions.
Leaning towards minimalism is a really good thing. We like the term collector here rather then the probably more accurate hoarder. AD is only a problem when you can't fit your accumulation anymore, luckily DE, SE, Injectors and Straights are not that big. For instance I use DE's, I can't use and dislike using straight razors, so I only have 14 of them.
In some ways, this hobby/eccentricity of ours is a lot like certain sports such as Golf or Tennis. We get into it for one reason or another and have some degree of success. Human nature being what it is, however, we read about some other razor or soap or brush and wonder if we might do even better if we used that piece of hardware/software. (It's like the golfer buying the club that promises a straighter drive or the ball that advertises 20 extra yards.) With any luck, we ultimately settle on the things that work best for us since, in the end, it is all about personal satisfaction. @Smooth Operator, welcome to The Den!
I'm from the UK and just interested... Which Bay? My Newcastle looks like this (From a certain angle. In the summer. )
Thanks! I googled bay area earlier today to see where you guys were talking about, but I assumed there would be more than one area referred to by that name haha. How wrong am I... San Francisco looks so nice. Dream holiday