The other day it occurred to me how exciting this new way of shaving has been for me. It's been a veritable feast in more ways than one. The table is laid with all sorts of appealing and delicious offerings from a variety of high-quality chefs and servers. There are so many fun and friendly people in the hall, and the hosts and hostesses are generous and kind. The conversation is engaging and filled with useful recommendations, particularly for newcomers who haven't yet heard all the stories nor tried all the dishes. And the lesson I've learned over the past few days in the midst of these festivities is this: we need to take the time to digest what we are eating. I realized that I was overly-anxious to gather more from the platters while they were being passed in my vicinity, ignoring the fact that my plate was already overflowing. Rather than focusing on perfecting blade angle, I was already interested in trying cold water. I questioned if my razor selection was as good as the guy's sitting next to me. And instead of ensuring my lather was properly hydrated, I was wondering about sandalwood. In short, I was too busy looking at the dessert tray to finish my delicious roast. As first-timers at the festival of wet-shaving, we should appreciate the sights, scents, colors, and allure of all that brought us to the table in the first place, and I certainly do. But I think it good advice to recommend to those starting out: take the time to digest what you've been served. Ensure your first course of newbie stickies, tutorials, and basic videos are swallowed before pursuing the next thing. Taking the time to chew each bite and rinse it down with lots of practice ensures an enjoyable meal with little or no resulting heart/razor burn the next day. It prepares our gut for the more substantial and exotic meals to come. I, for one, can hardly wait! Bon appétit!
Steve, you are speaking shaving wisdom my friend. I think its the initial enjoyment of wetshaving thats so intoxicating it leads to greed for more stuff and repeating pleasureable shaves and the search for ever new plateaus of shaving pleasure and the perfect shave with the perfect equipment to be repeated forever. I think in hindsight its important to ask ourselves what is the point of wetshaving? Am I turning a practical chore into a nice daily experience and if so what do I need to achieve it and be satisfied? Or ,is wetshaving my new hobby and worth the investment of money , time, the goals of collection , at what point will I be satisfied with the hobby? Seems to me if we answer these questions initially we may be able to pick sensibly from the buffet and enjoy it , instead of going berserk and trying every dish on the buffet line, and still being hungry and loading up 2 more plates to get our monies worth and then feeling sick driving home.
Well written and insightful piece Steve. It took me a few years but I no longer glut myself. Luckily, I found a good everyday kibble to have.
Very well said, and often overlooked when helping out newbies by piling their plates high with heaping servings of advice.
Well said. GDCarrington is consistently recommends his 30 day rule of get a setup that works and use it for 30 days with no changes. Probably the best advice given to newbies and probably the least followed advice.
Agreed—perhaps the #1 cause of fatal accidents in a brand new exotic sports car. We get so excited to finally be rid of our Datsuns that we refuse to practice basic driving skills before taking our Ferrari out. We instantly want it all! We'd enjoy the experience far more if we mastered each element of proper wet-shaving piece by piece before trying to do, buy, and shave it all at once. After all, that's a basic tenet of wet-shaving: beard reduction. If we looked at the entire learning process as a "multi-pass" experience, we'd realize that we could master a few principles, rinse, master a few more advanced principles, rinse, and then finish with the varied capstone principles according to our preferences. So +1 for GDCarrington's newbie advice!
Steve, you may well be the most articulate person on this forum. You have a rare gift for seeing through to the heart of a problem and expressing yourself in a way that is easy to read and understand. If you ever write a book someday about "Shaving With Steve," I want to read it. It is people like you who elevate this forum and bring depth to the threads. We get our daily dose of "Hi, I'm new here..." "What should I try?" "New this, that, or whatever" "check out what I got" "This review is about..." and then we get gems like this one. These kind of threads are what bring long time Shave Denners back, time after time. Thank you.
Wow, Ryan, quite unexpected. And a filthy lie. There are so many interesting and articulate people on this forum—that's a principal reason I stuck around, much to the dismay of some of the regulars here, I'm sure. I just appreciate kind, friendly people and there's a certain charm when those qualities are blended with intelligence and respect shed over something that seems so inconsequential. The thing is, the more I know about the people here, what with their generosity, service to home and country, sharp wit, and immediate willingness to help one another, the more I realize that all of this really isn't about shaving per se. It's about the life we lead as cooperative beings who just so happened to recognize that despite our varied geographical locations, skin color, and movie preferences, we all grow hair. And we can all endure it, or enjoy it. This inestimable lot has decided to live it up. And I want to be a part of it. Thanks for the kind words. No question, your engagement in any number of threads and the way you treat others reflects what I love about TSD.
+1 on Steve's comments ... though be aware that contrary to many of our upbringings ... you don't have to finish the peas, beans, liver etc. on your plate before having desert or leaving the table. If what's on your plate is unexpectedly unpalatable, you certainly can and should try something else.
