Minimalism

Discussion in 'Shave Creams' started by Steveclarkus, Oct 8, 2019.

  1. Steveclarkus

    Steveclarkus Well-Known Member

    I must confess to becoming a minimalist regarding creams/soaps. I’ve tried a number of them and found all to be functional but the search actually became a bore. I initially used hard soaps but converted to creams because of the ease of use. After several brands I settled on two - Palmolive Classic and Kapo. Both are inexpensive and great performers. I couldn’t care less about scents and both are pleasant enough to the nose. I use straight razors and both have adequate slickness. There is satisfaction in the simplicity and frugality of minimalism after all.
     
  2. BlueShaver

    BlueShaver Premature Latheration Sufferer

    Minimalism?
    Are you in the wrong forum? :happy102:
     
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  3. Steveclarkus

    Steveclarkus Well-Known Member

    Very likely. Perhaps it is because I’m 70 years old and still maturing.
    :eatdrink047:
     
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  4. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    I've seen it happen to a small number of shavers. Rarely to new forum members. When someone develops their preferences and quits chasing the ultimate shave or Next Big Thing, Minimalism Happens.

    Most of us suffer from minimum of additional storage space.
     
  5. Steveclarkus

    Steveclarkus Well-Known Member

    I must admit I haven’t hit the wall on straight razors quite yet but there is still hope.
     
  6. BlueShaver

    BlueShaver Premature Latheration Sufferer


    Actually, i am nearing the end of building up a collection of shaving gear and soaps.

    I have a number of the usual suspects (cella, proraso, tabac, etc) but being honest, my pucks of OS,Yardley and Imperial leather is all i really need.

    Razors, i have a few 50's English Gillettes and i want a SE or two but thats about it. I want to sample the different styles of wet shaving rather than just collecting. Give me twelve months more and i will probably begin the inevitable Den thinning and piffing.
     
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  7. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

    You have Imperial Leather products eh? Great history of its origin and existence(I still have a couple shave left of TSD Store's Russian Leather).
     
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  8. BlueShaver

    BlueShaver Premature Latheration Sufferer

    [​IMG]

    One of the few things i have (almost gone now though :( )

    Looks cheap but is fantastic shaving soap imho. (As most vintage stuff is tbh ).

    Any links on the history? I would be most interested.
     
  9. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Honing is what stopped me. Just a starter Norton 4k/8k is an investment. Then DMT, and the never ending rabbit hole of finishers. Or film, or oxides...I have owned a dozen SR, but traded away a few. One day I may find a paint bucket full of someone else's rock collection for cheap.
    I keep thinking that. I still have a couple of vintage razors on my want list but they aren't found at thrift stores or garage sales. Doubt I'll pay the bay price just to add them to my pile of gear. Unless I adopt a 1 in/ 1 out policy my kids will have to figure out what to do with the soap and AS. The Traveling Box is in Round Three so I'll try to move some products on to others, but that's a zero sum game deal. To make room in The Box I have to take something out.
     
  10. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

    I'm a bad link man, but googling Russian Leather or Imperial Leather itself should provide options.
     
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  11. brit

    brit in a box

    i am upgrading the condition of certain razors i have with the occasional rare one mixed in.my user grade ones will get passed along in shaving kits .couple of soap /aftershave scents left that i want as well. but not buying nearly as much as the first 2 years, and i have definite favorites..
    also happy with my razor type choice as well. thought about straights but knowing how i roll i would invest thousands to have the "right stuff"..not wanting to open that can of worms..
     
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  12. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    There's a write up on Wikipedia.
     
  13. david of central florida

    david of central florida Rhubarb Rubber

    I sorta like the idea, but I've acquired a bunch of both hardware and software. I'm gonna start being generous and frugal on purchases. As things run out, I'll not replace until I've trimmed it down.
    I have stored many items away from my shave area. I like the empty space. As I follow the themed focuses, I get those items out for the theme. Open combs only for this month.
    Still it's a bunch, and part of me wishes I could minimize.
    I guess it's a greener grass thing, even I started and watched the variety in the sotd posts, I longed to have a collection of things.
     
  14. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

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  15. Badgerstate

    Badgerstate Well-Known Member

    Ive become a minimalist when it comes to shaving. I used to have 5 or 6 razors, 3 or 4 brushes, 20 soaps, a dozen aftershaves and hundreds of blades. Now, Ive trimmed it down to just 1 razor, a couple brushes 4 or 5 soaps, a couple aftershaves and no more than 100 blades at a time.
    I found myself buying soaps just because and since Ive learned what I like and dont feel the need to try everything. Now, unless there is a soap than I really want, I just buy VDH, Captain Conk or Arko. I honestly dont feel like the $25+ soaps perform much better than the cheap soaps do.
     
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  16. BardicDruid

    BardicDruid Active Member

    I too have settled into a minimalist attitude, I now have my favorite razor back, a 1975 Gillette Black Beauty, my one favorite brush was a pure badger Franken brush I put together, that was replaced by a synthetic brush that works great, and Proraso Red cream.
     
  17. ghostlife

    ghostlife Well-Known Member

    I kind of agree and have grown bored of comparing - they are basically all perfectly fine - I'm the opposite of you though, in that I favour harder soaps. Soft soaps are more of an effort to load heavily, which is necessary with my hard water.

    So at the moment, other than things I like that I see on sale, I'm only planning on rebuying Jilek's as long as he keeps making it. Not until I use up most or all of my supplies though.

    I still would like to find 1 scent for aftershave to stick with (again once my supplies diminish) - the candidates I've found that I would be happy with are all discontinued :angry019: which is of course a typical problem with artisan goods

    edit: I have 4 razors and only really use 2, have 4 brushes and only really use 2, and have around a dozen each of soaps and aftershaves right now (not counting duplicates)
     
  18. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    And option #1 ought to be Barrister & Mann's Cologne Russe shaving soap and aftershave. I'm not sure which of the old Russian Leathers he cribbed from, but he did a bang up job of capturing the birch tar leather scent. It's hard to find good modern russian leathers anymore, which is a real pity.
     
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  19. brit

    brit in a box

    i would happily stick with the clubman whiskey woods series aftershaves or nivea deep. neither of these should disappear any time soon..artisans are great but are dropping like flies lately..
     
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  20. DentonMajik

    DentonMajik Well-Known Member

    I'm in that boat right now, and have been purging left and right. Not sure what number I'll narrow my collection down to yet. I've been doing this for a while, and when I look back and see how much money I've actually spent on this, well lets just say that money could have been spent more wisely.

    Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
     

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