These two statements are fantastic advice to all. My experience matches these very well
@BlueShaver, fwiw.
I think once someone truly gets to Technique Trumps Tools, that is when this really becomes a hobby, as opposed to just accumulation, and trust me I've accumulated a lot. To me this means that understanding how different brushes will get to that perfect lather, or how different razors get to similar results, is the hobby part. I love the scents, I love the process of wetshaving, I love the connection to the past, I love the peace and calm shaving has become for me, I love the TTT aspect each and every morning. I have moved stuff on that I don't enjoy as much, even though I acknowledge that it works and works well. A good soap in a scent I don't enjoy? Buh bye. A vintage razor that is a fine shaver but is just like 2 others I have and won't hold a special place in my den? Sayonara. A brush that I just don't reach for enough and maybe someone else will get more usage from? Adios.
It just takes time. A Pal Injectomatic went from being a filet knife to an aggressive injector, A CJB Shavette went from being an instrument of war to a successful focus of technique, certain blades went from being 'awful' to 'working ok, just not a fave'. I seriously have had a few soaps that I didn't enjoy the quality of lather, but yes, they did lather. Only one (the new C&E base about 5 years ago, for the curious) just wouldn't at all. And you know what? If I went back to it today, regardless of brush, I think I'd get a functional foam from it.
We have all gone through our own journeys to get to where we are in wetshaving. This thread has commonalities in philosophy across all the 'regulars', but also differences as well. What is universal, it seems, is a belief that as technique is built over time whatever you use
will work (see previous MAYhems for examples); however, how you get it to work turns it into a hobby.
Click to expand...
